Talk about leaving it to the last minute, it’s nearly 10pm here, the night before the local show and I have just finished the last entry!!! I’ve overdone it a bit this year, put myself under a fair bit of pressure and my poor OH has quietly put up with the household standards going down the pan (and they weren’t that high to start with!!)

These are my entries, I’ll be telling you about new items over the next week, so this is like a preview!

A handmade bag; I’ve entered three, my embroidered bag, the chicken bag and the magnolia bag.

Embroidered silk evening bag

An item in cross-stitch; I’ve entered my butterfly sampler and the bee pin cushion.

The Butterfly Garden

Soft toy; I’ve come a cropper on this one before, as apparently it means a soft toy that is suitable for a young child (well it should say so, shouldn’t it!!) This year I’ve stitched a Scottie dog which will become a pincushion afterwards, and a duck. The duck is the only item I’ve stitched without knowing what I’m going to do with it afterwards!!

A scarf; I’ve embroidered a silk one from left overs.

A piece of jewellery; I made two necklaces at Denman college last year, so I’m entering those.

Variety Class; I’m definitely entering my silk box and the Indian Mosiac embroidery, still undecided between the Santa and the sewing machine cover, I’ll probably go with Santa, or even my hardanger sampler…

A covered coat-hanger. I made three, one is covered with lace left over from my wedding dress, another is covered with a beautiful duchess silk satin left over from another wedding dress I made and decorated with motifs left from the tulle I used for my shawl. These two have matching lavender bags. The little one is made for a specific dress, years ago (when Helen was about two) I made her a beautiful smocked and embroidered dress, at the moment it is hanging in my sewing room, I want to frame it, but in such a way that it hangs, rather than being squashed flat.  So I needed a nice baby size coathanger. I’ve embroidered the front with a similar motif to the dress.

So that’s my lot…I’ve learnt over the years that judges are very unpredictable, I know the standards are very high at the show, so I could end up with nothing or I could do well…fingers crossed!!