Opening Day - BAG

One year we received a Texas Rangers umbrella as a free gift when we attended a Ranger game.  It was an awesome umbrella - larger than any I had ever purchased or owned.  It looked something like this, (although our Ranger symbols were on the Red fabric, and the blue fabric was unmarked).

While the umbrella was GREAT, the umbrella mechanism broke.  There were sharp wires sticking out everywhere.  It appeared it would no longer exist as a refuge from rain.

When we attend Ranger Baseball games, we invariably take FOOD. ( My daughter informed me that one item we "always" took to the game was BBQ potato chips.  "I don't know if I really like BBQ potato chips or not, but we ALWAYS had them when we went to Ranger games," she said.

Regardless of the menu - we take food to the game.  And we have to carry the food in some kind of bag.  

This is where the umbrella fits into this story.

I took apart the fabric for the umbrella, rotated the blue triangles, resewed and created a bag for FOOD!!

It just "fell" together.  Everything I cut fit perfectly!!  And it functioned excellently at OPENING DAY.

What a day for a ballgame!!
What a day for a win!
Cathy H

Texas Ranger Banner

OK. So this is supposed to be a blog about my quilting projects (and other creations). But the Texas Rangers are about to make it to the WORLD SERIES for a second year in a row!!! Most of that is due to our amazing right fielder, Nelson Cruz. We went to the game on Monday - where he hit a walk-off GRAND SLAM in the 11th inning.

I happen to have a Nelson Cruz Bobblehead in the exact pose Nelson replicates at key moments in baseball history. Notice the similarity of my Bobblehead's pose and the pose in the newspaper on Tuesday.

Well, fast forward to Wednesday - mostly because we lost on Tuesday. Tied game in the 11th inning. We go ahead with a nice hit from Napoli. Nelson Cruz comes to bat.... 3 run home run!!! Notice the Bobblehead in front of the TV screen: same pose on Bobblehead and TV.

What does this have to do with QUILTING? Well, in the 1990's (1996, 1998 & 1999) the Rangers went to the playoffs. As a school project in our homeschool (we are talking HISTORY lessons here) we made a Texas Rangers banner.

We used a technique that was in vogue in the 90's. . . involving Wonder-Under and fabric paint. You iron Wonder-Under on the fabric, cut it out, and iron it onto the desired background. To seal the raw edges, you use fabric paint that came in these little bottles with pointy openings that delivered the paint in a nice, even line.

Notice the detail on our Texas Rangers Logo:

And the amazing banner that is right now hanging outside our house.

Go Rangers!!

CathyH