No Ribbons on My Rugs :(

Well, I went to the Kentucky State Fair today on my lunch hour and to my surprise there were no ribbons on my rugs... :( I was really bummed. I felt sure that I had a winner of one ribbon or another this year. Whoever was in charge at the Fair this year in displaying the rugs did a pitiful job. My table runner was rolled up (along with some of the other table runners) and you could only see about 1/5th of the rug. The pumpkin rug was thrown over a rod in a glass case and you couldn't really see the whole rug. The only rug you could see entirely was the pomegranate rug which displayed well. I've decided not to enter any more rugs in the Fair. Apparently the judges don't like my work or the way I hook. Either way, I was very disappointed and so I went shopping after work and bought myself some new pumpkins to go with the 16 tubs of pumpkins I already own... probably didn't really need any more, but I'm in love with pumpkins so I can always use a few more!!

I appreciate the positive comments I received about my rugs. At least someone liked them!!

Sharon

Tomorrow's the Big Day

Tomorrow I'm going out to the Fairgrounds at the Kentucky State Fair to see if I've won any ribbons!! I hope that I have, but won't know until I get there. I'll be disappointed if I don't because I worked really hard on the three rugs I turned in this year. My style is different than anyone else's around my area. It's called higgledy piggledy which is a more random style of hooking than hooking in rows like most hookers prefer to hook. It's definitely a unique style and not too many hookers use this style of hooking. Deanne Fitzpatrick hooks in a style of hooking similar to this if you've ever seen her rugs or videos.

I changed the background on my blog today. I'm pleased with how it looks. I'm so ready for fall!! I only hope we actually get to have a fall season. After having such a hot sweltering summer, we're probably not going to have much of a fall season and will probably go right into winter. Ugh!! We had snow on the ground for 2 months last year which is highly unusual for this area. I hope we don't have a repeat of that again this year... :(

I'll post again tomorrow to let you know about the results of my rugs in the competition at the Fair!! Thanks for the nice comments about my rugs.

Sharon

Pictures of My 3 New Rugs - Taken to The Fair Today!

Here are pictures of the 3 rugs I entered in the Kentucky State Fair today. I won't know until Thursday of this week whether they will win any ribbons. I'm extremely proud of my rugs this year. I think they all turned out great, but then I am a little biased...

The first rug is the rug I tried to get finished in time for last year's Kentucky State Fair and it just didn't happen. It is adaptation from a Blackbird Designs pattern called Autumn's Grand Finale. I really love this rug and am glad I was able to enter it this year.

The second rug is a table runner and is adapted from a Sally Van Nuys pattern which was featured a few years back in the Create and Decorate magazine. She used a dark wool for her background, but I chose a plaid for mine and it made the background of the runner very different than the original pattern. I think it turned out well, and of course, I adpated it to suit my tastes.

The last rug is a white luminary pumpkin. Pumpkins are my favorites and I can't wait to hang this up next month along with my other fall decorations!!

I always draw my own patterns even if I have a pattern to go by. That makes my patterns my own as I "tweak" them as I hook them. As you can see, I lean toward the primitives which is how I decorate my home. I really love the creativity that rug hooking gives me. I'm so glad I've found rug hooking, but wish I had known about it sooner!

I'm going to have to stop hooking for a while as I have several fall craft shows coming up and I have to have stitcheries, wool felt pillows, penny rugs, pincushions, ornaments, etc. ready for the shows and must get busy with these items to have them ready in time.

I hope you like the rugs. Feel free to leave me comments to let me know what you think. I've only been hooking 3 years in November, but am very proud of what I've accomplished in my rug hooking. I'll let you know later in the week regarding the results of whether I won any ribbons at the Fair!!

Sharon

A Very Good Weekend - Rug Hooking, Pig Roast and a Picnic

Finally, a good weekend! The hot weather finally broke some and the humidity wasn't so bad. It was still hot, but with the lower humidity, it was much more enjoyable outside. I was off on Friday to take care of some things at home. My significant other and I went to Bass Pro to buy some hunting boots for his brother who was on vacation. We went to Cracker Barrel for a nice breakfast and then came home to cut down a dead tree in my yard. He works 2nd shift so he went to work and I worked the rest of the day on finishing one of my rugs for the Kentucky State Fair. The finished rugs are due to be turned in next weekend before the Fair starts. So it's down to crunch time!!

Then on Saturday, I worked again on my rug while I was fixing some picnic food to take to a pig roast. We went to the pig roast which was about 1 hour away from home. We had a good time and the potluck food that everyone brought was awesome - especially this potato casserole with bacon on top (yum) and this incredible homemade pecan pie (double yum!!).

This morning we went to a local Catholic picnic and then to my significant other's brother's farm for him to help his nephew do some work on the farm. I worked again on my rug trying to get it finished in time for next weekend. When they were finished working, we came home and went over to his brother's to see his great niece who's 7 months old. She is the sweetest thing. I didn't get to see her last weekend, and I was having a bad case of withdrawal... I had a bad week, but she always makes me feel better. She's changed a lot in 2 weeks and is talking up a storm. Babies are good medicine when you're feeling down!

So basically it was a pretty busy weekend. Unless something crazy happens, I'll have my rugs ready to turn in next weekend to the Fair. I hope they do well this year in the competition. I'd love to get ribbons on all 3... we'll have to wait until the 19th to see how the judging goes. There's a lot of heavy competition in rug hooking in my area and some amazing rugs are entered in the Fair. I always think mine are worthy of blue ribbons, but then I don't do the judging!! I'll post some pics before I turn them in at the Fair.

Hope everyone has a good week. It's supposed to heat up again here... can't wait!!

Sharon