More surprises were in store as I went back to the fair again on Friday and Saturday. This little beaded Christmas ornament was one of those last minute ideas that I put together the day before the entry turn-in day. It is difficult to see, as most of the beads are clear. It has a line of beads on a straight wire to three green ones, then another wire makes a swirl around the central line. I was gobsmacked to see a third place ribbon on it in the Christmas Ornaments category in Crafts.
Between turning in my dishes for the cooking competitions, and looking for my entries, we did have some time to see the sights of the fair. This little calf in the Mooternity Ward was only about 4 hours old, and just finding his feet. He was doing a little bit of jumping around, then almost falling over. So cute.
Also in the category of cuteness, the Otter Adventure is a new addition to the fair this year. This was their first show ever, and the presentation was a bit rough, but the otters were adorable.
Back to the exhibits, several of my Autumn Jubilee projects from last year won ribbons, although neither of my quilts published in magazines placed. It was fun that Twinkle Twinkle Pumpkin Star (renamed Evening Harvest for the magazine) was hanging front and center as you came in the Expo building. That pattern is now in my Etsy store. On the side wall, under the Senior Citizen Crafts sign, you can see the table topper from last October’s Autumn Jubilee. It didn’t place either, lest you think that everything I enter gets a ribbon. I certainly don’t win all the time, and it wouldn’t be fun if I did. The anticipation and challenge is the fun part.
My Autumn Elegance Quilt published in the Fall 2022 issue of Quilts and More Magazine didn’t place either. The ones that did win were much more custom quilted than mine. I just need to step up my game with more free motion quilting next year.
The wool acorns got a first place in the category of Amateur Handcrafts using Natural Materials. The acorn caps are from our yard.
My Autumn Jubilee purse, and my flying geese placemats didn’t place. But, the embroidered bag from last year’s Autumn Jubilee won first in the Machine Embroidered Item category in Crafts.
New this year, the Crafts division added a Paper Crafts category. I entered two of my Autumn inspired cards with envelopes, and got a first place.
At the cooking competition Thursday evening, so many people at the Blueberry Contest wanted a taste of my tart, that I only came home with about a quarter of it. My Sweet Babboo has almost polished it off. I did promise you the recipe, so here it is. Click on Blueberry Honey Tart.
The dairy contest was Friday night, but my entry did not place. We walked around a little that night to get a few pictures for the next fair’s photography contest. I like this one that shows the mountains behind the rides I will never get on!
Saturday started early, as I had to get my Apple contest entry to the fair at 10 am. I turned in my cake, then went to walk around a bit more. Unfortunately, I was wearing my long dress for working the log cabin heritage crafts booth, and somehow a couple of bees got under the skirt. They stung me in two spots on my back, so I spent 20 minutes in the first aid center. Luckily I am not allergic, but boy did it hurt. So, when they released me, I went straight back to the contest area and read a book for the last half hour of judging. There were 14 apple desserts in competition. Then the announcements, and I won first place!! That made me feel better!
I made an Apple Upside Down cake, that is topped at serving with Salted Caramel sauce. My little secret, I used apple juice instead of water in the cake batter. Yes, I know you want this recipe too – Apple Upside Down Cake. So many of the contestants wanted to taste it than I came home with less than half a cake. But I had to just pack it up at that point, as My Sweet Babboo wasn’t with me and I had to save him some. He loves apples with cinnamon.
I have to tell you this fun story. The young man on the right in the photo below is Justin, and this was his first ever cooking competition. He made an absolutely delicious apple cheesecake with an oat crumble topping. You should have seen his face when his entry was announced first as an honorable mention. He was ecstatic, and just beamed with his ribbon, showing it to everyone individually as he went back to his seat. Then, after the pictures, he had to give us all a taste of his dish. He was a delight, and so much fun to see the joy in his eyes. We all gave him a round of applause, which made him stand even taller than he is! I hope to see him again next year.
After the cooking contest, I went over to the log cabin that has the heritage crafts to work my shift in the afternoon. Our two Hendersonville guilds do a booth together to sell tickets to our raffle quilt fundraisers.
I didn’t want to haul a machine down there, so I took a handwork project. This is Sashiko. Our guild had a program on it and I took the workshop. I need to finish the embroidery part and then assemble the little bag that was in my workshop kit. The lighting in the cabin is making this look purple, but the actual color is a deep indigo blue. It is marked in white carbon paper, and is partly stitched in thick white thread. I got another partial row done, but we were too busy to get far. The idea was just to have some sewing going as people stopped by.
So, I stitched and chatted with a friend working the booth with me, chatted with strangers as they came by to buy raffle tickets, and enjoyed working my shift. I was glad to get home, it has been a very busy 10 days! I’ll be back on Monday to assist with taking down the quilts from the ceiling, and organizing them for pickup.
So, whew. Today will be spent in my chair, watching football games and recuperating. How’s your weekend going?
Special Deal today only at Fat Quarter Shop! Use coupon code JR22 to save 20% OFF select Jelly Rolls and 2.5″ strips. See the Precuts of the week, and don’t forget the daily Flash Sale.
Sulky Threads is having a 25% Off Notions sale for the September Sewing Month. Hurry this sale ends at midnight.
From My Carolina Home 
Congrats on your Apple Upside Down Cake, Carole!!! I enjoyed reading all your fair stories!!!
Congratulations on all of your success!!! I can’t wait to try your recipes – I see good eating in my future. Thanks! ~Jeanne
years ago I entered a quilt two years in a row one year I got Best of Show and the next first place – back then I was told the judges always selected hand quilted quilts for the wins – I wonder what they do now as so few hand quilt – I am wondering if you saw any hand quilted quilts at your fair?
Wow, so much fun! Very exciting to have your Apple cake get first place. I think you definitely deserve a day of football. 😊
This weekend was spent canning salsa and today will be full of hockey as 2 of my kids have practice and 1 game. It’s my 5 year olds first time out on the ice so hoping it goes well. Hopefully big brother will be patient enough with him.
What a grand time you had at the State Fair! I traveled down to see my mom yesterday and drove her all around the state fairgrounds (the fair was held in August). The fairgrounds are 445 acres and contain a lot of fabulous historic buildings. She had not been there in a number of years. There are a lot of events there throughout the year.
That blueberry tart looks delicious. I tried a new recipe this year for blueberry lemon jam that is wow-wee delicious!
I decided to retire in a couple months and my grandson thinks I should start a blog.
This was your year Carole! Congratulations on all your success this year!
Congratulations Carole on winning a First place ribbon on your Apple cake! But all looks extremely yummy! So sorry to hear about you getting stung, OUCH! And so glad you are not allergic like me! I have had to stop w/making any crafts right now due to my boyfriend’s 93 yr old mother getting ready to move in the house ( which I am not to happy about & he really isn’t either). So he is giving it a 2 mth trial & if she can’t comply & continues to order us around, well then, she goes to a nursing home. To make room for her we had to sell our big leather couch, which left the house yesterday. We have been busy cleaning & removing other furniture down to the basement, where I made extra room for it & my craft supplies from the apt that I am suppose to be living at. ( which is another huge issue I’m dealing with, no thanks to the landlord). I make a variety of crafts & never know what I will make next. I did finish up making a paper folio folder w/blues & greens & have another started using yellow & pink. Have also finished a Halloween pocket page. This is a collectible & sometimes are traded amongst friends. I have 2 Junk Journals that I am currently working on when not organizing & cleaning. One of them is a black & white journal & the other ( you are going to ❤️ this) is a farm theme for when my daughter lived in Sylva, NC. I fell in love w/her home & her surroundings. Her house sat on a mtn & when you sat on her front porch you could almost touch the mtn across the street. This book is a surprise for her but I am enjoying reliving her house & its surroundings while making this book. If she doesn’t like, I will be happy to keep it for myself! One more thing, my German grandmother, who has passed, use to compete in the fair. Every year she would win first prize for her fudge cake w/fudge icing. When I was 6 yr old she made this for my birthday & every year after that , that was the only cake I wanted & got til now. Now I don’t get a cake @ all😢. I still have the recipe & have never made it 🤷🏻♀️. Would ❤️ to see you enter this in one of your fairs & see if you win First Prize! Anyway, I will have to locate the recipe before I can share. Sincerely, Judy Andrew PS. I loved trying to catch those lizards @ my daughters house, sure made me feel like a kid again! But then I am young @ heart & always have been & will continue.
Congrats on all your wins, Carole! Well deserved. That Apple Upside Down Cake sounds great. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Beautiful pictures! Especially liked the one of you holding the apple cake. It seems to catch your beauty outside and inside. And, I think you may have a winner for next year’s photo. Congratulations for 10 days of making others happy.
What a fun time. Lucky you for winning. Many of these projects you worked on all year and carefully assembled them in attractive colors and finished them.
congratulations on all of your awards!
Great photos, Carole and what a fun time. Congratulations on your wins and the Apple Upside Down Cake looks delicious! Enjoy your day of rest, I think you deserve it!
Congratulations! What a nice variety of awards. The needle felted acorns are so precious.
Make sure Oliver doesn’t see them. Sorry to hear about the bee sting. Bees & wasps are quite troublesome now that their pollen & nectar sources are waning. They were plentiful at a harvest event we attended last week, harassing the live band. Watch out Mountain State Fair, Justin’s back home now planning recipes for next year.
You really had a great fair….except for the nasty bees. I’m glad you will get a day of rest to recharge the creative juices for next year’s fair! 😉
My goodness you had a very well rounded group of entries and wins. That blueberry tart looks spectacular, and so does the apple upside cake. Genius with the drizzle!
Congratulations again! I cringed at the bee story- I had a scorpion get under my jeans years ago and it brought back memories of the pain – yikes! Thank goodness you’re not allergic (I’m not allergic to scorpions either, but their bites hurt). The apple upside down cake sounds wonderful, another one my husband wants me to try. I think you’re his favorite ‘virtual’ person because you post good recipes for me to make for him 🙂 I love the story of the young man and his ribbon, I hope he comes back next year! Thanks for sharing the fair with us, it is so much fun 🙂
Oh boy, that Apple Upside Down Cake looks and sounds amazing. Grabbed both recipes, thank you! Cute story about the young man. The excitement, especially bringing in the younger crowd, is what it’s all about!
It sounds like you had great fun at this year’s fair (aside from the bee stings)! I loved the story of the young man with his first baking entry. Congratulations on all your ribbons!
I’m so sorry you got a couple of bee stings, and I’m glad you are not allergic to them. It sounds like the rest of the day went well and kept your mind off the stings. Rest and recuperation sound like a great plan for today; take care!
My goodness…Justin is heads above eveyone else.
Blue does seem to be your color this fair and thanks for the recipes. I like simple .
What a great fair! And your wins are impressive. The weather could not have better. I remember when the fair first started- it was so small and now look at it! Congrats!!
Mary Ed
I love your endless energy! And oh my…the raffle quilts…you need to sell tickets online for those of us that can’t make it to your local fair. Autumn is approaching here in western Washington and I had our grandson mow what little green grass we have but mostly to pick up the leaves that are falling. Then the evening was spent on a craft night with the family girls making our choice of Halloween projects. Lastly, I printed your recipes for our Tuesday noon garden club and evening quilt guild meetings.
Absolutely great results from your hard work. So excited for you – and Justin! School is back in session, had a block party, then a neighbor brunch today – something good has come out of the pandemic – neighbors helping neighbors – and lots of quilt!!!!!
Thanks
Big congratulations for all your ribbons, Carole! Love the story of the guy with the apple cheesecake, it sounded like a real winner!
I’ve been doing some landscape gardening, mostly working on the new grass areas, but trimmed a few annuals back. Still too soon for pansies.
Congratulations on your Fair wins! I loved seeing your quilts Tuesday when we visited the fair, and especially your winning jacket — it was beautiful! I’m hoping to get inspired by the quilts and crafts to get started again on my projects, as it seems I always get distracted by everything during the summer!
Congratulations! I love it when you win because you end up even more creative to top this year’s submissions. Even better, we get to try along as you test new things. Thank you for sharing the process. And thank you for the recipes!!!
Aside from the bee stings, sounds like a wonderful day at the Fair! I’ve printed off your two prize winning recipes. Easy peasy, but I need to stalk our grocery store for some of that Smuckers Salted Caramel Sauce. I also need it for your other apple recipe that you provided recently. I have the feeling that it might also make its way into some of my coffee sometimes.
Congratulations on your wins! Truly, I enjoy your blog so much. It’s always warm and welcoming and interesting. Even though I don’t always comment, please know that I always enjoy each one.
My husband is on a strenuous hike today so I’m headed downstairs to work on my various quilt projects. In the evenings I do English Paper Piecing or knitting. I’ve started a sweater for winter. We watched Michigan win by a landslide, their game last night and Michigan State lose theirs, terribly. For Pro Football we watch the Rams and the Lions when we can catch those games. My home town is Los Angeles, home State is CA, and my second home town is Ann Arbor MI. We love that Matthew Stafford is now on the Rams team, or at least I love it. Beats the Detroit Lions who never won much of anything for the 23 years I lived in Michigan. His cumulative injuries may mean he won’t be playing for many more years, but while he does, he has my vote, no matter what team he plays on.
Carole, you have outdone yourself this year, and your SB is going to make a rack to hold all those ribbons. I’ve made copies of both the blueberry tart and the apple upside down cake and look forward to making them both. My husband just loves blueberry anything and we both love apple baked goods. This must have been a banner year for you or close to it. Hope you had a restful day!
Thank you so much for the recipes and CONGRATULATIONS on all your ribbons! I’m so glad you had such a good time at the fair…you are beaming in your photos (but sorry about your bee stings).
So enjoyed your post today. Adventures at the fair! Congratulations on your wins, places, shows and entries in so many different categories. So ambitious and so happy to see all your entries. I saved your recipes because they are simple and sound so tasty. I do have a wonderment. Have you tried the blueberry honey tart with frozen berries? Sometimes recipes are just not the same when you don’t have fresh berries at hand.
Carole, I don’t know anyone who maxed out a fair more than you have this one. Congratulations on all your wins. The apple, especially, had to be extra welcome after those awful bee stings. I can’t think of much worse so I’m glad that there was some joy in the day. It looks like more than a little bit of joy. Well done!
You have had a very successful show with a wide range of crafts too. Thankyou for your prize winning recipes and so easy to make. Loved to hear the story of Justin’s near win. Let’s hope he is enthused enough to return next year to more success,
Sorry to read of your bee stings – not pleasant at all.
Now you can have some well earned relaxation before getting ready for the next round of fun celebrations on the calendar. :))
More ribbons, congratulations! What a shame about the bee stings, sounds rather nasty. Guess you didn’t know they were under your long dress until they tried to find their way out, stinging as they went. Many thanks for sharing your recipes.
When a show hangs your quilt in a prominent place, that’s a signal that its beautiful and will attract more folks to the display. Congratulations on all your ribbons. I salute you for participating with all your heart!
Congratulations on your ribbons! I like the idea of sharing the baked goodies with others, it sounds like fun!
Congratulations on all your entries, Carole, ribbons or not. Quite a big accomplishment, and seems you enter more each year in so many categories and I love the stories, photographs, and pictures of your entries. My DH also loves applies and cinnamon, so that’s one recipe I want to make for him asap. Rest up when the work is done. You deserve big kudos!!
More ribbons, wow Carole! So many entries, your fingers are never idle! Congratulations, your Apple Cake sound delicious!
Jenna
Congratulations on all your ribbons and even on the entries that didn’t get prizes. They’re all beautiful.
Wow! How awesome and congrats on your wins! Loved seeing the photos and all your fun. I am going to thy your apple upside down cake -Thank you for the recipe!
Your fair always looks like so much fun.
Congratulations on all your ribbons. And i hope the swelling from the bee stings has gone and that you are okay.
congrats on your prizes……..you put so much effort in…….hope you sold lots of tickets for your groups…