A Wylie crocheter spent 225 hours on a single blanket and walked away with Best in Show at the State Fair of Texas.
Melissa "Missie" Rick earned the top honor in the adult Yarn category for "Astrid's Wood," an interlocking crochet blanket she entered in this year's Creative Arts competitions, as Wylie News first reported. Rick is one of several area residents whose award-winning work will be on display inside the Creative Arts Building at Fair Park when the fair opens Friday, Sept. 25.
Rick's technique involves crocheting two blankets together, with the pattern set by which color is pulled to the front. She picked up the method after visiting the 2025 fair, where she spotted the Yarn Best in Show entry and set herself a new goal.
"I hadn't seen one using that same technique so I thought it would be different and stand out … And it was a challenge," Rick told Wylie News.
The fair was only Rick's second year competing. In 2025 she entered two smocked dresses and earned second- and third-place ribbons.
Fellow Wylie resident Peggy Ludwig, 70, placed second in Craft Creations — Miscellaneous for a 20-by-28-inch framed landscape built from 57,750 seed beads. The scene, inspired by Caddo Lake, features pine trees and a creek and took about 100 hours to assemble. Ludwig adapted cross-stitch patterns to beadwork, stringing tiny beads on fishing line in rows. She has entered the competition for nine years and earned a ribbon or honorable mention every year.
In Sachse, Hope Costello placed second in Fine Art — Digital Illustration for a drawing of two girls performing in a school talent show. Costello has drawn since age 3 but started working on a tablet only two or three years ago. It was her first art competition.
The youngest local winner is Murphy's Olive Jimenez, 13, a Cooper Junior High eighth grader. Jimenez earned third place in Craft Creations — Masks for "Celeste," a mask made with feathers, paint, hot glue and jewelry. She originally built it for a friend's story character.
Jimenez got the idea to enter during a family trip to the 2025 fair, when she spotted a winning mask and realized she was already making similar pieces at home. She also submitted a beaded star and several photographs. Those entries earned participation ribbons, but the mask stayed behind after judging, a clue it had placed.
Jimenez told Wylie News she was thrilled to place among competitors from across the state. Her mother, Monica Jimenez, said "Celeste" and Olive's third-place ribbon will be displayed together in case No. 86 in the Creative Arts Building throughout the fair's run.
Entries cost $5 each, according to Ludwig. The State Fair of Texas runs through Sunday, Oct. 18. Hours are Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Adult admission is $15 on weekdays and $25 on weekends. Children ages 3 to 12 pay $10 any day.
