We managed to get to the State Fair for a few hours one evening. I found my “quilt on a stick” The ones that won ribbons were lovely, but very traditional quilt sorts of patterns. The butter princess sculptures were near where Andy got ice cream at the dairy barn. The “spaghetti & meatballs on a stick” looked yucky, but we had to take a picture. The lamb was in the baby animals barn and was about half a day old. So cute and sleepy.

The Minnesota State Fair prides itself on being the home of 59 different foods on a stick. No kidding! Check out the video or the official “food finder” site. Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, the Creative Activities section of the fair decided to add a new category this year – “Quilt on a Stick”. To qualify, your quilt must be 8×9 inches, consist of a minimum of three layers that are hand or machine stitched together, and have a sleeve on the back, which holds a paint stir stick. At the last minute, our entire staff at work decided to enter our quilts-on-a-stick! The category has several ribbon and cash prizes associated with it. How can you resist entering, with the possibility of being able to say “I won a blue ribbon for Quilt on a Stick”?

My entry is above. It is titled “Wallflower”. (Although it is not present in the photo, it does indeed sport a stick.) I intended it to be a bit of a mystery and it has stumped some of its viewers, who haven’t picked up on what exactly they are looking at. Leave a comment by August 21 (Fair opening day) with what you see in my “quilt on a stick” and I will award a prize of Kitchy State Fair Goodness to a random winner.

Out of curiousity, I counted how many silk cuffs I have sold though my etsy shop and came up to more than 70. Wow! I looked back through the photos and thought about how much I really like making these. Each one is different, but all beautiful.

* Since the last post, I have supervised 7 more camps, finished the Fall class schedule with 30+ classes, attended 2 work related parties, and designed a postcard.

* The power cord for my iPod died, 3 weeks after its warranty was up. Happily it was just the cord and that was easy to replace.

* The photo is a “doggie bag” that Rachel and Andy designed for one of my classes. I gave them the idea and they figured out how to make it. Cute huh?

* We went walking to see the petroglyphs near my sister’s house. Lot’s of pretty wildflowers in the meadow.

* Today we are planning to sit in the back yard and read. That’s all.

we made:
handdyed fabric
bean bags
wet felted pictures
cat purses
animal pictures from fabric
felt bugs to watch your plants
handspun yarn “cotton candy”
washcloths
knit tiny blankets
played in the scrap bin
learned to thread sewing machines
cut out 12 pairs of pajama pants
… and we still have a day to go!

Did the Science Museum’s Star Wars exhibit with my dad this weekend.
* The wookie costumes are amazing. The detail is unreal.
* Princess Leia wears double knit polyester.
* It was an honor to study Yoda up close.
* Thank you to the exhibit designers that made the display so that you could see the Milennium Falcon model from about 8 inches away. Details need to be appreciated.

We saw an exhibit of Muppets when it came to the Childrens’ Museum here several years ago and I have to say, nothing compares to seeing Ogra (from the Dark Crystal) for sheer “wow”, not even Yoda. She gave me chills.