A DAY OFF AND ANOTHER "DAYCATION"

I'd like to share my latest "daycation" with you. By reading this sign, you can see where I went yesterday! To the most popular Fair on earth! Clint and I finally had a day off together and so we went over to Hillsdale to the fair. This has become a family tradition that my Dad startedyears ago. We don't make it every year, but we try. I love the picture of the little girl with the lamb! There were other vintage posters I photographed, but this one became my favorite because of the lamb!

 

 

Next are pictured several bags of judged and priced fleece for sale! I just about couldn't tear myself away from this area where a spinner sat in the sheep barn showing people the art of spinning wool. I finally left the fleeces without purchasing, but not before talking for a long time with a friendly sheep who loved having her nose scratched. I wish I had gotten a picture. Also loved the picture of the sheep and swine barn!

 

What a cute sign hanging above the sheep stalls!

 

Here is a picture of a horse being warmed up for a race. The weather was perfect and so enjoyable to sit in the grandstand and watch the races.

Loved this sign since my grandma always used to say that if the cows were laying down it was going to rain. I always wondered if it was true, but maybe she was right? After all, she grew up living closer to the land than I did.

Loved this pretty canning display. Could only get a small portion of the antique items in the picture. The sign reads, "Have you gotten out your canning supplies lately?" That's almost a joke at my house. Sometimes they stay out this time of year for days or weeks!

 

The pretty Grange Hall. I love the architecture all around Hillsdale and the fairgrounds are no exception. Some of the prettiest old buildings you'll see! I wish the picture hadn't been "blue." The sun was very bright and I had a hard time getting a good shot of this beautiful building. Apparently people sometimes rent this building for weddings according to pictures we saw inside.

Here is a beautiful example of the Grange displays. I remember seeing multiple displays like this in our Grange barn when I was a little girl. It was my favorite part of the whole fair--isn't that kind of unusual for a little girl? I think the "farm" was deep in my heart even way back then growing up in a small town. Each town in our county had a Grange group. They all had displays like this in the fair. The Grange displays were a composite of member farm families' efforts at everything from every possible canned good imaginable to all kinds of needlework and farm and orchard products. I think this is America the way it used to be! I kind of miss it!

 

I love the antique tractors! Which do you think is the older model--me or the tractor? Post a comment, make a guess, and I'll reveal the answer on the next post!

I love sign pictures and thought this was as cute as could be!

 

I hope you enjoyed my day at the Fair! I surely did!

Blessings, Lori

NEEDLEWORK AROUND MY HOME

I couldn't wait to do a post and show off my "new look." I hope you like the blog background!
This first picture is the lace scarf in progress. I decided to use the "Colorado Cotton Candy" yarn that I spun in the stripes between the lace panels of Icelandic. The pattern is from a book I got for Christmas. Very subtle color variations. The colors reminded me of my dining room.....and so......

Next are two pictures of a set of four--embroideries that I did a few years ago. Very delicate colors and tiny, tiny stitches. I really like these. The kit was given to me by a friend and all four hang in our dining room by the front door.

This next embroidery is larger and hangs between the set of four. It took a long, long time to complete. I got it clearance for about $5 and it was a kit too. The year I completed it, I framed it about an hour before the entries closed at our county fair. I took it in and won the Judge's Choice ribbon that year--a great honor since there is only one Judge's Choice for the entire needlework building--quilts and everything. They told me it was a very close race between this and another item. I love this, but am not sure it deserved the prize against the other lovely things that were there that year. I wish I was a better photographer and could capture the tiny details for you to see. There is candlewick lace design between each motif and some of the flowers have an almost three-dimensional look.

I did this next embroidery when I was about 13. My aunt and uncle gave me this kit for my birthday and I enjoyed it so much. It needs to be reframed, but $$$ prevent me from undertaking the professional process it deserves. I have many other items waiting for framing as well.

Some antique plates that adorn my dining room wall on one side of my big china cabinet. These hang right near the next embroidery. The bottom one is from a very old family set. I love transferware.

A sampler (kit) that I made as a young girl and finished after years of neglect. I LOVE this one. It reads, "Long Life Sampler" "Be cheerful, thankful, loving true. A brighter day will dawn for you. Of rest and labor take your share, eat simple food and breathe pure air." Good advice!

The Long Life sampler with more antique plates surrounding it. The bottom framed item is an ancient church symbol depicting Christ, the suffering servant--the lamb in the thorns. When I first saw this symbol as an outline on the Mennonite hymnal, I knew I had to try to execute the design in bobbin lace. I enlarged the shape and made a pattern, completing the lacework in free form, no pattern.

So, there's a sampling of my samplers and some other needlework! I guess you can tell how old I am since the craze for samplers was kind of a 70's trend with the Bi-centennial celebration of our nation. I really did a lot of them in those days, many of which were given away or sold. I have never lost my appetite for them and now have several more kits in my sewing room closet--I mean like a LOT of them! Blessings, LORI

REPLETE WITH RIBBONS--WELL, NOT EXACTLY

Here's the picture of the ribbon results from last week's county fair. I had a good year, but not an outstanding one. More blue ribbons than red, no white ones, but no "big" ribbons either. I am always working for the Judge's Choice in the different categories since the ribbon is huge, and represents a major distinction. Plus, it pays a much larger dividend and who can't use that?

Our fair is paying premiums of 70% of the former rates since the state had to pull all the funding for county fairs during the economic crisis. At least that's the way I understand it. Still I got a nice little check when all was said and done and not having a job, every little bit is like gold to me. A friend of mine has a goal of entering 50 items and this year she had over 30. I think I'll set that kind of goal for next year. I have one item in mind that I've thought of making for years. It's a huge tatted tablecloth that has over 2500 individual motifs in its design. I would hope against hope for a Judge's Choice on that one and it would be crushing if it didn't happen! Maybe someday I'll get it completed!

Just by way of description, the large picture in the back is embroidery and cross stitch-a blue ribbon. (That was a surprise to me!) Sophie's dedication dress and overcoat is next to it--a blue ribbon. Two little ovals in front of the big picture are pressed flowers on velvet--I make a set every year and have won Judge's Choice in the past. This year I got a blue ribbon on those. In front of that is the little embroidered oval picture that I posted in a picture of the "farm corner" before. I could only enter one and I chose the covered bridge. It won a blue. Underneath that is a crocheted table runner that got no ribbon. I didn't quite understand that one, but that's the way the ribbon awarding goes. Sophie's little knit hat that I designed is next to that--no ribbon--truthfully I was very disappointed on that one. My long knitted "ribbon" made of scrap yarn and recently pictured on another post of the "European Corner" drew a red ribbon. The large garment is several years old. It's a Civil War costume pattern that I decided to use for everyday wear. Actually only the top is the pattern. I think I just made the skirt from two pieces of straight fabric-no pattern. It received a blue. My knitted fingerless gloves are next to the dress and they got a red. Somewhere in all that is a tiny bobbin lace bookmark, barely visible. It's on another post as well--it received a blue and was the only comparable item in the entire needlework barn. The judge wrote a note on the entry tag, "Beautiful!" I always consider it a privilege to receive a written compliment from a judge because it rarely happens.

It's always nice to receive earthly rewards and recognitions, but let's face it--what we really want is to hear, "well done, good and faithful servant," at the end of our lives, is it not? The crowns we will receive to lay at Jesus' feet are the real important awards. Someday all these items and ribbons will fade away and only the eternal matters. We should be working hard for the kingdom of God while we have breath in us. Blessings, LORI

FOUNDER'S FRIDAY--A CAPABLE SEAMSTRESS

I felt it appropriate this week to highlight Betsy Ross and the American flag on Founder's Friday since I was showing off my own needlework on a recent post. As well as that, I have heard bits of news lately concerning something that appears to be a distaste on the part of some for our flag. I haven't been able to listen long enough to make much comment on that, for I wouldn't have my facts straight, but this is nothing new. This kind of nonsense seems to occur every once in a while. I remember other incidents of flag burning and so on when I was younger. It seems every so often someone makes news for such despicable stuff. To behave in such a manner is an insult to those who died to make us free, rallying under the symbol of our flag. I remember returning to the United States after my first trip abroad and I was never so glad to see American soil as I was that day. I appreciated my country anew and felt like kissing the ground of the Detroit airport (I'd been to Detroit many times before and never felt like kissing the ground!) when I departed the plane. We truly do not realize how blessed we are to be living here until we see other places where life is not so easy. I enjoyed visiting other countries and honor and respect them and their citizens, but I LOVE my own country deeply and thank God for placing me here.



Betsy Ross was a Philadelphia upholsterer at the time of the Revolution. The legend of the first flag goes something like this: George Washington and two of the signers of the declaration visited her shop and commissioned her to make a flag from a sketch Washington showed her. She supposedly suggested changing the six pointed star to a five pointed star, showing the gentlemen how easy it would be to create a perfect star from a fabric folding technique. The flag we now have reflects Betsy's suggestion.



Apparently this story was not public until nearly 100 years later when a grandson of Betsy's told it. Whether or not it is accurate doesn't really matter all that much as far as I'm concerned. The lesson that I find in it all is that even a widow lady (Betsy was a widow) could conceivably use her God-given talents to do her country a great service. After all, someone made the first flag--someone who had to have needlework experience. What do we have in our hands to use for the sake of our country? Will we be patriots who look for ways to use our talents to promote the good of our nation?



If there ever was a time that all American patriots are needed to rally to the cause, it's now. Ask God what special thing you might be able to do to help return America to its roots of freedom and traditions of honoring God. The Lord will always use a willing vessel. I am encouraged by the Betsy Ross story. To think, a simple bit of needlework made such a huge impact on our nation for years and years! What can your special talent or gift contribute? Blessings, LORI

VACATIONING PRODUCTIVELY

Hi, everyone! I hear we are in for a big storm here in southeast Iowa tomorrow afternoon/evening. I want to meet with another friend tomorrow and hope it holds off until we can have lunch together and do a little shopping.

We are still having such fun here! I wish I could share pictures. I will certainly try to post them as soon as I get home. My old high school friend came to see me today and we shopped for a long while in a thrift store. I got a nice sweater and she got a real bargain on jelly jars for Christmas gift giving. I was kind of aggravated after finding a sack of rubber stamps at the thrift store--one of which had hollyhocks on it. I looked diligently for a stamp with hollyhocks back home in one of the biggest stamp stores around for use in making cards, labels, etc. for "A Sturdy Fence," which has hollyhocks on the cover and hollyhocks figure into the story. Well, too bad the stamp had a saying on it that didn't match the book at all, rendering it useless to me! Oh, well, my friend and I visited the whole afternoon, taking the once/year opportunity to really catch up on news.

So nice to be able to relax and get away from the daily routine. I am getting lots of needlework done and that is a great feeling. Trying to spend time with the Lord as well. I got to listen to some great teaching tapes today while walking. So I'm using my vacation time productively!

FAIR EXHIBITS AND FOND MEMORIES

Today was a big day for me! After I finished cleaning the church for Rhiannon who is working alot of hours (!!!), I came home and got all my projects ready to exhibit at the county fair. I've been doing this for the better part of 40 years. I won't say exactly how long, 'cause if you know the age that kids can join 4-H, you could just about figure out my age! Oh, well, you probably can anyway!

I couldn't think of anything except three items that I'd finished this year.....until I got there. I promise this happens every year! When we lived in Centreville, just two blocks from the fair grounds, it was no big deal. Just walk back down with the extra stuff. But now I'll have to go back tomorrow. Today I entered Emma's placemat pantsuit, her knitted smock, and my knitted lace shell. On the way out of the grounds I stopped by to see my friends in the spinning and weaving guild. They were hanging up their lovely knitted and etc., creations. Instantly I started talking about shawls with one of the gals and remembered I had knit an alpaca shawl this year. First item to go back home for! On the way home, I thought of some other stuff. I decided I could make a tatted cross bookmark quick, so I did. Then I did two pressed flower pictures. I like these two so well, I doubt I'll ever sell them. Plus they are in frames that belonged to my grandma, so I think they're here to stay after they spend a week at the fair. You have to enter two for some reason; I've never understood that, but that's the rules. I then opened my closet and began going through my clothes to see what I'd made this year. The items are few and far between, but then I spotted the 70's dress (picture on a post back in May or June!) so that's going. I found a knitted handbag that I designed and then felted. That needed some new drawstrings and I quickly crocheted them and so that's now on the table ready to head out in the morning. Mom put the oasis foam in a carnival glass dish in which I'll do a flower arrangement in the morning. Two years ago I did one in this dish and picked up all the colors of the dish. They said I'd have gotten the blue ribbon hands down except all I had was styrofoam and my flowers dried up before judging. They looked so cool even dried. It made a great dried arrangement, but they wanted fresh! My gardens are currently so depleted it will take nearly every flower out there to fill that bowl, but I'll try.

Also heading to the fair tomorrow will be the antique twisted wire fan that I bought last year. It is designed to hold postcards or Christmas cards. It's a very unique item and I will take some turn of the century postcards in it. Also I went to the basement and got a jar of wild black raspberry jelly to enter. I found a lovely cross stitch jar topper down there that was on some jelly someone gave us. Guess what? It's now on mine!

It's more important to take extra entries this since a budget cut will cause 70% of the listed premium prices to be paid. Each ribbon is worth so much and you get a check at the end of the week for the total of your ribbons--called a "premium." Some items are a small amount depending on the materials that go into them, etc. So if you drew a third place ribbon in a certain category, it might pay only $1 (.70cents). So that cuts the profits right down if they are only able to pay 70%. That motivated me a bit more to find things around here to enter.

I hope to post pictures of my items at the end of the week. If I get ribbons, I'll give you all a rundown of the awards! Here's hoping for the best! One year I got 1st place judge's choice over the entire needlework building. I was floored! I never expected that in a million years, especially since I didn't even know they had such a thing until I won it. It was for a very detailed embroidery picture of 6 floral bouquets surrounded by candlewicking that looked like lace. I completed it (framed it) the day before the fair and just took it on a whim.

When I was about a 5th grader, my best friend held a sleep-over party for her birthday. After the regular party on a Saturday in September, (about this time!) she was allowed to have one friend stay over. I got chosen. I looked forward to this for a long time. I also needed to have cookies ready to go to the fair for 4H on that same Saturday. At the time, my cooking instructor was a junior leader--a high school girl. I went to the birthday party, played all day and was riding bikes around town with the girls, when my dad and mom drove up. They stopped me and asked if I happened to remember that I needed to bake cookies this afternoon and get them over to the fairgrounds. My leader had called to remind all the girls. Ooops!!!!! No, I had not even given it a thought. I guess at that time I had been acting quite irresponsibly over many things and mom and dad were not pleased. This was the final straw. They told me to get straight home and get the cookies done since it would reflect poorly on my leader if I didn't show up with an exhibit. I rushed home and did the cookies that I had planned to do--molasses crinkles. They were supposed to chill overnight before baking. No time for that. We chilled them for probably 1/2 hour and then had to bake them. Rushed a plate full over to the fairgrounds and all is well, right? NOT. I was told I could not go to the sleepover as a reminder to pay attention to my committments. I was not happy. Taught me a lesson, though.

But lo and behold, on Tuesday, the traditional kids' day when all the schools dismissed at noon so you could go to the fair; I was standing in a huge line of people waiting to get on a ride when a friend from my class walked up. He announced to me that he just saw my TROPHY in the 4H barn. I didn't believe him at first. But I won a second place trophy after all that! Fun fair memories. This year is Emma's first time to really enjoy the fair. More family memories being made. Clint and I will take our turns working in the Miracle of Birth tent and the Jail Chaplaincy booth. It will be a busy week.

So much more to say, will save it for another post. Blessings, LORI