Nader's man-quilt
 

Hi there. I'm new, and just made my introduction in the intro section. I'm a middle-aged guy, husband and father, with hobbies in the motorsports. I race vintage cars and motorcycles on enclosed road courses (racetracks like Road America, Laguna Seca, etc.). When I race at tracks far from home, I enjoy camping out at the track; sometimes sleeping in a tent in the parking lot (we call paddock) or sometimes in the back of my pickup truck used to haul the car or motorcycles to the event. One day I decided it would be nice to have a beefy, large quilt that I could use while camping. And wouldn't it be cool if it had panels representing all the things I loved on wheels? That way, I could wrap myself in all the things I loved, aside from my family, of course :)

My only experience sewing before this quilt was when I bought an old Pfaff 130 a couple years ago to sew some small leather projects. Then while quilting, I became obsessed with older mechanical/analog sewing machines and started collecting them. I love precision tools, and have a full machine shop on my property, in part to repair and maintain my racing vehicles. Sewing machines to me are like precision thread-injecting fabric welders, and I appreciate their complexity and accuracy. So I bought a bunch.

Anyway, here's my man-quilt, and like those annoying backstories you get before the actual recipe online, I'm going to have to set up my pictures with reasons why I did what I did.

First panel of my quilt is dedicated to an old Toyota Land Cruiser that I restored in my driveway a couple years ago. This Japanese Katakana script for Toyota looks like "Teq". I'm sewing it up with a Pfaff 360, which is a great machine (one of my favorites):

I was hoping I could embed the pictures instead of having them show up as thumbnails. Any tips on that? I'm able to do it on other forums but this one is a little different.

Anyway, next panel is for my Ford truck. This is the backbone of my racing endeavors. Here's a picture of it hauling my race car's trailer. Sometimes I sleep in the back seat, sometimes in a tent pitched beside it. Sewing the Ford script was pretty hard! Probably should have saved this one for later after I had more practice with easier designs.

Next up I needed a break with an easier design. I'm a big fan of KTM motorcycles. I have a few, and race one of them. I married well enough to allow me to work on the bikes in the living room. Increases my presence for family time, so it's win-win. The pic with the kid helping me is a few years old, but still makes me mist up:

Another easy design is dedicated to an old BMW 325 that I'm very fond of. It's very much like the car my Dad had when I was in high school, and a lot of the good memories I have of him involved this car. Here's a pic of it in front of my truck and Land Cruiser which you've already seen. Oh, and the thread I'm using is this "King Tut" cotton thread. I'm told it's good, but it makes a lot of lint.

What an ambitious project for any quilter, much less a newbie. And you are carrying out your predetermined theme and really doing well. Can't see what your next panel will be.

You remind me of my husband so much. He put an engine together in one of our bedrooms many years ago. It was okay until one night he got frustrated and threw a screwdriver at it and thank goodness, it only stuck in the ceiling. If he gets interested in doing something, he'll figure out a way. He bought a walking foot sewing machine and informed me he was doing the upholstery for an older boat that we owned. And he did and it was a good job. He came home one day and told me he was going to do some stained glass for our house. What??? Yes, he said, I have been reading about it. And he created some beautiful works. We also did a little bit of the race car bit and we rode off road motorcycles in the woods for several years. He hasn't taken up quilting yet, but he can adjust my older Nolting long arm when I just can't get it to stitch properly.

Next up is a harder design, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm a big Alfa Romeo fan, AKA "Alfisti." I have a red '69 Spider that I love (was our marriage car much like "The Graduate"), and I liked it so much, I found a rusted out heap of another to turn into a race car. Pics below.

I've had good luck with the car, even winning a race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI a few years ago. There's a pic of the car and me in the winner's circle. The Alfa Romeo emblem is a shield (boring), and a crowned serpent consuming the body of the Moorish invader Saracen (exciting!). So I did the serpent design.

Thanks, Barb! I love reading stories like that about your husband. I showed my quilting project on a Toyota Land Cruiser forum, and quickly learned I wasn't the only guy around who took to sewing. Like your husband, I also have intentions to do some upholstery work someday, but I don't think I have the machine for it. Yet!

I readjusted the zigzag settings on the Pfaff 360, then went around the serpent's borders again. Getting better.

Next up is the Honda wing symbol that was used in the '60's. Pic of it below. Racing vintage Honda motorcycles has been a big part of my life (in the summer seasons) for the last 15 years. I've built up these bikes from the ground up, and have raced them with pretty good success. Like the Alfa race car, the Honda race bikes are one of the reasons I need this quilt in the first place, so I can camp out at the race track.

For this panel, I switched to a Bernina Record 830. You can see the previous Pfaff looking on jealously in the background. I had to have a Bernina because my mom, who is a talented professional dressmaker/tailor, and seamstress (had her own business doing alterations for high end boutiques), always had a Bernina. Still does. Hers is electronic, but I wanted an analog mechanical machine. I actually bought two, one of which to use as parts for the other if needed. (same story with the Pfaff 360; I have two).

The Honda wing design was difficult. All the sewing made the panel's material pucker. I was hoping it would flatten out with an iron and eventual quilting. BTW, I'm using all cotton material, pre-washed and dried, for the panels and eventual back sheet.

Next up is a Porsche panel. I bought an old Porsche over twenty years ago after getting my first real job, because it was my dream car when I was in high school. It was a relatively cheap used car back then, and became my daily driver for years. Now these old ones are too rare and valuable for that, so it doesn't get driven as often. Still like to take the family out in it once in a while for french fries, because the little back seats fit kids. When it comes to cars, this was my first love, and I'm glad I held on to it. I think it reassures my wife that when I latch on to something, I'm with it for the long haul.

As for the quilt, it's another difficult panel; the Porsche crest is a prancing horse in the middle of a shield surrounded by stripes and antlers. Hard, but I'm getting better at this, and I think it came out okay. Went back to the Pfaff because a German emblem needs to be sewn by a German sewing machine.

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.

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.

Welcome! I have the same Bernina 830 record machine. That thing is a gem!

Nice to meet an adventurous and creative guy!

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.

Pretty impressive. Can't wait to see the finished quilt.

You have got artistic ability and then to apply it the ways you did - incredible. Keep going!!!

Wow! You have become a #1 quilter! What beautiful panels and blocks. And also a machine enthusiast on top of that! Glad to have you join us.

Welcome from Texas.
You are going to have an awesome quilt when it is finished. Love the stories behind each block. Can't wait to see it finished.

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.

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.

Those gaps between the panels clearly need something, they're too blank. I didn't feel like making additional panels just for filler, so I figured I'd do some freehanded quilting designs on them with contrasting thread. Now before I get to the actual quilting and finished project, I want to take a moment and mention my mom. Recall, I said earlier that she's a former pro (tailor/seamstress) with her own business, and very good at what she did. Still is. She does mostly quilts now, and they are all excellent, gifted to multiple family members.

She got excited when I showed her my project while it was in the works. So she sat down one afternoon and knocked out this little thing for me. She says it's a 1960-something Pontiac (Firebird? GTO?). She copied it off a calendar full of muscle cars that the car insurance company sends out for free. She doesn't know anything about classic cars, and has never done anything like this. Check out the details: She used shiny metallic thread for the chrome wheels and trim (the shine doesn't photograph well), fuzzy cloth for the pavement, and some kind of translucent cheesecloth for the windshield. I love it!

Your quilt is awesome and so is your mom. Thank you for sharing this project with us.

Awesome work!

Thanks, people. What a nice crowd!

Wrapping it up with the actual quilting. I did the panels by tracing the emblems concentrically out to the edges. Then I filled in the blank spaces with freehand designs in contrasting thread, using one of those round quilting presser feet. You guys ever see one? Kidding. That freehanding was hard to do with such a large, bulky quilt bunched up under the machine's arm. So things got sloppier than I liked. Still, the the quilting made it pleasantly puffy in the right places.

In the blank spaces I did curly q's, flames, boxes, waves, and what-not in red and yellow stitching. For the edges, I turned them up and over onto the face and sewed them down pretty tight, so that the back sheet that has contact with me, wouldn't have a seam catching/rubbing on my extremities or chin. In the end, Despite the mistakes I made, I think I got what I wanted. Have already camped with it at the track a few times, very cozy. Size-wise it came out to 56"X72". Same dimensions of a full size mattress. Weighs in at 1,340 grams, or 2.95 lbs. Screwdriver for scale. Thanks for following! :)

This has been a great read. You are very creative. Did you do your own drawings for the emblems or designs? I really like your horse. My grandson is into racing. I know nothing about it because it makes me too nervous to attend. He’s not in your league but here’s his car. His son even has his own!-lol- Stay safe and keep quilting!

Your quilt will be great. I like all of your panel items.

BMW is my favorite car. I enjoyed the narrative of each series of thumbprints.