Ballarat Show

Today was a public holiday in Ballarat, for The Show. I didn't have to go to work, so I went to the Show, despite the intermittent rain and hail.

I had to check out the results in the patchwork section:

The photos aren't brilliant because of the reflections on the glass cabinets. But in the photo above, the white quilt hanging at the back is a lovely hand-quilted wholecloth. It won "Best Hand Quilting", and 1st prize in the category, "Traditional Quilt, no commercial quilting". In front of it on the left you can see some of my Good Fortune, which was awarded 2nd prize in that category. My temperature quilt was in the same category, but there are only two prizes in each section, so it was out of luck.

Below are some entries in the "Innovative Small Article/Quilt" section:

My bees won 1st prize, and the quilt to the left of it, with magpies, got the 2nd prize. You might notice an extra envelope pinned to the bees - that is the "Best Machine Quilting" prize, which is a voucher for Gail's Patchwork Emporium. That was where I bought the flower panel, so I'm glad she liked what I did with it.

The quilt on the far left, with the blue ribbon attached, is by Suzanne Lyle. Her quilt depicting gum tree bark was a winner in this show last year, then went on to win in the region, and then in September won the state prize at the Melbourne Show. The trophy in front of it (shaped like a map of Victoria) and a $300 Spotlight voucher were her prizes for the state win.

The cakes are in the same pavilion. Several members of Ballaarat Quilters had challenged each other to enter the Ginger Fluff competition. Suzanne (the quilt champion above) had asked me for some duck eggs for her entry, so I was interested to see how she went. She described herself as "No baker", and said she has never made a sponge cake before.

The winner is the one closest to the camera. The lady who made it is a regular winner in the baking competitions. She also won the plain sponge, the chocolate sponge, and several other categories. The second prize isn't visible, but it was won by a man who competes with his wife every year, and this was his first award. But the judging was close. See the nicely risen cake in the background (in the middle of 3 less-risen ones)? That is Suzanne's, made with our duck eggs. She didn't get the 2nd prize because she had some uneven colour on top, indicating that she hadn't quite mixed it enough. But it is a very impressive cake from a novice sponge maker!

Between the showers we had a look around the rest of the show. If you are going to ride a camel, getting on via a platform looks like a good idea:

My experience of camel riding is that the standing up is the scariest part. Although it is also a bit scary if the saddle comes loose as you are walking along, which happened to me in India. Then you feel a bit like this chick trying to ride on its mother's back in the animal nursery:

The hen is a Rhode Island Red. I love her beautiful deep colour (a bit hard to see through that heavy-duty mesh).

There aren't many animals at shows these days. We found some poultry:

And there were a few cows and sheep, and some cats. But most of the showgrounds are taken up with rides and sideshows:

and they are not really my thing.

But I did enjoy the craft pavilion!