The BigE Lace competition, 2026

There is a long history of lace entries in the local fairs. I have researched the Ipswich area lacemakers’ entries from the Essex Agricultural Fair (which is reportedly the oldest country fair in America, and has become the Topsfield Fair). Lacemakers from Essex county entered their pieces and won prizes for lace. One of them was Lucy Coffin, who won a prize of $2 in 1832. I have also discovered an Ipswich lace pillow from the Coffin house at Historic New England—dated from that time.

The list of winners at the ag fair in 1832 includes lacemakers.

In the tradition of lace competitions at the fair, I submitted a bobbin lace piece this year that I loved working on. It is a Milanese lace peacock. It is from a book by Read & Kincaid, but the pattern itself is a Sandi Woods one. You can look through my WIP posts on Reddit for more details and the book itself.

I found out yesterday that my piece won for Best use of Color this year at The Big E! I also win a prize—which is absolutely going towards buying thread for my next project…. I join Lucy in the archives of community lacemaking with the Medieval Peacock. I wish I knew what Lucy’s lace looked like.

A section of the Medieval Peacock, in silk, a Milanese lace project