Some of my State Fair results

10 years ago

Hi --

Some of you said you'd like to see more of my baskets, and I'm very happy to say that I just took another blue ribbon at the NY State Fair! :) This took 1st in the 'Original Design' competition. Once again, my photography leaves something to be desired. :p

With lid off you can see that I've woven a different pattern inside the basket.... this is a Cherokee weaving technique, called a double wall:

There are only two Basketry competitions and I don't know the results of the other yet. I also enter the Fiber Techniques competitions, and took 2nd place with this:

I need to find a friend who will photograph my baskets for me! I don't have the patience for it!

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Comments (13)

jude31
10 years ago
Lovely, well done, baskets! You may not have the patience to photograph but you did a fine job. Congratulations!

jude
ann_t
10 years ago
Party, your baskets are amazing. Congratulations on your wins. And there is nothing wrong with your photos. You did a wonderful job.

Ann
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John, you crack me up! Nice explanation, but as you said, there's politics and corruption aplenty out there. I know some of the plant entries got skipped and someone had to go back and rejudge! I can't go into all of what i know, b/c some of it's confidential, but leave it at it's not all a bowl of cherries. Like you, i believe Erv is actively working to make it a fairer, better show, but it's a lot of muck and years of so called tradition to cut through. I try to have fun and not get discouraged. So far every year has gotten better in some ways, so that's encouragement enough for me. Rome wasn't built in a day. Ralph, that plect was indeed 'gold coin' and it's erv's personal plant, so it won't be for sale. I asked if i could get some cuttings for you and he was more than willing. So if you can stick around til 10 when i'm allowed in, i'll get you set up! If not, i can take them and get them to you later. That day is just a wee bit hurly- burley though, so it may be best if you can be there. Besides, you'll want to get some other stuff than mums, right? :) Here's a call out to everyone- at 10am on monday, some of the gardeners will start selling at least some of their plants from their plots. Expect to pay fair price or a little less- most of us don't want to get less than we paid for a plant, tho bargains and cuttings can be had. The mum sale starts at 8 and runs til 10. The mums are cheap- $3 for up to 5 (i think) and $2 ea after that. They go fast so if you are particular, get there on the 8 am side. Adrianna, yes, the 2nd and 3rd show are less competition and you do stand a better chance to win. I normally do much better in those shows. If i'd remembered that this year i probably wouldn't have bothered entering much in the first show as my schedule was already so overloaded. I'm making a note for next year! :) Since i concentrate on arrangements, those are directly affected by how many entries there are. I do cuttings as well, but to me, they are second fiddle.
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Cameron- you can credit me as Tammy Kennedy. I should start watermarking all the photos i post online since i hope to sell some someday. It's just a hassle and i haven't gotten into the habit or that paranoid yet. I don't mind if you mention i'm tamelask on GW- it's no big secret. I'll email you a pdf of the plot board and you can get all the info you want off it. I had 130 varieties/species of plants or so in there, so you'll probably want to pare it down to the big stuff. I was tickled when we went out today to discover no mud from the 1.25" of rain we had fri eve! I adore silkies. Growing up, we had a flock of show banties and a few big ones for selling eggs- we ate the banty eggs ourselves, as well as the duck eggs. We had a few black and white silkies, among other types. It was my job before the chicken shows to wash and blow dry them to get them ready for the show. Some folks would using old fashioned blueing for the grey (so called blue) and white ones, but we never did. We were involved to have fun, show a little, meet like minded folks and get fresh eggs, never to just win. Silkies are incredibly sweet birds. Chickens in general are much smarter and lots funnier than most people give them credit for. We had one that liked to watch TV, one that liked to ride on our shoulders and 'fly' around on our hands (we'd hold her under her keel, with her legs hanging between our fingers & she'd spread her wings as we flew her like a kid does a toy airplane- it was very cute), and some other funny ones. I think most of the time the flock numbered around 40, 70 or so at the top end. I'd have chickens in a heartbeat now, but we have parrots and there are certain diseases that pass back & forth, so we don't. I do miss really fresh eggs, though. Brian- rootbeer plant, huh? I'll have to ck that out. hadn't heard of that. I have the plant/vine that makes black peppercorns, but so far it's not too impressive.
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That's very interesting! I don't have any suggestions (and no longer live in MN). I'm on the Keweenaw Peninsula on the Michigan U.P. and our climate is a little more moderate. We planted two quince bushes this past spring and they seem to be doing well so far. I'd have to look at the tags though, to be able to tell you varieties, and of course have no history to go on yet and again, the slightly different climate. I'll be watching this thread with interest though!
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He used Alaska Peas. We chose this because 1) I had it on hand already, and 2) they had the fastest germination speed(about 7 days per the package) of any of the seed packs I had. The project had to be done start to finish in one month, so germination speed was important.
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mustangs81
10 years ago
I didn't know that was possible by hand!!! Well, I know basket weaving goes back thousands of years but I had no idea that such talent still existed. Just beautiful! The cat is pretty too.

What material do you use?
dedtired
10 years ago
Oh my goodness, they are lovely. You are very talented to be ab;e to do that. Love them.
annie1992
10 years ago
Those are lovely and I can only imagine the time it takes to make one. I really expected the cat to be sitting in the basket on that second picture, though, LOL.

Congratulations on your success at the Fair, you deserved it with those baskets.

Annie
compumom
10 years ago
Congratulations on your well-deserved ribbons! You are extremely talented and patient! Find a friend with a light booth, a macro lens and you'll be set! Although I must say that you're doing quite well on your own!
User
10 years ago
Congrats on your Wins
party_music50
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments! The baskets are actually at the fairgrounds to go on display when it opens on Thursday.... the photos were taken by me shortly after I finished weaving them, only because I knew I intended to enter them in the Fair. If I don't take the photo then, I usually forget until they're tagged and packaged for shipping. lol! I'm sure I didn't mean to get just 1/2 of a cat in that photo -- but all 4 cats do love to spend their time in the baskets I make for them! :O)

Mustangs, I've read that there are approximately 10,000 basket weavers in the US. I have no idea where the number comes from! it's not like weavers have to get a license and be registered to be counted or anything. lol!

I'm sorry, I should have provided more info on the materials used. The first basket is woven from reed... natural, dyed, and smoked. It is commonly referred to as wicker, and comes from the interior part of the rattan vine. The inner-bark of rattan is what's called cane and is used to weave cane chairs.

The miniature basket is handwoven from 4-ply Irish waxed linen. It is thicker than ordinary sewing thread, but much thinner than embroidery thread. Yes, it really strains my eyes and therefore I can only work about an hour at a time on these before needing a break. These miniatures typically take me more than a month to make.

I should find out tomorrow how I did on my other basket entry. I'll let you know! :)
party_music50
Original Author
10 years ago
Well.... this afternoon I received a couple phonecalls from a NYS Fair official. Long story made short: there were a couple of snafus with my entries. My other basketry entry took 2nd place. Another woven entry meant for Fiber Tech. was never put before the judges, so they tried to "fix" the situation by entering it in the Jewelry competition. I took Honorable Mention. LOL! I have been told that I can re-enter that item in next year's Fiber Tech. competition. :p
mitchdesj
10 years ago
just lovely !! I forgot how much work goes into making those.
KatieC
10 years ago
Those baskets are beautiful. In one of my crafty moments a million years ago I played at weaving a couple of baskets. Love that little one...I would never have the patience.

Having just spent a day judging preserved foods at our podunk county fair, it's a weird kind of comforting that a big fair also has snafus.
triciae
10 years ago
Thank you so much for posting pictures of your baskets. I remember your state fair entries from last year. They are simply beautiful. I admire your talent. May I ask, how long has it taken you to develop such skill? And about how long did it take to make these entries? Bummer about the fair's goof-up.

/tricia
party_music50
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, everyone. Katiec, I'm upset that their "fix" for this snafu was to change the entry competition for the piece -- which they swear they will NEVER do! They didn't have the spine to ask me if I wanted the switch once the original error was made, and then they didn't tell me about what happened once it was done by them. Once I learned about it, I requested that they NOT display my piece this year so that I could re-enter it in the proper competition again next year. They refused (saying it was too difficult to remove the piece from display!).... and that means a competition piece I worked on for more than 6 months was completely wasted. I don't think I will bother to enter anything at all next year.

Tricia, it's not about how long as much as it is how many. I think I read once where you're considered a beginner until you've woven at least 300 baskets.

Some of my State Fair results

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Some of my State Fair results

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