The Birthday Boy!

Update on the drag racer's quilt:

Vern, posing with his quilt in front of his trophies

The boys went out for lunch for Vern's birthday today.  Hubby said Vern LOVED his quilt and he was walking around showing it to everyone in the restaurant.

Vern said the quilt was going home with him but first, he hung the quilt by the bathroom in his shop as he thought everyone could see it there and it would stay cleaner (a sentiment truly appreciated by someone familiar with the happenings in a garage) until it went home.

I am thrilled that Vern is happy with his quilt. 

Hubby took the photos with his phone and they apparently don't want to be blown up this far.

The drag racer's quilt finally made it to the finish line!!

It was an arduous process as I am not an experienced long armer but I muscled my way through this one.  I have quilted about 5 quilts on my mid arm and 10' table...  which I find is not nearly enough for me to be happy with the results of my quilting before taking on a project like this.

Playing with the layout

It started innocently enough...  I had bought it used and thought it would be a good way to test the waters...  if I liked it, I could consider getting a better machine.  If I didn't like it, I could try to sell it and not stand to lose much money.

I had set up my mid arm and table and knew that I needed to quilt a lot of quilts before I could even consider myself an amateur, after all, I had never even TRIED to use a long arm before getting this machine.

Border represents light tree

Even knowing that I needed a lot of practice, I was still considering the quilts I would like to complete once I got my skills established. 

One was a commissioned t-shirt quilt for a drag racing friend of ours.   However, our friend's 75th birthday was fast approaching so I stepped up the pace a bit and got the top pieced.  I was still practicing with the quilter at this point and was feeling like I was developing a 'relationship' with the machine.  We were working through some bugs, etc, and we on our way to slightly smoother sailing.

Ok, so it must be time to quilt this bad boy!   Up to this point, I had only done maybe 5 quilts with meandering and wonky flower patterns and had just gotten to the point that I could quilt and breathe at the same time - a major accomplishment. 

So what does one do when one gets to that point?

I decided to quilt flames as the design on this quilt.  What WAS I thinking?  Didn't I think a nice meandering pattern would be just as nice?   Noooooo.   

I was apparently feeling just a little bigger than my britches. 

Do you think that was far enough to push myself?  Noooooo.   Apparently, I thought I should use light gray thread to quilt said flames.....  on the black background fabric.   Seriously?!?!?!  Not only am I crazy for thinking I could quilt flames but I was extra crazy for quilting them in a color that would show the world, very clearly, where I made every tiny, or not so tiny, mistake.

Actually, the quilting started out pretty good but as soon as I took a break, I must have forgotten everything I ever knew regarding the stupid machine.  What?  the presser foot needs to be lowered for the stitch regulator to work?  Did I know that?

After many, many days of cursing, giving up, going back, shaking my head, wondering what I was thinking, ripping, resewing, vacuuming up said rippings, and repeating this whole process several times, I arrived at a product that I am not proud of, but I am not ashamed of either.

Coming from someone with perfectionist tendencies, that's pretty big!

The label says:

Driver: Vern Moats

Crew Chief:  Jerry Cohoon

Mechanic:  Jacki Cohoon

Happy 75th Birthday, Vern!!

Quilting one HOT quilt!

I completed the top for this commissioned tshirt quilt recently.  I have not quilted enough on my midarm to feel proficient but I have to get it quilted.... deadlines and all that.

And since I can't say I am a professional quilter, I decided to go for broke and do something really crazy.

...go ahead, raise your hand if you are shocked :)

I didn't want to do stipple or lines or QID or any of that boring stuff and it seems that pantograph are as much work as anything else (maybe I am doing them wrong) so I went to the drawing board...  literally.

What WOULD one quilt on a drag racers quilt?  They don't use checkered flags...  whats left?

TA DA!! (you knew that was coming!)


Flames!!!   yes, Flames.... 




I practiced on a white board with lots of trial and error...  a lot of error.   These flames are much harder than I expected.  I would get going ok then lose my place and it would start looking like a tree or something.

More practice... then I got my chalk pen out and drew some flames on the quilt.

I won't say they are perfect...  or even good...  and they are not without stitches that could resemble a moment of "lost" but I am sure proud of them.

And just in case you were wondering....  yes, I did rip out a few that looked A LOT like trees.

 



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 :)