Creative Arts - 2017

Big E closed yesterday - the 101st year of the fair is now a memory.  This morning I went to the fairgrounds to retrieve my entries.  It was bustling with all the vendors taking down their booths and the hustle to get off the grounds.  The fair is 17 days long and many of them were there some five days before it opened.  The Big E is one of the last large fairs in the northeast.  Many of the vendors travel south for the fair season in the southern states.

I did my usual demonstration on lace on Connecticut Day.  This year with the possibility of rain on and off seemed to hold back the crowds.  Nonetheless, folks stopped by and we talked about lace and I listened to their stories of their Gram or Great Aunt making lace.  I was able to work on a project I had started to sew onto some felt squares my bit 'n pieces of tatting.  Due to the slowness, I was able to get about half completed.

Crochet - Remember the 40's Doily

Tatting - A Year of Samples

Crochet Filet - Geometrics

 These are this year's entries.  The tatting took a third - and that's just fine for the time that I had put in.  Next year....  hmmmm I've been thinking of what I could do for next year - something traditional or something modern?

The filet crochet piece took a first!    The crochet doily took a 2nd - which I was surprised, though the judge (a new judge to Creative Arts) didn't like the thread (?) go figure!  I thought I'd get points off for the ruffle.

I took the time this year to finally gather all my pictures and evaluations into one place.  Never again will I let the paperwork get out of control.  It was driving me nuts when I was looking for the prizes and the evaluations from previous years.

Actually I've been clearing out "stuff" out of the studio. Like things with like things, shaking my head at items that need to find someone else's home.   What I have found is way too many unfinished projects or UFO's as we call them in the craft world.  Back in January, I said I would clear more of the UFO's and left overs from the past.  I truly need to minimize the space it all takes.   More on this in another post.

Thank you Creative Arts - see you next year!