Montana State Fair Quilts

The ladies who set up the quilting at the Montana State Fair felt that people don't look carefully at the quilts so they created an I-Spy contest where each day someone would win tickets to the grandstand that evening.  When I was looking, there were lots of women, children, and one man happily ticking off the items as they spotted them.

 

 

I believe this next one won Best of Show.

Here's the note which goes with the next two photos.  It must have been important for the woman to create this but the fabric was very fragile and in places it wasn't even clean.  I don't think the quilt will hold together for long.

 

I've seen this Harry Potter pattern before,  but still love it.

I couldn't get a photo of this whole cloth quilt to do it justice but here are a few close-ups of parts of it.  It is exquisite and it won for best hand quilting.

The middle part of this next quilt is done in metallic and there are crystals studded throughout the quilt.

Here's a different take on doing a crazy quilt.

This next one is done entirely from silk ties!  It's amazing.

I love the colored thread on the black on this bright quilt.

There weren't as many quilts with machine embroidery at this fair compared to the fairs we have been at in the past few years, but this one is cute.

This quilt won for best machine quilting.



Here's great use of Dr. Seuss fabrics.

This last picture is a bit of a quilt which won for best machine embroidery.

North Dakota State Fair Quilts

Bob and I stopped at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot and there was an impressive array of quilts.  Here's a little "sightseeing" for you.

I couldn't spot whether this quilt was an entry or not and think probably not as it was the only one crumpled up to highlight other entries.  It's a cute quilt though as each butterfly is made from a handkerchief.

The quilts were displayed well with the hung ones not too high and the ones on the tables below covered with plastic so no one could touch.  It interfered with picture taking, but kept the pieces safe.

The next quilt won Best of Show and deservedly so.  Everything about it was totally wonderful.

 

 

 

This next one didn't appeal to me a lot but I do love the thematic quilting on it.

 

 

I love Margaret Rolfe paper-pieced animals so this next one caught my eye.

My sister gave me this same panel and I've been wondering what to do with it

 so this gave me an idea.

I couldn't get a good picture of the quilt which has this block as I got too much glare from the plastic, but I've seen the pattern for these quilt barns a number of times and have the quilt

on my "someday" list.

A "one block wonder" is also on my someday list.

 

This last one is from the 4-H exhibits in another hall.  I'm a bit skeptical that a 15 year old created it but I'm not sure how much help 4-H-ers are allowed on their projects.  I've got more about the 4-H exhibits on my personal blog at www.brendaswitwalking.blogspot.ca as I am in awe of all that I saw in that exhibit area.

I hope you're all getting lots of sewing done while I've been picking weeds and saskatoons, shelling peas, thinning carrots and beets, and just generally trying to keep up with my yard.