Thursday, August 28

Minnesota State Fair!

Yesterday, we went to the State Fair!! It was a glorious day with temps in the low 70's and no humidity! We could hardly believe how awesome the weather was!!  We got to the Fair at about 11:00 a.m. and had no trouble getting into a parking lot. We wandered through the cattle, swine and horse barns and then walked out into the sea of people.........

I can guarantee you that I did not go on that ride. My husband would have but he knew better than to ask me to go along. LOL!

The State Fair is home to lots of good food and so many things to see. The fries are sooo good!

These little piggies were so funny as they tried to get some food, too!

I'm not so fond of the Swine barn but I love seeing the cattle and the Horses!!

But, turns out we were there on the day that the draft horse events were ending and the quarterhorses began today, so only a few horses were in the stalls. We've petted this horse before....one of the two horses that pull the wagon at the Minnesota Zoo!


We were getting hungry so we headed to the Hamline Methodist Church dining hall. My husband had checked out the lunch possibilities before we got to the Fair. Fittingly, I had the Ham Loaf sliders and topped them off with a really tasty slice of cherry pie!


Then my husband and I went our separate ways.......he went to see some Eco exhibits and other stuff while I spent an hour and a half in the Creative Activites building. There were hundreds of gorgeous quilts, clothing, beaded items, etc. This quilt caught my eye as it is so similar to one that my great Aunt Bell made.


And this one caught my eye because of the color. A lady in a wheelchair next to me exclaimed "oh, I love the color way on this quilt" and then we saw on the big blue ribbon that it won for "Best Use of Color"!!


My favorite quilt was this one. It was absolutely gorgeous, beautiful applique and exquisite hand-quilting. It earned a blue ribbon and the Helen Kelley award. Helen was a well-known Minnesota quilter. I wish I knew who made the quilt but most items do not have a name showing. I would love to tell the maker of this quilt just how much I enjoyed seeing this!


A couple of years ago at the Fair, I saw some doll clothes that inspired me to go out and buy a kit for a 12" doll. I was so taken by the cute doll clothes and I don't have a granddaughter but I thought......I'll make a doll for me. Well, once again, someone made some adorable doll clothes, so I can see I must get that doll kit finished so I can make a cute wardrobe for it. Maybe someday I'll have a great-granddaughter and she'll enjoy playing with my doll.


My mother-in-law, Ora, was an accomplished china painter so she would have loved this beautiful piece of china. It took more than one award and I thought how lovely that they all were so color-coordinated to the piece of art!


There is always a parade in the afternoon and it started just after I left the Creative Activities building. Here's Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her court.........

Of course, there are bulls............this is a Hereford Bull.........


and big cows..........this one is a Holstein........

and here is the Minnesota Zoo wagon being pulled along by one of the horses you met earlier in this post................


There were several bands...........


and always firetrucks and a dalmation, of course!

When the parade was over, we walked along to the Horticulture building. The center of the hall looked so festive!


I checked out the ears of corn and then the flower exhibits. This one was in a category called "Lift Bridges". I liked how they used popsicle sticks to make their Lift Bridge!


And these beautiful lavendar and purple flowers caught my eye, in part because the ribbons it won matched the colors in the arrangement!


I love to check out the "seed art" and so did a lot of other people. It was crowded and I was short. ;-)


It is just amazing what artistry there is in the simple seeds that grow plants!


All day, I had been looking forward to going here.........to Rosebud's Cottage! It's located in the West End Market section of the Fair. There were so many vendors in the Market but I found just what I wanted here. More on that in another post. :-)


Then it was time for a snack. My husband wanted to ride the monorail so he went on that and I headed back to check out the horses and cows one more time. And I got a corn dog on the way there. This is the kind of "selfie" one takes when you get the giggles while taking a photo. LOL!


There were even fewer horses in the Horse building but a young lady had this pretty little horse on display. She had braided the horse's mane and it looked so pretty!


I meandered through the cattle barn where there were many, many cows to see. This pair were sleeping in almost identical positions. Had to take a photo of them............


This cow kept inching along as if to say to the other cows...."would one of you please move so I can lay down?"


And then this pair were nuzzling each other and it was just too cute. Yes, it really was.


And that was just about the end of our day. One last photo of my husband who is wearing his blue ribbon pin. He successfully visited all the historic fair buildings and earned the pin and got a print of four vintage State Fair posters. They are neat and I'm going to frame them.

It was a grand day! We've never enjoyed the Fair as much as we did today. Hope you enjoyed going along with us in our photos!
Sandi

Monday, August 11

Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop!

It's that time of the year........the statewide Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop event! Perhaps one day I will visit every shop in the state but so far that has never happened. I usually get to just a few shops. In 2010/11/&12, I was fortunate to make samples for Firefly Quilt Shop in Mankato. Every year the fabrics are so fun to see. My favorite was the snow-themed blue and white fabrics. This years fabrics were lovely but to be honest.........I wasn't shopping for Minnesota fabrics. I was in search of batiks and a certain Row-by-Row pattern. Some of you may be familiar with that event which is going on in several states from coast-to-coast. Anyway, I had just one shop in mind this year.........and that shop was Glad Creations............
It is conveniently near where my son works, so I dropped off lunch for him and his employees and then headed to the shop and found just what I was looking for....... batiks! Oh, and a bit of Moda Christmas fabric for good measure. :-) There is a fabulous wall of batiks at Glad Creations and I have visited it before but it's been sometime. To take a peek at it, just click here to check out their website and view that wall of batiks!
I got the Glad Creations Row-by-Row pattern I wanted......it's Maple Leaves and I have a plan to do a small Row-by-Row quilt in fall fabrics, one with only rows that have a Fall theme. It might be Fall before I actually get it started! While I didn't go to any other shops, I did pick up the flyer that lists all the shops. Perhaps if I'm "out and about" I may get to a few of the shops yet!


So......what does this next photo have to do with quilt shops and fabric? Well, before I ever hit the highway and headed toward the Twin Cities, I first went to Le Sueur to buy a couple dozen ears of Sasse Corn, some for us and some for my son and friends. It is the best sweet corn ever. Really!! I was born and raised in Iowa and my grandma grew and cooked great sweet corn but this corn is the best! We only discovered it two years ago but now that we know about it, we do not miss that chance to enjoy it while the sweet corn season lasts!!

And speaking of the things that last.....well, summer won't last forever and this morning's light rain and breezy afternoon felt almost like Fall! It's my favorite season and so I am anxious for it's arrival! I'm not trying to wish summer away because it has it's special effects, too.........like this glorious sunset from last Thursday evening!

We lived in a suburb of the Twin Cities for almost 33 years before we moved out here to the country. Our house sat in an area where I could never see the sunsets. Some nights, I'd drive to the south end of Prior Lake to an area where I could see the sun setting. Now all I have to do is stand on my front porch and look to the west. Lucky, aren't I? Blessed, in fact. You all have a good week now. I will be off to visit friends at nearby assisted living facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing goodies and quilts and conversation to share. More about that later this week. Now I must get back to cleaning/taming my sewing room.  :-)
Sandi
"Peace can be found in the piecing of a quilt."
©SEA 2001-2018