A day at the Fair

I'm a City girl. I grew up in a small town but I love living in or near a "Big City" with all it has to offer. The gift is that there is so much available and there's always something to do. One thing I've come to really appreciate is local, county & state fairs. They're the best. Getting the opportunity to see the hard work and really loved effort of folks who live in the country is just amazing to me. The cows & pigs and llama's and hand work just awe's me.

So yesterday dh, a friend and I went to the Dutchess County Fair (http://www.dutchessfair.com/). There's one booth that we have lunch each year because we like the food and the folks behind the counter. We arrived at just the right time yesterday because breakfast and lunch were both choices, our friend had breakfast, we had lunch. A great deal for sure. Many of the vendors are the same each year and they have new items with them. At last years fair I bought two hand-knit woolen sweaters one for me and one for my as yet to be born nephew (he's 7 1/2 months now!) Thankfully I have a very talented friend as she took up the sleeves for me. I'm so grateful!!

The fairgrounds has a permanent exhibit of locally made or locally used items in the "medium technology" range. These would be thinks like an old maytag washer where you'd have to crank the handle to get as much water out of the clothing before hanging it out on the line and a display of an old mercantile. In two separate displays there were Singer treadle sewing machines. The older Singers were beauties and many made in Elizabethport, NJ. They are pretty machines from the craftsmanship to the beautiful decal work.

I own a Model 15 from made June 14, 1910 that began life as a treadle. My dream is to have it restored. I also have a Model 15 from the 1950's. How they changed over the years! These are probably the only Singer sewing machines I will ever own, and they're pretty.

I also was able to chat with a woman I see every year at the fair and maybe another quilt show or two. We talk for a few minutes and then move on. It's a quilter thing. I learned this year two things 1) she knows how to quilt using Lixiun Newmans method and she let me stand over her shoulder and watch for a few minutes. While I think there will be a learning curve I'm more confident than ever to tackle this method of hand quilting and 2) about quilt shows - she's the co-chair for the Dutchess Quilt Show (http://www.dhquiltshow.org/). What a coup! I picked her brain for a few moments for some information for the Village Squares 2008 show. I have some things to think about and present to my co-chair and committee. How things work is sometimes just amazing!

Happy quilting!

Teri