The Big Winners at the Pasco County Fair in each category!

Here they are….

We all love to see the “best” in the categories. It’s human nature.

Winners for the 2024 Collura Cottage Pasco County Fair

I’ll put a picture of the Grand Champion on the left (First of Firsts) and Reserve Grand Champion (Second of Firsts) on the right.

DEPT. 1 - HEIRLOOM ARTS

Needlework:

   Grand Champion: Calle Branscomb - crocheted afghan

   Reserve Grand Champion:  Emma Stimpson - knitted shawl


Embroidery:

  Grand Champion: Mary Barzelay -  counted cross stitch scene

  Reserve Grand Champion:  Cheryl Ludwig - counted cross stitch kitchen

Quilts:

 Applique Quilts: 

     Grand Champion: Linda Kelly     

      Reserve Grand Champion: Sandra Wyman

Traditional/Paper Pieced:

    Grand Champion:  Sue Padgett

     Reserve Grand Champion: Linda Tomago

Quilted Items:

   Bags:

       Grand Champion: Julie Harris - Tote

       Reserve Grand Champion: Gail Sheffield - Purse/Tote

   Other Quilted items:

        Grand Champion: Janet Kibben - Rabbit wall hanging

        Reserve Grand Champion: Janet Kibben - Butterflies and Flowers wall hanging

Sewing:

  Grand Champion: Catherine Hernandez - Leatherette Purse

Reserve Grand Champion: Samantha Fields - Raggedy Ann

DEPT. 2 - HOME ARTS

Baked Goods

Grand Champion: Patricia Crall - Peanut butter Pie 

Reserve Grand Champion: Iman Mansour - Apple Pie

Canning/Preserves

  Preserves: 

Grand Champion: Twila Yates - Dill Pickles

Reserve Grand Champion: Rebecca Jackson - Lime Pickles

 Jams/Jellies:

Grand Champion:Jennifer Brennan - Kumquat Marmalade

Reserve Grand Champion: Sarah Ritschard - Strawberry Jam

Decorated Cakes/Cookies

Grand Champion: Emily Buckler - Decorated Cookies

Reserve Grand Champion: Nellie Hines - Decorated Prop Cake

Gardening:

Grand Champion: Shannon Huet - Fern

Reserve Grand Champion: Sara Johnson - Rubber Tree

DEPT. 3 -ARTS/CRAFTS 

Hobby Arts:

Grand Champion: Jeremiah Petersen: Woodworking - Guitar

         Reserve Grand Champion:  Forest Nichols - Woodworking - Sewing Machine Case

Creative Arts:

Grand Champion: Bama Grisby - Bassett Hound Pencil Drawing

           Reserve Grand Champion: Robert Palmer - Boy at Fence Painting


Special Landscaping Award: Shannon Huet for outdoor landscaping at Collura Cottage

Vera Cox Award: Linda Kelly for the excellence in quilting. She did the 3 quilts below.

Joe Collura Award: Ken Woodard for his Bucket of Fun - Most Creative in keeping with the theme: Buckets of Fun for everyone!

We really appreciate all of those who entered items into the fair. We had 296 entries in the 2024 Collura Cottage this year! It was a fabulous representation of what people do.

The purpose is NOT to win a Grand Champion or Reserve Grand Champion, but rather to share our love for the hobbies that we know and love!

It is only by sharing this hobby that we will ever see the younger generations jump in and participate! Some categories have died off, while we’ve added in new ones.

For instance, we found that tatting and other such handcraft has no one who is willing to enter bringing stuff to us, but we added in gardening the last 2 years with fabulous success.

If anyone has any new ideas for what we could or should add, we’d love to hear from you! We’re trying to draw in the younger set. This cottage is NOT just for those ages 60 and older! This is everyone’s cottage, and we love the wonderful participation that we had this year!

Thanks for your help in making it go so smoothly!

PS. Note from Becky -

It was when we walked through the Alaska State Fair years ago now that my interest in quilting was piqued as I saw all the fabulous appliqued/scene quilts. I couldn’t get over how beautiful they were.

At the time I hadn’t made a single quilt in my life but I remember wanting to learn. It was from seeing other people’s works hanging in that fair in Palmer, AK.

Thank you everyone for sharing your work and inspiring the next generation of crafting/creating!

Thanks for coming along with us on our journey!

Rachael WoodardComment