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Appreciative
Audience
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The Darke County Fair
The Friday
Sampler… A Patchwork of Creative Ideas
By Elaine Bailey
The Friday Sampler: A Patchwork of Creative Ideas sponsored by the 2012
Darke County Agricultural Society and the OSU Extension was held in the
youth building during the 2012 Darke County Fair.
The first session was “A Summer Garden Party: Creating Botanical
Details for a Party to Remember.” Katie Gabbard, owner and
designer of the Ivy League Florist on Broadway across from the Darke
County courthouse, demonstrated the arrangement of three different
tablescapes.
Her tip in working with arrangements was to “bump up the presence of
tablescapes by using layers.”
She used wall paper or fabric for mats, picture frames, and various
glass jars or antique bowls, plates, candle stick holders. She
suggested a simple recipe for a processing fluid used to prolong the
life of flowers.
“Add about one-half teaspoon of bleach to about this much water,”
[gallon] Gabbard advised.
Gabbard encouraged the audience that they too could create tablescapes
without stress. Many left with photos of her stunning designs.
Margaret Borner, a retired school teacher and employee from KitchenAid
Experience presented “Simple Tips of Cake Decorating.” She offers
a Better Baking class at the store located on Broadway. She got
her start in cake decorating through an adult education class at
Randolph Eastern in 1982. Since then Borner has taught many 4-H
students and adults how to decorate cakes.
A tip that Borner learned from another baker is how to flatten the dome
on the top of a cake when it comes out of the oven.
“Take a towel and pat, pat, pat, the top of the cake as soon as it
comes out of the oven,” she suggested. “When you pat, pat, pat
the top of the cake it will flatten.”
The recipe she follows for creamy icing is 2 lbs. of powdered sugar, 1
cup white Crisco, ½ cup cold water, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla and a
pinch of salt. She mixes all the ingredients together in the
mixer for 5-8 minutes. This was the recipe from Janice Small, her
teacher and mentor in the adult education class.
Following a lunch break, Merri Niekamp, the outreach manager for the
county’s Historic Bears Mill, presented, “The Wheel Is Turning.”
The purpose for preserving the mill is ‘to provide a rich cultural
experience to all who visit.’
The mill is one of a few operating water-powered mills in Ohio.
Fifty percent of the monies used to support the operation of the mill
come from tourism, an increasing industry in Darke County. Between 15
and 20 thousand people visit the four-story structure each year.
In addition to preserving the historical stories, the rare grind
stones, and the structure itself, the mill provides a venue for art
shows and nature walks.
The concluding program of the day was a trunk show “Stitches in Time,
Machine Quilting” presented by Julie Yaeger Lambert, award-winning
custom machine quilter from Erlanger, Kentucky. She machine quilts with
an old version of Bernina using no computerize devices. She simply uses
a free floating foot, no hoop, and a very, very, large table area.
Julie has been quilting since the 1985. She does not like empty
space... she puts as much detailed stitching as she can in every square
inch of the quilt.
She withdrew exquisite quilt after exquisite quilt from ten large
traveling suitcases. The finished size of the tiny pieces in the
center of the cream and green Triple Feathered Star are 3/8 of an
inch. Her largest quilt is 110 inches long.
Julie finished the program by sharing her very first quilt... hand
stitched. She said that when she started quilting, she thought
all quilts should be hand stitched. But the quilts of Harriet Hargrave,
a master machine quilter, changed her mind.
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Julie
Yaeger Lambert Talks to Group
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Julie
Yaeger Shows Off Quilt
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Margaret
Borner Gives her Presentation
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Margaret
Borner’s Presentation, Two
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Margaret
Borner Talks with Group
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