Gentle Spiders,
I spent a good portion of my Sunday driving... 280miles (ca 440km, I think) round trip, 70 of them on the Killer I-81, travelling to and from Richmond, to judge the lace for the State Fair of Virginia.
But, as both I and my co-judge agreed, it was worth the trip; even if the other one I'd expected (a tatting expert) *had* shown up, we still would have had more entries than judges :) Last year, I wasn't there, and my co-judge was on her lonesome - with 4 pieces to judge. Two years ago, I was also the only judge to show up and, by co-opting my companion (Clay), reduced the number of competitive entries from 6 to 4.
It is possible that we have seen a small turn-around; people who were judging knitting, crocheting, etc were also cautiously optimistic; they said the number of entries were slightly up after a 2-3 year dismal slump, and that the entries themselves seemed to be - in general - of higher quality than those they had to judge pre-slump.
We didn't get much from the beginners (no more than 2 yrs in a particular technique) and, of the 3 pieces, 2 (one crocheted, one knitted) were misplaced - they were somewhat lacy, but not really lace - we didn't judge those. The 3rd piece was a very nice tatted collar, and she must have spent all those 2 yrs on it :)
The cutting down of the numbers of classes in each section proved to be a good thing: we didn't have the requisite 3 in every one of them, but we did in the 2 BL ones - continuous and non-continuous. One of the continuous pieces (a ca 3" Binche "mat", with a 1.5" fabric centre) got first in its class and the Best of Section. Since it had not been mounted on anything, the detail was hard to se - we left it displayed on top of the purple rosete (looked beautiful there) and hope that the fair organizers will understand why.
My co-judge and I decided not to judge the quality of mounting (in case of mounted pieces). I know that many (possibly most) competitions do, but we decided to concentrate on the positive aspects - the well made *lace* :)
With the exception of Louise Hume, Virginia Arachneans were most conspicuous by their absence, so my pair of tickets ("a thank you" for service) went to my co-judge. All in all, there weren't all that many *entrants* but those who did enter, usually entered several pieces, which was nice.
There were two non-competitive entries in the Educational category, both greatly appreciated. One was truly educational - a big board, titled "Handmade Bobbin Lace", with (fully finished) small and medium-sized pieces in 3 areas: Torchon, Milanese and Bucks Point.
The other was less educational, in that it had no title, and no explanations, except on the entry ticket stub. All the same, it was *fascinating*. It consisted of - maybe - 12 Binche samples of varying widths, lengths, scale, thread thickness and complexity of design. Showing where and how the pairs were hung in and where they were whacked off (because the maker gave up? Because she "got it", and decided to try on a full-sized project?). All mounted on a piece of black velveteen and framed as a picture. Quite frankly, I liked it much better than the same person's finished Binche piece, framed the same way... :) And it's, probably, one of the most imaginative (and easy; I love "easy" <g>) way of turning trash into gold...
I said the educational exhibits were greatly appreciated. By us (the judges), because, by not placing a time constraint or the amateur constraint, they allow the fair-going public a chance to see the best of what there is - not just this year, and not just from someone who's making baby steps. Both drew a lot of interest from the judges at the nearby stations; the "handmade bobbin lace" one especially let them see what's the same (bobbin made) and what's different (techniques).
The lady responsible for the Arts and Crafts section got all glittery eyed and said: "we used to have *demonstrations*; could we have them again? Everyone loved them". My co-judge said she might be willing. But she has a SIL within 20 miles of Richmond, where she could spend the weekend... For me, it's a 2hr 10 minute drive *minimum* (that's if nobody catches me driving 80 on the interstate <g>) one way, and totally out of question...
And now to bed, for I'm bush-whacked... But it's been a lovely day, if long; sunny for real and sunny in lace... Yawn...
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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