My first tshirt quilt!!

I was commissioned to make a tshirt quilt for a friend of ours as a surprise.   And it was my first tshirt quilt.  I always wanted to do one but other things (quilts) got in the way.

I am positive that the recipient does not read my blog so please help keep this a secret in the event that you know him.  But before I share quilt top photos with you, I want to share a bit about this amazing man. 

hmmm, let me rephrase....  I pulled some info together from Vern Moat's racing career.  There is nothing I can say about this man's love of racing that hasn't already been said.

What I can tell you is that this rough and gruff man with the hard shell let this girl sit in his Funny Car and practice with the light tree in his garage.... just because she wanted to.  I can tell you that he watched a nest for days until the baby birds hatched.  I can tell you that he hand fed his cat Ozzie every couple hours for months when Ozzie had a digestive issue.

Vern Moats, a Des Moines, Iowa, native, began racing in the early 1960's at the Des Moines Dragway.   My husband met Vern in 1963-64 at the Dragway and started going to races with him.  It was a match made in heaven for my husband.



Longevity RULES
Vern's commemorative tshirt emblem.

Vern won a match race in his Anglia
in 1966 at the Des Moines Dragway

From Jim Baker's Then and Now....   "The absolute star of Iowa drag racing is Vern Moats!  In 1966, Vern won a match race at Des Moines Dragway, driving his ‘Toxic’ Anglia gasser against Curt Wasson’s supercharged Corvette."  (Photo by Iowa Al Booton)


Before Lyle Heffel sold the
 Anglia to Vern









Vern has been in a Top Alcohol Funny Car (TA/FC) since 1972 before the class, or the one that preceded it, Pro Comp, even existed. He has accumulated a remarkable tally of 15 Division 5 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series championships, 16 top 10 finishes, 16 national event wins from 1983 to 2000, 14 JEGS Allstars special event appearances, and 56 LODRS event wins in three different classes (Comp, Pro Comp, and Top Alcohol Funny Car).  Vern missed the World Championship Funny Car by only a couple points.



Competition Plus also featured a story on Vern

"We'd race on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and win them all," recalled Moats.  "We figure that over the years, Vern has made right up by 5,000 runs," said Davey Allison, Vern's righthand man for over 20 years. "There were a lot of times in the 1970s that he made 150 to 160 runs in a season."  Bob Massey, Vern's longtime friend, built most of Vern's chassis.

A part of Moats' legacy are the safety rules implemented on his account, the most significant of which is the use of arm restraints after his crash at the 1981 Gatornationals that inflicted serious injury to his arms.

The veteran driver whose race car says "Longevity Rules" on the rear bumper continue to field an entry in one of the sport's toughest classes by being forthright with his supporters and racing within his means.

On September 14, 2012, it was announced that Vern Moats, the longest-tenured driver behind the wheel of a Top Alcohol Funny Car, decided to step out of the cockpit following the 2012 Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka.

Personally, I have to admire a man in his 70's strapping himself into a car and going 250 mph in a quarter mile.... just for fun.

Congratulations Vern.... on a long and successful career "buckled up".



The quilt "flimsy" (meaning an unquilted quilt top)

We were able to get tshirts that included all of Vern's funny cars except, regretfully, the Vega Oly Roller.   Yes, the Oly Roller was named after one of his sponsor, Olympia Beer.  Kendal Oil was also a VERY long time sponsor.


The borders on the quilt were designed to mimic the colors
of the starting line light tree (the "Christmas tree" to dragracers)

I found working with the tshirts in a quilt was a challenge but everyone is very happy with the results.  Now to get it quilted....  and get it done before my deadline :)