like riding a bike
/
Wow, it's month 8 of the Snapshots quilt along! How did it get to be mid-August already?! And I am officially declaring this block my favorite one so far (until next month).
I'm loving this block so much because honestly, I didn't think I could do it. All those little pieces. That handlebar. That seat. Well, really, it's completely do-able with the super clear instructions. There are lots of stitch-and-flip pieces here, so it's made completely with squares and rectangles. It just looks complicated. I just read the directions several times and sewed very slowly and it all came together perfectly.
If only real bicycles came in prints! Since this quilt is a collection of snapshots of my life, you might wonder how a bicycle fits into that scheme, right? Well, when I was a kid I bicycled everywhere. After the bicycle with training wheels (and lots of tears, just ask my dad), I then got a purple bicycle with a sparkly purple glitter seat. Yes, sparkly purple glitter. And it had those streamer things on the handlebars. But it was the mid 1970's and I'm sure that it was the "grooviest" bicycle ever. Then came the green metallic 10 speed Schwinn and I rode that thing EVERYWHERE. I remember bicycling miles to go to my favorite preppy shops in Pittsford, NY. (Imagine me wearing pink and green while cycling on my neon green bike. All true.) I had all the nifty gadgets - toe clips, gadgets, bottles, saddle bags. I'd also ride it though the farmland in Victor, NY, past the cows and corn. Alas, my favorite transportation was abandoned when I moved to NYC.
But now that I'VE MOVED TO INDIANA, there might be a new bicycle in my future! And I can ride it through the corn fields, just like yesterday once more.
Now I know that you want/need to make your own bicycle, too. Here's how to make yours:
