Ventura County Fair--Home Arts Review

As promised, I'm sharing more from the Home Arts department of the Ventura County Fair.  Lots of different crafts are displayed every year.  Our guild had a good number of entries and wins, which was nice to see. 

Sarah designs all her quilts in a CAD program and her piecing is very precise.  She is good at turning out finished quilts rapid fire.  This may be because she isn't married and doesn't have kids :)

This modern quilt by Cathy is very pleasing to the eye, I think, with the limited palette of colors and repeated shapes.  That very close straight line quilting is not easy to do.

This entrant is from the far border of the County but I love this mid-century colorway and the fun shapes likely made with the Quick Curve Ruler (same as I used for my Metro Twist baby quilt). 

On the more traditional side, this darling pieced quilt rightfully earned a 1st place ribbon.  I don't know if this was from a book (Farmer's Wife, maybe?) or self-designed, but I love all the different pieced blocks. with a little applique here and there. 

This beautifully pieced quilt is from another frequent Fair entrant, always with amazing work.

Wonderful scrappy hummingbirds and hand quilting. It may have been hand-pieced, as well.

Another terrific scrappy pieced quilt.  I am not usually drawn to blue quilts but really love this block.  This quilter is also very talented and I have seen her work at many local shows.  

Sweepstakes winner was this HUGE intricate pieced quilt with lots of great colors and a million sharp points.  I can only imagine how many hundreds of hours went into this.  It was hung high on the wall so I could not see or photograph the quilting well.  Not to mention the terrible lighting in this barn of a building. 

A pieced and appliqued beauty won the Special Fair Award.  I wish they had not stacked a bunch of other items in front of it so I could see the whole thing, but it was beautifully made.  The outer checkerboard border was kind of a surprise, but nice and scrappy.  

I loved this tomato pincushion quilt!  I don't know what style to call this, there was a pieced background almost colorwash type, and appliqued pieces and shapes scattered over it.  The pins sure look 3D.  I plan to take another look at this when I return to the Fair on Friday. 

Non-quilted items that caught my eye included this adorable hooked rug of a cat holding a mouse.  A lot of hours were devoted to this project!  

And how about this fun crocheted blanket with dimensional animals.  The walrus kills me.

Weaving and spinning were represented.  These are just a few of the entries in that category.

Again with the bad lighting and reflections, but this was a very well done portrait, in charcoal I think, or maybe pastel?

I also liked this landscape that garnered a first place.  I'll share more pictures from the Fair in  the next post.