S.S. Trixie

This week's update comes courtesy of S.S. Trixie, another ferocious skater from New Hampshire Roller Derby. Trixie is one of the captains of the Skate Free or Die All Stars, and blocks for the newly created Seabrook Meltdowns, one of NHRD's new home teams.

On the track, she's one of my personal nightmares. However, off the track, she's as sweet and kind as her partner, Sin D. Lap Her. The contrast is rather striking, and it's been especially apparent the past few times our respective teams have scrimmaged one another. I remember one particular instance where she hit me so hard I spun 360 degrees before landing face-first on the track. As soon as I got up, shaken but smiling, I heard her shout "oh no, are you ok? I'm so sorry!" She's like an especially cuddly, lovable tank that shoots sunshine instead of mortars.

Sin D. Lap Her

It's been a while, and I have a bunch of new contributions to show off. This is the first in a series of posts about my favorite league to the north, New Hampshire Roller Derby. They've been special friends of mine for years, beginning in the Way Back Time when I was just starting with BDD and their league was just starting up. We've all grown since I was showing my friends the plough stops I'd just learned at practice the day before. I can't believe how much we've all accomplished since then.

Anyway, enough reminiscing. On to the square. Sin D. Lap Her is a dear friend, and I'm thrilled to have a contribution from her. She skates for the Skate Free or Die All Stars, NHRD's A team, as well as the Granite Skate Troopers, one of their newly formed home teams. Want to see her skate? You should buy tickets to their bout this Saturday up in Manchester, NH. She's fast, tough, agile, and much better to have as a teammate than an opponent. She's also one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever met. She even offered to help me move recently, despite the fact that she lives in a different state.

There you have it. A lovely square from one of my favorite people in one of my favorite leagues. More to come next week.

What the hell was I thinking?

I was digging through old emails and I found my original "please make me a square" request for the quilt. This was back in the before time, when I knew absolutely nothing about quilting.

Wasn't I adorable? This all seemed so easy before I'd ever tried piecing anything together, ever. Somehow sewing over the giant clump of fabric in the center of each design never entered my mind.

I also didn't realize how restrictive this was! I must have been huffing some serious glue to think that I could get so many unique snowflakes roller derby skaters to be content following such a specific, limiting pattern. I would have been lucky to receive anything other than a few cookie-cutter squares and a TON of others that didn't adhere to the rules.

Live and learn, I guess. I can definitely say I've learned a lot during this process. I'm still new to quilting, and I have a long way to go before I can ever hope to claim to know what I'm doing. However, looking at this, I can see how far I've come in my understanding and respect for this medium.

Cat over, dog under.

A lesson on working with the fauna in the quilting studio (AKA my living room):

I've accepted that they will be one of the major forces that determine when I work and when I do other non-working things, like sleeping, eating, and showering.

My cat's preferred method of stopping all progress on the quilt is to sit on top of a section and refuse to move. This is usually my signal to go get some chips, or surf teh intarnets. I know that many of you are wondering why I don't just shoo him away. Clearly his cat mind control can't be adequately captured through the lens of a camera.

Seriously. This cat could end world hunger, cure disease, and force us all to get along if he cared enough to direct his cat hypnosis on more altruistic things. Instead, he chooses to find a comfortable place to sit. Go figure.

The dog has a method all her own. Not to be outdone, she digs her way underneath the quilt. Tonight, this even included some tunneling around under the layers so she could more easily see the world around her, look adorable, and wag her tail.

Unlike the cat, who simply sits down in his chosen spot and commands everyone to leave him be, the dog uses her magic powers to make bystanders participate. Yes, she makes us wrap her in the quilt, much like she makes us talk for her using the high-pitched, Monty-Python-woman voice we've all come to use in her presence.

No, really, they're making me do it. Look into those cute, fuzzy faces and ask yourself if you have it in you to actually say "sorry chief, I need to baste that section now."

I didn't think so.

Fresh Eddie Fresh version 2.0

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first "quilt square do-over." Yes, even those of you who have made contributions in the past are always welcome to revise, edit, change, and otherwise re-submit your squares.To illustrate the point, one of my earliest contributors has shown that it it's possible to make a second square that is as keen as the first. 

It's been a while since I've gotten quilty goodness in the mail, so I sent out more inquiries to a long list of total strangers, distant acquaintances, and dear friends. It seems appropriate that the next phase of quilt packages and envelopes would come from one of the first quilt to donate: Fresh Eddie Fresh, New England ref and skater for Pioneer Valley Roller Derby's Dirty Dozen.

I probably should have known who this was before even reading the envelope. I mean, seriously, who else would send me something with this on the back? Opening it up also resulted in some fun goodies. In addition to his square, he also added some stickers that have already found their way onto my quilt storage boxes. Keep sending stickers, people. I love them as much as I did when I was nine.

So I don't leave out the dog...

Goblin has accepted the quilt into our living room life. In fact, she seems to rather enjoy it.

Quilting on the road

Yes, I'll quilt anywhere. This was taken at the Green Mountain Derby Dames vs. New Hampshire Roller Derby game in a couple of weeks ago.

Before you say "but there are NEEDLES involved!" and have a hissy fit about my apparent disregard for track safety, don't fret. I put this down when the bout actually started.  This was a good thing, too, because we almost had an announcer takedown right in front of me. Considering that the NHRD announcer who was almost run over by a GMDD jammer was Pelvis Costello (AKA my beloved husband) I certainly don't want to have anything stabby anywhere near that blue line. If he were in the hospital, how would I have gotten home?

Plus, I don't want to destroy the quilt or anything.