One down, one to go

Mrs G’s Hardanger has ribbons for First place, Best of Division, Sweepstake, Class Winner, and Excellence

Last year Mrs. Gimlet submitted a piece of her Hardanger embroidery to the Puyallup Fair (Western Washington State Fair) and received a second place ribbon.  This year she decided to submit items to both the large Puyallup Fair and the smaller Monroe Fair (Evergreen State Fair).  I remembered the Monroe Fair from my teen years when my brother and I would spend time during the summer on a dairy farm not too far from Monroe.  The Sandersons always exhibited animals that they had raised so we looked forward to attending the fair as part of our country summer.  While I do try to get to the Puyallup Fair most years I had not been to the Monroe Fair for a very, very long time. 

Today was the opening day of the Monroe Fair and Mrs. G was anxious to see how her embroidery piece was judged.  As an added bonus if we could get there before noon admission was free (for the first day only).  It is between 45 minutes and an hour to drive from Seattle depending on traffic.  With Thing Two in the back seat as my own personal GPS system, naming off the highway numbers and connecting streets, we made the journey just fine and in plenty of time.  And here shown above is what greeted us at the exhibition hall—

It was a nice outing that included Fisher’s famous scones as well as all those lovely ribbons.  Mrs G noticed, however, that the piece had been mounted for display with the reverse side showing!  I guess that means the back was as beautiful as the front and that is saying quite a bit with embroidery work.  It was stapled to the mounting board and covered with protective plastic so there was no way we could rectify the situation.  It is still absolutely stunning backward or not. 

Anyway, I hope she will put something up on her own Sinister Craftiness blog so watch for it.  Recognizing that some think “pride” is a dirty word, nevertheless, I am a very proud Mama right now.  She did extremely well indeed.  The piece that is going to the Puyallup Fair is the blessing/christening gown that I posted pictures of previously.  It is spectacular too, therefore, we are all hoping that it will garner some ribbons.  The Puyallup Fair opens in September.