Oregon State Fair

A week ago Tuesday, I evaluated 107 quilts at the state fair along with my fellow certified judge, Elizabeth Spannring. A nice surprise in my pay envelope were two tickets to the fair. Mike and I drove down to Salem, Oregon’s state capital. Unfortunately, the drive was grueling with an hour drive taking one hour 45 minutes. Traffic was backed up for miles. The cause? Shoppers going to the Woodburn Outlet Mall. Grrr! This is what people do on their three-day holiday–shop? Less than two days before school starts? We were stuck in gridlock, because cars headed to the mall had completely taken over the far right-hand lane which meant three lanes of traffic was narrowed down to two. When we left the fair three hours later, nothing had changed. Still stop and go traffic headed southbound. I felt sorry for those people who only wanted to drive to their destination.

After buying a corn dog for Mike and a chocolate, peanut-dipped ice cream bar for me, which actually turned out to be for both of us, we rode the chairlift over the fair. Here are some pics of the action. I was pleased to see how busy the fair was, because I’m always glad to see Oregonians supporting our state. I would hate to see the demise of the fair for lack of interest. When I was a kid, my Grandma Kay took us every year. Sometimes my sister, Shannon, and I went with her, and we went to the horse races in the evening, which are no more. Other times the three of us went with my Aunt Lee and her kids, my four cousins. I have nothing but great memories of our times there.

I visited the quilt exhibit in the Creative Arts Building and took some photos. Here are some of the quilts Elizabeth and I judged as among the best. Be aware that I didn’t get all of the makers names. This was not a quilt show per se. People were walking around, rather aimlessly, in front of the quilts. Some of the rows of quilts were placed so close together I couldn’t step back to get a photo of the entire quilt, etc. The first quilt is Best of Show. The maker is from Newport, Oregon, where I have twice judged the show for the Oregon Coastal Quilters’ Guild. You can see a table was set up in front of the quilt. Darn. The quilting really makes this quilt stand out from the rest, as well as the color palette. Both of these elements are important as there are two other similar Judy Niemeyer quilts in the show that while lovely are not as striking.

This next quilt was a first place and also my judge’s choice. I rarely award judge’s choice to a quilt that has already received an award, but I really liked the effect of lacing in the outside border.

This next quilt was Elizabeth’s judge’s choice. She loves Sunbonnet Sue. Me, not so much, although this was a clever interpretation.

This quilt is an original design by my friend Michele Byrum. Both Elizabeth and I enjoyed the humor not to mention Michele’s skillful execution.

This next quilt is hand appliquéd and hand quilted–both skillfully done. It won viewers’ choice. I wish I’d been able to take a better photo. The lighting was dim in this area. On the positive side, you can really see the quilting.

Here are other first place winners.

Last, but not least, and just for fun are the decorated “cakes.” Note that cake is in quotes, because these cakes are frosted over cardboard supports. Only the frosting is for real. I really enjoyed the creativity of these makers.