Rally Sewing

 DH will be heading up a scooter rally very soon. Sometimes his scooter rallies for his club require great efforts from our whole family, and other times he takes the rally on the road and I don't have to do anything, or at least not as much. This year the rally is going on the road, and originally, I didn't have to do anything for it. The funny thing is, that even with no real advertising or anything, the rally has become much larger than he was thinking it would be, and we have several verified riders from other states and even from across the country. With so many out-of-towners coming, he really wanted to do something more than what he had originally planned. With all of our travelling, we were under a time crunch, so we were a bit limited in what we could do. I normally make rally bags for the scooterists, and we get sponsors to donate things to put in them. DH knew we didn't have time to get sponsors and such, but he did ask if maybe I could make smaller than normal rally bags. 

I had a couple different license plate fabrics in stash, and cut those up for the cause. All of that single fold bias tape I had sewed up while making luggage tags earlier this year made great drawstrings! 

I am always keeping an eye out for fast and easy things to sew, to use for gifts or giveaways for DH's business. I found a tutorial for making lip balm holders, and I knew they'd be quick to sew up. I had purchased the clips before our last trip, and the lobster clips are the only thing I needed that I don't normally have in stash. If you are looking for stocking stuffers and have some extra jelly roll strips lying around, this might be something you want to try making. 

These were very quick to sew, and for the loop to attach the clip, I used the sewn up bias tape scraps again! I used scooter fabrics for the rally, but just an FYI, you end up folding the fabric, so not only do you need a small scale print, but you need to use caution if it's directional. We bought blank lip balms on Amazon, and he made labels with the graphic for the rally on it. It's the same graphic as the t-shirts. I had four different fabrics I used for the lip balm holders, so just like with the rally bags, not everyone will get the same thing. 

Now that the rally sewing is done, and I'm partially finished with the Christmas sewing, I'm taking a break from that and assembling some of the queen/king quilts. I baste the giant quilts on two eight foot long folding tables which completely takes over the living room. If I can do that while DH is out of town, then he isn't inconvenienced by the mess. He wouldn't complain if I did it while he was home, but to even put the tables up I have to move all the furniture, and you can't see the TV, and...it's just a lot. If I can do it when he's out of town, at least I'm only inconveniencing myself, but basting on the big tables is easier, so it's only sort of inconvenient for me. I have four queen/king quilt tops ready to baste now, but there's one more I'd really like to get basted and I haven't even started assembling it (blocks are done). I also have two more big ones that only need borders sewn on, and another that has blocks that need to be sewn together, but will get no borders. 

I just finished quilting a quilt this morning (it's a Christmas gift), so all of my basting pins are free. I don't know how many big quilts I can baste, but I know I've done three queen/kings at once before, and I'm sure I had some pins left. My goal is to baste until I'm out of pins. I've got a whole closet full of quilt tops, so when I know I don't have enough pins to baste another big one I'll switch to something smaller. Three of the big quilts are my top priority, two others I'd like to get done soon-ish. The other big quilts can wait, and none of what's hanging in the closet is a priority. Actually, my next deadline quilt is a baby quilt that I've barely started. As soon as I've got these big quilts assembled, that baby quilt will be my sewing priority, maybe mixed in with some Christmas projects. By the time I get the baby quilt top done, I should have reclaimed enough basting pins to baste it! FMQ one hour per day may not seem like much, but it does keep things moving along. 

Finish #8 Simple Yet Striking

 Not all quilts need to be complicated. Sometimes it's the simplest of quilts that catch my eye. My latest finish was a quilt top I sewed in a hotel...in 2023. I sewed so many quilt tops in the three months of living in that hotel, I'm not even sure I've quilted half of them yet. I'll take any finish as a win these days, and I really like this quilt.

The red squares and the whites with black designs are all scrappy. The black squares were leftover backing fabric, and the amount I had of that determined the size of the quilt. I know it's just four patches alternating with squares, but I think the quilt is quite fun.  I used a black and white striped binding. I was going to use red, since the backing is red fleece, but when I auditioned the red, I decided I liked the stripe better. Who doesn't love a striped binding? 

I made other quilts with this same pattern at that hotel. That trip was all about using up my 2" cut squares. After quilting that denim quilt, my arm needed a break, so for this quilt I put the walking foot on the Janome, and just did a crosshatch design by quilting diagonally through the squares. It was easy on my arm, and crosshatching just looks good on anything. I'm sure the color choice makes this quilt more striking, but even in the other colorways I did, it was still a fun, simple design. 

I really need to do a basting spree and get a pile of quilts basted and ready to quilt. I had hoped to baste a bunch of king sized quilts while DH is gone later this month, but I only have one of those quilt tops done. I've been working on some projects for DH, as well as Christmas stuff, so assembling quilts hasn't been on my to do list. A basting spree while DH is gone is still a good idea though. Instead of basting the big quilts, I'm thinking of digging out the scrap batting, making Frankenbatts and basting whatever I've got that fits the Frankebatts. I've got a closet full of quilt tops, and too much scrap batting, so doing a basting spree that deals with some of that is almost as helpful as basting the big quilts. If I still set up the basting tables in the living room, it will leave my cutting table clear for trimming up batting scraps so I can piece them together, and allow me to figure out some pieced backings too. 

With my new plan in mind, my current goal is to get as much of the Christmas stuff made as I can before DH leaves, then make a huge mess with batting scraps, pieced backings and basting while he's gone. Piecing batting together is always a messy chore for me. I tend to wait too long in between times where I piece batting, so then when I do, I'm sorting it into similar sized pieces, trimming straight edges so I can sew them together. Times like that I wish we had a full basement instead of a half basement, because I end up with piles everywhere! It's definitely a matter of making a bigger mess to clean things up, because once I finish, I've got empty or near empty bins for scrap batting, I've used up orphan blocks and misc. fabrics by piecing backings, and I've managed to get piles of fabric put away now that I have more room on the fabric shelves. Nothing busts fabric better than backings! We'll have to see how far I get!

UFO or New Start or It's Own Category?

 In my quilting log, I keep records of my finishes, and I like to note whether a finish was a UFO (for my purposes a UFO was started in the prior year or earlier) or a new start. If I am working start to finish on a quilt over January 1st, I tend to annotate it as a WIP, so I know it may have been started the previous year, but never languished waiting for attention. 

When I got back from the last trip, I had a few basted quilts waiting for me. One of those was a denim quilt I wanted to finish for DD#2's birthday. DD#2 started asking me for a new denim quilt a couple years ago. Her old denim quilt was one of my first bed-sized quilts, and she was just a young girl when I made it. I used a juvenile sheet set to back both it and it's twin, and I added all kinds of fun girly patches on the front. DD#2 still loves that quilt, it's a good childhood memory for her. Her husband is not a fan of it, however. He thinks it looks like a little girls quilt, which of course, it is. Since they don't have any girls, he's never been immersed in girl stuff, so he doesn't get it. DD#2 loves the weight of a denim quilt (I made her a weighted blanket but she doesn't like it as much) but she wanted to know if I could make her a new denim quilt. I have plenty of denim, I could likely make six denim quilts, but what I don't have a lot of is time to make said quilts. 

My sister and I were trolling thrift stores looking for craft supplies a few months ago, and I came across a denim quilt top that was finished. It was unremarkable in pattern, but was well sewn. I knew DD#2 would get a denim quilt a lot faster if I just bought that quilt top. Since piecing and quilting are two totally different lists in my life, a finished quilt top could jump the line. 

I basted the quilt before I left on the last trip, knowing that I would only have two weeks or less to get it quilted when I got back if I wanted it done for her birthday. Since I didn't piece the top myself, and DD#2 is all about the actual quilting, I decided to quilt something different in every area.

I ended up with some bunching in the sashing strips between rows. Funnily enough the border is OK, so maybe the borders were a little short. I used every shade of purple thread I had, including every variegated thread that included purple. There are about 100 different quilting designs on this quilt, all done freehand. 

As usual, the quilting show up better on the back. There is no bunching on the back, so maybe the front is just a matter of denim not being amenable to "quilting it out" as far as imperfections go. 

No matter how much I played with the color in editing mode, I couldn't get the close ups right. The purple in the photo where you can see the whole back is closest to the correct color of the minky backing. It's a blue-purple, not a red-purple.

I quilted many long hours, much to the chagrin of my RSI, to get this done in time. I did, however, get to give it to her on her birthday! It was someone's UFO, but not mine. It was my finish #7 for 2025!

Hotel Sewing- Tips and Tricks

DH and I started doing sewing/scooting vacations when we still had a houseful. Those were often just a 3 or 4 days away. I could sew uninterrupted, and he could ride someplace different. Those weekend getaways got me ready for the times he had to travel for work, and we would be in hotels for months at a time. 

This year we've taken three big trips. Two of those times I brought a sewing machine, one I did not. At this point I've sewn in dozens of hotels, and I learned a thing or two about packing for these types of trips. 

If you have a choice of hotels, old hotels are often NOT a good choice to sew in. DH loves kitchy Route 66 type hotels, and though they can be fun to stay in, they are NOT fun to sew in. Old hotels usually have much smaller rooms than modern hotels. They also tend to not have enough electric sockets. Sometimes even charging a phone becomes an issue when there are multiple phones and devices to charge. 

No hotel I've ever stayed in had adequate lighting for sewing. There are ways around that, which I'll get to. 

Most hotel rooms in the USA have an iron and ironing board. Even in hotels where there isn't one in the room already, a quick check with the front desk usually gets you use of both. How good said iron and ironing board are vary from hotel to hotel, but at least it will be something.

My first sewing machine trolley was from a big box store, and although it was inexpensive, it still wasn't worth it. I only used that for one trip, and after two broken zippers on that one trip, I learned why sewists who travel invest in a Tutto. I'm sure there are other good brands of sewing trolleys, but Tutto is what I am familiar with, and they get rave reviews from quilters. I bought my first Tutto on a Black Friday sale, and I bought a medium sized case. At the time I was traveling with a cheaper Brother machine, and it worked ok with that. When I started bringing my Bernina on longer trips, my 440 barely fit in it, so I had very little extra space in it. This year I snagged an XL Tutto on clearance, and I'm so glad I did!

You might think I loaded my machine first, but I didn't. First thing in were my rulers, which I placed under the false bottom.

 Two of my travel rulers are Fiskars folding rulers. The orange one can be used to cut triangles or squares. It's 8x8"

The other is 6x24". The "hinge" is some really heavy duty adhesive plastic. It's thicker than tape. 

I also put in a couple other rulers I use the most, but by putting them under the false bottom they lay flat without much weight on them. 

In the medium sized Tutto this machine barely fit, but in the XL, I've got lots of space to add projects and accessories.

Foot pedal and power cord, don't forget those! I also have a travel iron which I prefer when pressing units over a full sized iron. Under the iron is a power strip. I always travel with a power strip so I can plug in all the things I need. All the remaining space in this section went to packing projects, plus my ikea lamp.

I have a June Tailor Press and Cut in here, but I also travel with a folding cutting mat. 

An 18x24" mat will be large enough to cut anything I'm doing in a hotel. 

The front pocket holds my extension table for my Bernina and a thread cone stand. I have a plastic container that holds my threads and extra needles, plus I've got all the regular sewing notions in here somewhere. 

I have travelled without a sewing table before, but if at all possible, I bring my folding sewing table. Putting a sewing machine on a hotel desk is a disaster ergonomically, and although I can do it for short periods of time, I prefer to bring a sewing table and a folding chair from home whenever I can.

In Arkansas, this was my sewing setup. The hotel chair was decent so I didn't bring in the folding chair, but we had to bring folding chairs for other parts of the trip anyway so it wasn't a big deal. This hotel room had no desk, so if I hadn't brought my sewing table, I wouldn't have been able to sew at all. You can see my white ikea lamp on top of my press and cut. I know a lot of women travel with clip-on lamps, but I don't, because I have learned that there isn't always a good place to clip it on! I couldn't have had my Press and Cut on the edge of the table if my lamp was a clip-on. The only plug open in this older hotel was right next to the door to the outside. If I hadn't brought a power strip,  I would have had to put the sewing table directly in front of the exterior door. Even with the power strip, I had to have DH knock so I could unplug the power strip every time he got back, but at least I didn't have to move the sewing table! 

I brought five projects with me, and they all fit inside the Tutto. I only ended up working on a couple. 

I had pre-cut this Spring Twist quilt from Sharon's scraps, but the green was mine, leftover from a backing. I really wanted another border on it, but this was as far as I got at the hotel.

Now that I'm home, the top is finished, and I had the perfect border fabric in my stash, but it was originally in my mom's stash! I liked this quilt so much, I've already cut another one in a different colorway, again from Sharon's scraps. 

I also played around with my Burst template. I only got a couple of these blocks done, but at least I know how to use the template now! The hotel room ironing board was adequate, I lucked out that it was height adjustable, not all hotel ironing boards are. 

The iron was a bit of an adventure I have no idea what setting the iron was on, so I only used it when pressing the quilt top, other than that I used my travel iron. I'm sure if I had asked I could have gotten a different iron, but I just made do with what I had. 

Why didn't I work on the other projects? I really needed a desk to work on the other projects. They were not quilting projects, and I needed space to mark and pin on a hard surface. This hotel did not work out for that. I tried pinning on the bed, but that did not work well at all. It was a really long seam, and I needed a flat hard surface to keep everything lined up. The carpeting was filthy, so no way was I going to put anything on the floor. This was an old hotel, but we didn't choose the hotel, it was the scooter rally hotel. At least it had larger rooms than a lot of old hotels, so it could have been worse. 

If you are going to be sewing at a hotel, my best tips are these-

*Bring extra lighting and a power strip with a long cord. In my mind, these are non-negotiable. 

*get a good sewing trolley, it makes a world of difference.

*if you can, bring a portable sewing table and a chair, if you end up sewing on a desk, get and and stretch frequently. 

*bring more than one project. Sometimes your set-up won't make working on certain projects easy. I try to bring at least one easy project, something I've already cut out, or strings or crumbs, that don't have to be super accurate. 

I've had to sew on desks, I've forgotten a power cord, I've had to have my sewing table in the center of a very small room, because it was the only space available. I've cut out entire quilts, sewn dozens of quilt tops in hotel rooms, and even done some FMQ in a pinch. Not everyone has the need or desire to sew in a hotel room, but it can be done, and it can be a lot of fun. If bringing a machine with you seems daunting, try bringing handwork, or a box of squares that need lines drawn on them. I've even brought quilt kits and cut them out at a hotel, but didn't bring a machine. Getting all the prep work done for a project and getting right to sewing when you get home is huge win! 

In case you wondered, I only sewed in Arkansas while DH was riding in a scooter rally. The rest of the trip we were doing things together. I would not bring a machine for a road trip where we are in a different hotel every night, but when we are one hotel for several days, sure! BTW, I can draw lines on squares in the car too! Just bring a clipboard! 

I hope this helps someone! Surely I'm not the only quilter on the move without an RV.