Our adventure began when my wonderful Sister-in-Law posted on Facebook that she had entered several things that she had made, including a photograph that she had taken, into the Coeur 'd Alene, Idaho Fair. She won Grand Champion for a crocheted quilt she made, her photograph won a ribbon, and quite a few other items she entered into their Fair also won. I was so excited for her.
Thank you for inspiring me Mandee. I love you dearly!!!
So I got to thinking. Hey, we have a State Fair here in Arizona, why don't I check out what can be entered in the Fair? So I did just that. I discovered I could enter my very first pieced quilt that I made back in 2005. I also discovered I could enter a quillow that I just completed for my Mum's friend. I researched further, and found I had a 3rd quilt that could be entered under the category, Pieced and Machined quilted. But wait!!! There's more!!! I saw I could send in four photos under the Amateur Small Color Photo category. So I did!!!
Don't go anywhere there's still more!!!!
I stumbled on a handmade clothing accessories category and a hair accessory category. Perfect!! My mum created two sets of fabric flowers just using a candle and polyester fabric. She made two of them hair clips and two other flowers into brooches. I asked if she wouldn't mind if I entered those
into the fair. With a bit of laughter she said sure, why not. Let's just give it a try and see what happens.
Let see what happened when I went to check on our entered crafts......
The Arizona State Fair began on October 11 and ran thru til November 3rd 2013. My Hubby, Jeremy, and I went on a Saturday to see how Mum and I did on our entries. Here are the results...
My Machine Pieced/Machine Quilted Entry: Dutch Windmills pattern
My First Pieced Quilt made in 2005 at Sun Valley Quilts in Quilting 101 taught by Betty Hahn:
My Quillow that was made for my Mum's friend back in my hometown:
No for my Mom's entries!!!
Fabric Flowers for your Hair:
My Mum's Fabric Flowers-Brooches:
We couldn't believe it!!!! We have never entered our crafts into the Arizona State Fair and look what happened!!! Everything we entered won a ribbon. I was soo excited I was jumping around at the fair. I was almost in tears. We thought it would just be fun to enter things in not even expecting to win anything at all.. and LOOK!!!! We are amazing!!!!
You are probably wondering, what about your photographs? Didn't you say you entered four photos into the State Fair? I sure did. I received a letter informing me how my photos were judged. Photos that received 11pts-15pts will be displayed. One of photos earned 11pts. I had a 2nd photo that almost made the cut at 10pts and my other two photos received 9pts. I was thrilled!!!
Here are the four photos I entered in the Amateur Small Color Photo Category:
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| I called this one "This is my Best Side" A Mallard duck in Victory, British Columbia, Canada |
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| I called this one "Town on Stilts" Ketchikan, Alaska Taken on our Alaskan Cruise |
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| This is called "Married Man's Trail. This was also taken in Ketchikan, Alaska |
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| This I called "A Quiet Retreat" This was taken in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada at their City Park, Beacon Hill Park |
The photo that was displayed for all to see at the Arizona State Fair is........
And the Winner is..... "Town on Stilts" Photographed by Cambria Thompson in Ketchikan, Alaska on her Alaskan Cruise with her Hubby Jeremy!!!!
So the moral of this story is simple. If you have things that you are good at making, whether it be food, clothing, quilts, crochet, knitting, fabric flowers and even amateur photography, try entering them into your own County Fairs and State Fairs. You may be just as shocked and surprised as my Mum and I were!!! We had so much fun doing it that we are going to enter things into the fair next year.
Be adventurous and go and try something new!!! Step out of your comfort zone and try it!!! Whatever it may be!!! You will be surprised at where it might take you, what you might love, or you may discover a brand new hobby!!! Don't be afraid, share your talents so others can enjoy them too.
Happy crafting, quilting, cooking, baking, writing, photographing, painting, crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking, blogging, singing, choreographing, drawing, and countless other talents that you all love to do!!!!
