Nader's man-quilt
10-10-2021, 07:00 PM
#11
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Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 17
This next one is going to seem ridiculous, especially if you're keeping track of how many vehicles I've posted. It's another prancing horse, this time Italian. All I'll say is that it's a dream come true for me, I got it at the bottom of the depreciation curve for less than the cost of a new minivan, and only after my wife got the kitchen remodel she wanted. She's patient with me and my hobbies, and I know I'm a lucky man. (You reading this, hon?)
Having gotten the hang of doing horses, I switched back to the Bernina for this one.
Having gotten the hang of doing horses, I switched back to the Bernina for this one.
10-10-2021, 07:41 PM
#12
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Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 17
The number 393 is my race number for all the vehicles I race. You'll notice it if you scroll back to the race bikes and the race car. So I made a panel of it in the style of the big number plate "meatball" that goes on vintage race cars (like my Alfa). After this, I'm done with panels, and have a loose stack of them that need to be arranged and sewn up.
10-11-2021, 02:20 AM
#14
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Central NJ
Posts: 5,570
Welcome from NJ. What a great story and absolutely love the cars. Particularly fond of the Alpha and the Porsche. My dream car is a Lotus Elan. Mid 70's vintage so I can have electric windows so I don't have to worry about them falling down if I hit a bump, lol. Good luck with you project.
10-11-2021, 08:13 AM
#19
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Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 17
Thanks, everyone. It seems I'm breaking the norm by doing a play-by-play for the quilt fabrication. I hope that's okay.
With each panel being different and meaningful to me, and there only being less than a dozen of them, I was able to remain engaged with the project. I don't know that I have the attention span (or time) to make dozens if not hundreds of small, identical geometric shapes needed for some of the amazing quilts I've seen on this site.
There wasn't much thought given to how I'd arrange the panels, and I knew that I'd need filler material between the panels to make a man-sized quilt. One big enough to fully cocoon me without having my legs sticking out. I chose a heavy black cotton fabric to form the background and backing. I was lucky when I bought the material that I got a boat load (bolt load?) at a big discount from a fabric store that was going out of business. Still, I was shocked how expensive it was. Add in the cost of good batting, etc, and I learned that a decent home made quilt could cost over $200! But then there's enough scraps for another quilt or two, so there's that...
Pics below show that I'm laying out the panels on the background to establish size. Will then cut out the necessary black fabric to sew between the panels to connect them all. To do this, I switch machines to this very cool Singer 301, because I'm done with zigzag embroidering and only need straight stitching, which this does very well. I discovered the 301 when I got a ratty beige one as part of a multi-machine deal on Craigslist. Pic of it below, behind the very nice little Featherweight.
I liked the 301 so much, I sought out an excellent example in black. This machine is all aluminum, runs super-smooth, looks like an old locomotive, and the black/gold color scheme with pinstriping reminds me of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans-Am. Awesome! Got a walking foot attachment for it, too. Bernina is in the background looking on jealously.
With each panel being different and meaningful to me, and there only being less than a dozen of them, I was able to remain engaged with the project. I don't know that I have the attention span (or time) to make dozens if not hundreds of small, identical geometric shapes needed for some of the amazing quilts I've seen on this site.
There wasn't much thought given to how I'd arrange the panels, and I knew that I'd need filler material between the panels to make a man-sized quilt. One big enough to fully cocoon me without having my legs sticking out. I chose a heavy black cotton fabric to form the background and backing. I was lucky when I bought the material that I got a boat load (bolt load?) at a big discount from a fabric store that was going out of business. Still, I was shocked how expensive it was. Add in the cost of good batting, etc, and I learned that a decent home made quilt could cost over $200! But then there's enough scraps for another quilt or two, so there's that...
Pics below show that I'm laying out the panels on the background to establish size. Will then cut out the necessary black fabric to sew between the panels to connect them all. To do this, I switch machines to this very cool Singer 301, because I'm done with zigzag embroidering and only need straight stitching, which this does very well. I discovered the 301 when I got a ratty beige one as part of a multi-machine deal on Craigslist. Pic of it below, behind the very nice little Featherweight.
I liked the 301 so much, I sought out an excellent example in black. This machine is all aluminum, runs super-smooth, looks like an old locomotive, and the black/gold color scheme with pinstriping reminds me of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans-Am. Awesome! Got a walking foot attachment for it, too. Bernina is in the background looking on jealously.
10-11-2021, 09:10 AM
#20
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Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 17
Now that the panels are connected, you get a good idea of the final quilt. I chose a wool batting, because everything so far has been all natural (no polyester), and I wanted it to be warm and beefy for the cold nights camping out at the race tracks. This is the home stretch, checkered flag in site! Speaking of which, no checkered flags on my quilt. Too cliched for a motorsports-related man-quilt.
I'll share this with you all: I'm sometimes superstitious, and I had a pair of checkered flag socks that I used to wear to work on my Fridays. You know, to commemorate the finish line at work, and maybe bring me some luck. It was effective for a few weeks, so I took it up a notch and got matching checkered flag briefs. Then one Friday I had a bad time at work while wearing them, and decided their luck ran out, so I took them out of the rotation.
I'll share this with you all: I'm sometimes superstitious, and I had a pair of checkered flag socks that I used to wear to work on my Fridays. You know, to commemorate the finish line at work, and maybe bring me some luck. It was effective for a few weeks, so I took it up a notch and got matching checkered flag briefs. Then one Friday I had a bad time at work while wearing them, and decided their luck ran out, so I took them out of the rotation.
