Road Trip!

Aunt Gertie was feeling like Spring would never come. The winter had been colder than usual with more snow than even she ever remembered. She gazed at the calendar, wishing February would turn to March, when it occurred to her. Daytona Bike Week was right around the corner! That was the perfect excuse for a road trip! “Cousin Martha!” Aunt Gertie called across the way. “Pack your bags. We’re going for a drive!”

Now as you can imagine, this was no ordinary road trip. Normally Aunt Gertie and Uncle Happy would load up their motorcycles, hop on and head south, but it was still snowing! And Uncle Happy was on the road working. This would be a girl’s only trip in the car. Cousin Martha hurried next door to help pour over the maps and discuss all the stops they would make along the way. The route to Daytona had been traveled many times. There were many favorite quilt shops along the way. In the end they decided to get to the warmer weather as quickly as they could. Maybe all the snow would melt before they returned.

With the car packed and the Dytona hotel address loaded into the GPS, Aunt Gertie and Cousin Martha were off on another adventure. Cousin Martha had loaded their MP3 player with Jimmy Buffet and other summer songs. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds as they pulled out of the driveway early the next morning. It was going to be a great trip!

They had decided to drive straight through. The weather definitely showed signs of improvement as they motored south. It was in the 60’s by the time they reached Georgia. Aunt Gertie put away her boots and put on sandals at the rest stop. She had had enough of the cold. Shorts and a sweatshirt was the perfect attire.

Cousin Martha had been contemplating a new quilt design to reflect the theme of their trip. She had made an applique quilt with flames in the past. The quilting had also been flames. Cousin Martha was looking for a design with more impact this time. She playing with the idea of piecing the flames as the weather grew warmer and the number of motorcycles on the highway grew. This quilt was much more complicated that most of the quilts Aunt Gertie and Cousin Martha worked on. Cousin Martha drew out the flames on paper to use as a pattern. She carefully numbered the pieces and placed hash marks that would allow the pieces to be to properly aligned as they were sewn together. They would transfer the drawings to freezer paper and cut out each piece. These freezer paper patterns could then be ironed onto the back of the red, orange and yellow flame fabrics.

It was late when they arrived in Daytona, but they had arranged for that. Off to bed they went. It would be a busy week They had a long list of quilt shops to visit and of course all the excitement of Bike Week: new motorcycle models to see, new vendors to shop, and of course old friends to visit. Aunt Gertie and Cousin Martha had visions of new quilts as they drifted off to sleep.