2019 NC State Fair

I'm working on the 7 pieces that I've entered into this year's NC State Fair. I'll have photos and more details after the judging. Here's the status of the projects:

-- Hand-knitted baby sweater: just needs buttons sewn on

-- Crocheted shawl: finished and blocked, just needs yarn tails sewn in

-- Crocheted edging on tea towel: about half finished

-- Crocheted table runner: about half finished...it's filet crochet so will need some strong blocking to get the open areas to square up

-- Tatted edging on pillowcase: needs to be attached to the pillowcase...sometimes that takes about a long as the tatting

-- Framed tatted piece: just barely started

-- Holiday card with tatting: haven't even decided on the design...if I bail on any project, it will probably be this one

October 10 is the first day to submit the pieces so I'm optimistic that I have enough time left to finish everything.

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Sept. 26 Update: I finished the crochet table runner and it's being blocked now. Next up is attaching the tatting to the pillowcase, So far 3 out of 7 entries finished.

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Oct. 2 Update: 3 pieces finished & tagged: crocheted shawl, knitted baby sweater, crocheted table runner. 3 pieces in final stages: pillowcase edging still being attached to pillow (boy, sewing these edgings on takes forever!), tea towel motifs finished & need to be attached to the towel, tatted piece for greeting card finished & needs to be blocked before assembling onto card stock. Still need to decide what I'm going to make for the framed tatting entry.

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Oct. 3 Update: Finished the crocheted edging on a tea towel. The combination of the motifs in the edging made the final work my own design. One of the goals I have in doing these Fair projects is to challenge myself in some way. This piece required attaching small parts to the main crocheted edging. I tried three different methods before I settled on one that looked the best while still joining all the parts securely.

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Oct 4 Update: Tatting motif for the framed entry is finished and being blocked. All that will be needed is to put it in the frame I already had in my stash.
Tatting for the holiday card entry is finished and blocked. All that is needed is to glue it onto card stock.
Still working on sewing the tatted edging onto the pillowcase. Boy, it is so tedious, but also so necessary. Then all that will be left is to resew the pillowcase hem to hide all the stitching.

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Oct 9 Update: Tatted edging finally sewn onto the pillowcase and the piece is washed, ironed, and ready for submission.
The holiday card created a problem...nothing to do with the tatting or assembling. The rules require that cards be protected in a clear envelope. I thought this would be something I could buy at Staples or in the card making area in A.C. Moore. No luck at either place. If I ever have an entry in this category, maybe I can find these envelopes online. But no time for that at this time. I found a sleeve of stickers on the clearance rack at A.C. Moore that was in packaging about the same size as the card stock I'm using. So I ended up pay a dollar or so for stickers I didn't need to get the packaging that I did need. Even then, I had to make some adjustments because the envelope was longer than I needed. Hate it when the competition rules require something that (1) has nothing to do with making the piece itself and (2) creates about as much work/aggravation as did making the entry piece.
Well, enough ranting. All 7 entries are finished and ready for the fair. Tomorrow is the first day to submit entries. It will be a relief to get everything out of the house so I can work on less stressful projects. Nonetheless, there are positive benefits for entering the competitions. I think it pushes me to work more on my crafting and problem-solving skills and try things that are a bit out of my comfort zone. I learn new things each year when I work on these entries.