Meet Me at the Fair!

I posted this photo on Instagram from our local Agricultural Fair, The Durham Fair, with a promise for a blog post.  So here we go....

We go for the food and the animals but the food is always first.

 MMMmmm, deep fried oreos and a lime Rickey (fizzy sweet and tart drink).

the gold standard of any fair - hand dipped corndogs.

 The canning competition.

 I really like to admire the farm stand presentations.

Oh, My GOURD!

We fell for these puppies waiting for adoption.  Molly and Gus, 3 month lab mix.

We found our favorite Cows! Mama, Amber and her calf Darcy.

 They were too busy eating to catch up with us.

 A chocolate bunny, lol....

 Hanna and Llama

Oh my, the sheep were in an uproar!  Check out the one who is chewing the railing.

The Goats were so curious about the sheep.  It was the first night of the fair so they were all excited.

There was one big mama pig with her babies.

Here are a few photos from yesterday at the Big E Fair.  It was celebrating it's 100 Birthday and here was the cake (over 200 pounds of cake).

here is what 600 pounds of carved butter looks like:

We paid $3.00 to see 3 bears in a trailer.  Would you?

 the painting was nice, but I hated to see them in a small space.

 They were eating peanuts from their handler.

We saw Karen giving rides - again, I hate to see an Elephant here, but she was sweet.

I petted a pretty little donkey whom I would have loved to take home too!

Block Swap packages are arriving here and there is a tie with 8 packages from each group.  Great job everyone!

Thank you so much for your sweet notes of thanks and also for the little extras.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting the fair with us!

waiting.....

is hard to do!

I'm waiting to have time to bind and label my finished Alice Payne Quilt.

Waiting to finish my broken dishes for the swap.

Waiting for the mailman to bring me blocks from 70 swappers.

In the meantime we had a fun fast getaway to The White House Inn, in Vermont.

I found these adorable PJ bottoms at TJMaxx.  oh, yes, I am a Maxxinista.

Ever since I made this quilt in 2005 I love all things Whale.

I recently read this great book which tells the story of Melville and his friend, Hawthorn.

I also rewatched this movie on cable about The Essex which inspired the masterpiece.

Wouldn't Herman be surprised that the book he tortured himself over and was a commercial flop has endured and inspired so many artists and writers.

Hooray for Moby Dick!

Back to sewing broken dishes.  Have a Super Week.
xo

Oh My Stars!

Thank you all so much for your nice comments on my Medallion Project!

I hung up my Sumptuous Stars quilt for the first time.  It's perfect for fall.

 I also hung Happy Town in the Sewing Room

It's Fair time in New England!  Hip Hip Hooray.  Is there anything more American?

 Hanna and I love to see the exhibits of flowers, jams, and baked goods.

What beautiful horses.

 we love the petting area!

This Darcy - a 3 month old calf.  Everywhere mom went, Darcy was by her side.

This bunny is so over the whole thing. 

Hanna's college pong skills earned her a new Goldfish:  Pumpkin.

MMMmm the food.  Fried dough and lemonade.  We have plans to attend 2 other major fairs.

We've had a very fun time this summer taking care of Timothy, my son's science classroom pet.  He's a skinny pig, which is a hairless guinea pig.  He does have hair on his cute face.

It was fun making little houses for him.

For no reason at all - he tossed his cage one night, lol.  He moved literally everything in his enclosure!

First Day of school photo of my science teacher son Andrew.  We're so proud of him.  Have a great year at PS 28.

I hit a real speed bump while making my repro swap blocks.  I spritzed a block and pressed it and this happened.

To test my other intended fabric I sprayed each with water.

 I layered them and pressed with a dry iron.

 Here you can see the transfer onto the muslin :(

These may be slightly older fabrics and not as colorfast.  Without knowing what process everyone uses when piecing their quilts, I think it is safer this time to pre-wash and begin again.

Have a great week!
xo