What's on the line?

This past Saturday afternoon, my neighbor, Judy, called to say she had been to the Sibley County Fair and saw that I had won four Purple Grand Champion ribbons. When I got to the fair yesterday afternoon, I discovered I had won five of them! ...........
I could hardly believe it! I was hoping my heart penny rug might earn a purple but never imagined that my quilty projects would do this well. You've seen all of these on my blog before but just to refresh your memory......
The heart penny rug is one of my designs and is called "Connecting Hearts". I've made several variations of this one as I love hearts. I made one for my daughter in these same colors and finally finished this one for me. :-)
The basket table runner is a Thimbleberries pattern that is no longer available. The basket and leaves are done in fusible applique with hand-blanket stitch and the flowers are yo-yo's. I hand-quilted it and added just a narrow border.
The tulip pillow is another of my designs. You already know that I love, love, love tulips. :-) I designed the block and then just made up the rest of the pillow pattern as I sewed. :-)
The long wall-hanging is a pattern by Pat Sloan called "Starblooms". All the pieces are done in fusible applique and then blanket stitched by hand. I hand-quilted the piece and gave it a narrow binding to frame it. I really like this piece and love how it looks when it hangs on the wall. The basket fabric was perfect. I felt I did a reasonable job of quilting it, and the same for the Thimbleberries table runner, but never imagined that either would earn Grand Champion ribbons. I wasn't even sure they could win a blue ribbon.
The purse is a design by Nanette of Freda's Hive. It's hand-quilted with Perle cotton. The inside has some nice finishing detail and I suspect that is what the judges noted on this one.
On an interesting note...........these purple ribbons weren't the only purple that I saw this past weekend. I went grocery shopping in Mankato on Friday afternoon and everywhere you went there was purple and gold because the Vikings were in town for training camp. And as I passed through the produce aisle at my Cub (grocery) store, just one aisle ahead of me was a big Minnesota Viking in a purple shirt! It's not uncommon to see the guys at various places around town. I didn't know then that so much purple would be in my future. LOL!
So, in addition to the items in the photos above, here are some items that won first place Blue ribbons........
All of these are my own designs.........the little wool patriotic candle mat, the mini school-days wall hanging, my dresser scarf made from scraps a friend didn't want (all hand-pieced), a tote-bag that I made just last weekend at Bonny's retreat (more on that when I post the final retreat photos) and my needlecase made from some of the wool that Jacob and I painted last summer.
I also entered a small art item that earned a red ribbon and a pincushion that didn't place. More on those when I post County Fair pictures tomorrow. Then on Wednesday, I'll go back to retreat photos. :-)
It was so hot when I went out to hang these things on the line today, that I felt like I had walked out into an oven. I am amazed at this long stretch of super hot weather that we are having here. I simply can't recall this many days of 90 degree temps. I am so thankful to live in an air-conditioned home. I spent the afternoon in my sewing room and was able to finish up a project that I'll share on the line next Monday. :-)
See you tomorrow for a visit to the Sibley County Fair!
Sandi