the Fair has come & gone again :)

So, are you all wondering which way I finally hung my little 'plus' wall hanging?  :)
Well, I decided I wanted to hang it so the long side was horizontal, but that still left two options, so I just turned it over & sewed on the sleeve.  I honestly don't remember which way it ended up.  It was late on the last night I had to sew before my iteams had to go to the fair, so it was a 'get it done or forget it' moment.  A whole year of indesicion lead up to a just do it moment - I guess the lesson here is stop obsessing and make a decision already, hehe.

And after all that, this is how it was displayed at the Fair,

laid on a counter with other stuff partly on top of it.  Which doesn't bother me, I'm happy there are so many quilting entries that space is a bit cramped.  But I am now officially done sewing on hanging sleeves for the fair.  They don't use them to display the quilts, even though it is supposed to be a requirement. 

I didn't put a sleeve on my Happy Mochi DP, and it didn't seem to be a problem.

BTW, there is a blue ribbon on both my quilts!  I love hunting through the fair displays to see if I have won a ribbon :)

I wasn't the only one in the family to earn ribbons!  This pumpkin was painted by my youngest, and won a blue :)  It is supposed to be Mike from Monsters Inc.

Son #2 painted a pumpkin self portrait, with a mushtache & beard :)  He also won a blue ribbon :)

My oldest entered two photos, and won a third place and a second place ribbon :)

I also got an Honorable Mention for a jar of strawberry jam, my first time canning :)  Last June, my Mom came over to teach me how.  I hope I'll be able to make some apple jelly this fall - that is, if the rain ever stops so we can go pick some apples.

Add in some fried oreos, apple crisp, lots of animals, and a pony ride & it was a good trip to the Fair, even if it did rain all day :)  In a way, I'm glad it did.  My boys were so well behaved and never complained about the cold and damp - I'm so proud of them!  If it had been sunny & perfect, I wouldn't have had this chance to see how they are growing up into mature young men :)

Then of course, we went home and promptly got sick.  Oh well :)

This was the mystery prize that made it's way to Cindy of Tops to Treasures.  It is four prints on one yard of fabric, with handy-dandy dotted lines to cut them apart on.  In blue and grey.  I'm gravitating toward these colors lately, not sure why, I just feel the need to stash them.  And spread them around, aparently. :)

quick, before the penguins are replaced!

I did a little more stashing recently :)   the two prints on the left are my favs from Aneela Hoey's Sew Stitchy.  I was pleasantly surprised to find them in a LQS.

The penguin fabric is from Joanns, and is for a penguin quilt for my youngest.  It has been a WIP for a little too long.  The other day he announced that he is thinking of changing his favorite animal from penguins to sea cucumbers.  This quilt needs to be finished before he loses interest.

I am not making a sea cucumber quilt.

{fyi, sea cucumbers spit out their guts when bothered by a predator, which then eats the guts and leaves the sea cucumber alone to grow new guts.  I'm fairly certain this explains his fascination with sea cucumbers.}

Linking up to Sunday Stash @ Finding Fifth :)

happy squishy mail

Firstly, thanks to everyone for chiming in to help me decide which way to hang my quilt! :)
Mr. Random Number Generator helped me pick a winner for the mystery prize, Cindy of Tops to Treasures! 

Our family has a couple different viruses working their way through right now, so I'll do a proper Fair/giveaway winner update post in a couple days. 

But there is nothing like some fabric mail to cheer me up!

I've had some birthday money burning a whole in my pocket, so when Madrona Road was the sale-of-the-week over at  fresh squeezed fabrics, I scooped up this FQ bundle!  I love every print in this line, even the pink ones :)  {as a rule, I don't much care for pink}

Since there were two prints not included in this bundle, I placed an order with Sew Fresh Fabrics

The two prints on the left complete my Madrona Road collection - the other two are Dots in Grey from Fly Away by Amy Schimier & Put a Lid on It in charcoal from Retro Kitchen.  I needed to bolster my stash of greys :)

I'm going to link up at Sunday Stash, which is being held at Quiet Play this week.

Fair Preparations {or} what do you mean I only have two days left?!?!

Hi everyone!
Can you help me with something?
I entered a couple quilts in the Deerfield Fair, and they need to be at the fairgrounds by Tuesday.  One of them still needs a hanging sleeve sewn on.  My problem is, I don't know which side is the top. 

Really. 

This wall hanging has been done for about a year and I can't decide which way it should hang, so it has been draped over the back of a rocking chair {where I can periodically rotate it}

So this is what I came up with - I had a friend {thanks Marion!} take 4 pictures of me holding the quilt, a different side up in each picture.  Leave a comment voting for which way you think it should hang.  there may be a small prize given away randomly to a voter as a thank you.  It's a surprise prize.  because I was cleaning house today and didn't get a picture, but surprise prize just sounds better.  like I planned it that way :)

Ok, here are the choices!

#1

#2

#3

#4

{see the dark diagonal lines in each photo? that is a shadow of my arm, not part of the quilt}
since the pluses aren't directional, it is really a matter of the placement of the white spaces.
If you want to read a bit more about this quilt, click here. Or here.  :)
I'll be back Tuesday morning-ish to announce the winner.  thanks for helping me out! :)

Random - Sept 6th

This giant blue crab is outside an area children's museum, on the edge of a park.  See that claw on the right hand side, the one raised up a bit higher?  My kids have to squeeze inside it so it looks like the crab has got them and get their picture taken every. single. time. we come here.  Someday I'll be able to put the photos side by side & watch my boys grow up in the crab's claw :)

Right now, Septemberfest is going on at one of our favorite stores, the Kittery Trading Post.  Basicly it is a week-long sale, but they have demos and events happening throughout the week for free.  {I'm always on the lookout for cheap entertainment}  Anyway, they have had a pool and kayaks set up on their lawn in the past, but I thought it was for demos.  But no, it's for trying out the kayaks yourself!  We all had a blast!  By the time I got in, that big pool was feeling pretty small with four people in kayaks, it was more like bumper kayaks!

that's my Really Random for this week :)  What have you been up to?

1st Things 1st, Sept.

Have you heard about the new linky party over at {Sew} Allegorical, 1st Things 1st?  If you haven't, go check it out.  I'll wait for you.

{Insert quiet humming to self here}

Ok, so now I know you are just dying to know about my prep work, am I right?  :)
Well, I have been wanting try my hand at embroidery, so when Joanns had a sale on DMC floss I picked up this little pile:

After a few nights of tv watching, I had this

Nice and tidy and all ready to go :)   I  think this new linky is going to be a good influence on me - normally I would just jump in and start stitching from one of my new skeins, still living in the plastic bag they came home in.   Eventually that bag would have a big floss mess in it, and probably be lost somewhere in the depths of my sewing room. 

I've even written the DMC numbers on each little bits of cardboard they are wrapped on, so I'll always know what color is what :)

And then Joanns had another sale, hehehe

I guess I have some more tv watching/prep work ahead of me.  Only, I finished the tv series I was watching on Netflix {Doc Martin}  Any suggestions for a series to start on?  I prefer to keep my entertainment light & fluffy.  {sounds like whipped cream, doesn't it? which is also something I could use...}  I'd love to hear what tv series you all are enjoying right now :)

Basting counts as prep work too, right?  I mean, it's that necessary step no one likes much that you have to do before you can get on with the fun quilting, right?  {If anyone out there is thinking 'hey, I love to baste!' please come to my house.  I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement like I will feed you good food and coffee and you can baste my quilts.}

I finally stopped procrastinating, and now I'm flying through the quilting, woo hoo!   I'm not sure if I will hand stitch the binding on this one.  Machine would save me a lot of time, since this is about 72 inches by 90 inches.  I'm at the point where I just want this quilt done and crossed off the WIP list already - you know how that is, right?

Follow this link to see what everyone else is getting prepped for {I feel like there should be a yellow brick road or something.  probably has more to do with a lack of sleep than anything else}  :)