The Maryland State Fair was several months ago now and I realized I never properly recapped it, other than a few pictures on Instagram. The Home Arts exhibits were impressive, and I wish I had taken more pictures. I easily spent two hours in the exhibition hall looking at all of the stitching, lace, and art. There’s a category for almost anything you can think of, and I found so many creative entries for crafts I knew little about.

I submitted one lace entry and one cross stitch entry to the 2022 fair. My lace entry was a doily that I started during my last semester of grad school. I had never put inscriptions into my lace before, and I was inspired to try it by a picture in Alice Odian Kasparian’s book Armenian Needlelace and Embroidery. I charted out my initials and the year, but forgot to consider that one of them needed to be “upside down” in order to be readable.

After I finished the doily, I washed and steamed it. I had originally planned on starching it as well, but I was satisfied with the texture and stiffness without starch. The fair rules require lace entries to be mounted to a board. I pricked a piece of foam board to match the points on the doily border, then sewed the doily to the board using those holes. This method makes the attachment points almost invisible, and and is fairly quick. I think the board I chose is a little thick and I will probably go for something thinner once I run out of the foam board.

I won First Place in the doily category and also received Best of Show for lace. This was a huge surprise and I was honored to be chosen out of so many phenomenal lace pieces.

My doily was the only piece of Armenian needlelace (that I know of) at the fair. Most of the lace entries were tatting or bobbin lace and I believe there was some crochet lace as well. Again, I wish I had taken more pictures!

My cross stitch entry was Fox Forest by Owl Forest Embroidery. I bought this kit in early 2021 and put the finishing touches on it in June 2022, shortly before I moved to Maryland. Cross stitching seems to be very popular here, and the categories were extremely specific. I placed 4th in the “sampler, smaller than 15×18” category.

Finishing projects isn’t exactly my strong suit. I enjoy having many projects going at the same time and I pick what to work on based on how I’m feeling. I currently have three cross stitch samplers, several doilies, a knit shawl, and a knit sweater. It would be impossible to get all of these done this year (especially before the fair), but I’ve selected a couple projects that I think will be attainable.

My 2023 lace entry is going to be another doily. I’m using finer thread and skipping the inscription this year in favor of some different patterns. I’ve seen variations of this arrow motif in a lot of historical pieces, and I love how it looks at the center of a medallion.

I’m challenging myself to pick a new border motif for this doily. I almost always do a round of little Ararats, and it’s time to try something new.

I’m slightly conflicted about finishing the pomegranates for this year’s fair. Pomegranate Quaker by Owl Forest Embroidery has been my travel project for nearly two years. It’s great to work on it on planes, in the car, or any other time I’m not at home because there are so many large single-color motifs. This minimizes cutting and color changes which is highly desirable when I can’t spread out at my normal table.

I’m so close to finishing it though – I only have half of the top border and then the bottom border left. My other two cross stitch projects are more colorful and less convenient to travel with. This may be an excuse to start something new, but that remains to be seen.

Regardless of how these projects go, I will certainly be finished with my sweater before the fair, and in the middle of the summer I won’t miss having it available in my closet.