Saturday, July 5, 2025

Motorcycle Memories



Jerry started off with a Suzuki 750, called a Water Buffalo. We rode together on it for quite awhile. 
He then got a Kawasaki 1300.



The first bike Jerry got me on was a Yamaha 200. We had three acres of land and I ran into the side of our mobile home and broke the speedometer!!



My first bike - a Suzuki 550.

I am holding a rubber duck that was my constant companion for a long while. The motorcycle club required it to be in full display on your bike whenever you dropped your bike!! I thought I would keep it forever. Every time I got rid of it, I would do it again and get it back!!
One time, it was not my fault. I had the bike parked and our son, Jerry Jr. (Jay) tried to get on the wrong side and flipped it over.


I planned to get my motorcycle license one day after work at Texas Instruments. First thing I did that morning was drop my bike getting off our patio. Jerry said you are not ready to take the test. I said I am too! After work, (Jerry was a supervisor and got off later than me) so another motorcycle friend / coworker went with me to Odessa to take the test. He lived in Midland and passed Jerry on I-20 on their way home. He gave Jerry a fist bump saying I passed it.

I made these vests for our three kids that showing the name of the Odessa motorcycle club we belonged to for a while.

After I overheard a couple of ladies in the restroom at a bike rally discussing us. Seems like "we would never fit in as long as we brought our kids with us!! Some of them had kids too (feeling guilty - maybe?) We un-joined the club and I made t-shirts for the kids with the following statement on the back.
"MOTORCYCLING  IS A FAMILY AFFAIR.







This was one of our campsites with our trailer/table that I pulled with my bike. It carried three tents, ice chests and clothes for us and the three kids.










This might have been a the Ft Davis mountains. We went to bed in our tents and woke up about midnight with the wind really blowing and snow on the ground. It collapsed the tents and friend let us join them in a cabin.
This is after one of our trip. Jerry was sitting on the front porch of my Mom's house in Amarillo. Might have been after our "TEXAS 1000" in 1980. We drove to different points all around Texas and covered 1000 miles- in the good old summertime!! We took pictures of us at each of  the check points listed for the tour to show that we actually did make it.


Texas 1000


This was Jerry's first sidecar. When we filled up with gas, the kids played musical seats - one in the sidecar, one behind him and one behind me on the bikes. It was not as popular as the second one. Our first trip with it rained and we stopped in Ponca City, Oklahoma at an Aunt and Uncle's home to dry out. The side car was filling up with water so Jerry and my uncle drilled a hole in the bottom to drain the water.




Now this sidecar, I really liked!! If the weather was bad, my bike stayed in the garage and I took my blanket and rode in comfort while Jerry was out in the weather.
This is my "Ghost" picture. It was a double exposure taken with an old camera - kind of neat!!



I was selling Avon at the time and told Jerry that it was undignified for an Avon lady to deliver products with chain lube on her pants. I was also tired that no one wanted to ride behind me and my Suzuki two stroke, saying I was spraying for mosquitos!! Some friends, that we went to rallies with, owned a motorcycle shop in Lubbock. They called one day and said they had the perfect bike for me - a Gold Wing. I sold my Suzuki to an Avon customer and rode with Jerry to Lubbock to check it out. First, though, I went to the Odessa Honda shop and asked if I could sit on a Gold Wing. My Suzuki was very tall and I was on tiptoes. But the Suzuki's gas tank was up top and the Honda's was under the seat so  it was much lower and more comfortable. 

The Gold Wing was massive!! It had a Harley fairing with four headlights across the front, a large Harley trunk on the back and two Moto Guzzi saddle bags, each one would hold two sleeping bags!! I was unsure . . . they said take it for a little ride. I came back and said I'll take it!! I liked it and put 50,000 miles on it before I sold it and bought an Aspencade.


This is a before and after picture of my  1976 Gold Wing. This was before the 18 wheel truck driver ran a stop sign right in front of me and I laid it down to keep from hitting him broadside.











So, Jerry fixed it . He sanded it down and painted with white with the black trim. It looked like a police bike and I had no more trouble with people pulling out in front of me. I love listening to my CB comments!!  Especially hearing the truckers tell each other to "set it on the double nickel", as a smoky on two wheels was coming up behind them. We had CB's on both motorcycles with Jerry's handle being Sugar Bear and mine was Honey Bear. I visited on mine one time with David Allan Coe on one of our trips.



My last bike - the Aspencade.


We quit riding a number of years ago. Jerry was having back issues and riding in general got a bit more dangerous with people not watching their driving.





Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Quilts - New and Past

Sorry that some of my photos have shadows from the sun in them.

Pickups and Flags Patriotic Quilt


 Patriotic quilt features pickup trucks with flags. Celebrate the red, white and blue with this beautiful quilt. It has borders in patriotic colors and white muslin backing. It is long arm quilted with light polyfil batting and measures 57 inches by 64 inches.

$175 SOLD

 


Best Part of Waking Up (Coffee)  Quilt

This quilt features hand embroidered various types of coffees, including Cafe Mocha, Cappuccino, Espresso and Java. It has light polyfil batting, white muslin backing and is long arm quilted. It measures 65 by 70 inches.

$200












Floral Circle Heart Quilt




This quilt features hand embroidered blocks of blue hearts with star in the middle alternated with pretty blue and pink floral blocks. It has light polyfil batting,white muslin backing and is long arm quilted. It measures 64 by 78 inches.

$200



Fruit Full Quilt

This hand embroidered quilt has many different fruits and sayings. It goes well with the coordinated green blocks and the yellow and green borders. It has light polyfil batting, white muslin backing and is long arm quilted. It measures 66 by 74 inches.

$200 SOLD



 


This is some of my previous quilts, still available:

Braided Quilt

 It is a combination of browns and oranges in a braiding style. It had white muslin backing and is long arm quilted with light polyfil batting. It measures 65 by 80 inches. 

$150




 Blue Blossoms Quilt

This blue floral quilt has blue binding, white muslin backing and longarm quilted with light polyfil batting. The pretty floral blocks really set it off. It measures 66 by 84 inches.

$150




Purple and Gold Quilt

I can't fully show how pretty this one is. The gold fabric has sparkles in it - looks like glitter and very pretty.
It has matching borders, white muslin backing and longarm quilted with light polyfil batting . It measures 62 by 83 inches.

$150 SOLD





On The Farm Quilt

I named this one "On The Farm" .
It has a bit of everything farming on it . . . barns, ponds, hay wagon, cows, farm equipment and tractor.
It has two borders, a gold and a dark green, and muslin backing. The binding is black. It is long arm quilted with light polyfil batting. It measures 74 by 83 inches.

$200

Friday, September 13, 2024

On The Farm

 

Here are a few of my farm related projects.


Texas Counties Map Wall Hanging

This map has all the counties in Texas show and identified by name. It has a dark green border and backing, has light polyfil batting and is bound in a medium brown. It has a hanging sleeve on the back and is long arm quilted and measures 24 by 25 inches. 

$25 SOLD



I named this one "On The Farm" .
It has a bit of everything farming on it . . . barns, ponds, hay wagon, cows, farm equipment and tractor.

It has two borders, a gold and a dark green, with light polyfil batting and muslin backing. The binding is black. It is long arm quilted and measures 74 by 83 inches. 

$200

This is my hand embroidered Tractor Quilt.

This lap quilt is bordered by red, white and blue strips with stars and another border of navy blue polka dots. The binding is also navy polka dots.  It  has light polyfil batting and is long arm quilted. It measures 58 by 58 inches. 

$125




This beautiful USA wall hanging not only shows the states but some pictures of what they are famous for. 
It is made with a panel and blue and green blocks border. It  has light polyfil batting has a hanging sleeve on the back and is long arm quilted. It measures 49 by 50 inches. The backing is an America Live fabric design.   

$150




This is a set of farm related smaller wall hangings. All have light batting and a hanging sleeve on the back. The three larger ones sizes are 16 by 8 1/2* 12 1\2 and 12 1/2 inches and are $15
each. The smaller are 12 1/2 by 7 1/2 and 11 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches and are $12 each. They could also be used on tables or for placemats.




Little Cowboy or Cowgirl quilt. 


This quilt has horses, horseshoes, boots, hats and all cowboy items on it. It is long arm quilted, has light batting, muslin backing and red binding. It measures 44 by 49 inches.

$35















On The Farm Wall Hangings

These two cute wall hangings show many aspects of the farm and animals. They have light batting, are long arm quilted with  a burgundy lattice border and a green border. They have muslin backing and are bound in dark green. They measure 18 by 31 inches and have hanging sleeves on the back.

$50 each






















#1
These western themed hot pads have Insul-Bright batting in them. They feature aprons on the skirt and a back pocket on the pants hot pads. They can be decorative or useful. Pictures show front and backs. 

$ 15 for each set


#2

#3



#4


#5







Coffee Place Mats
1-2 & 3
These cute place mats have light batting and are machine quilted with dark brown border and binding. The backing is the brown/gold plaid as shown. They measure 11 by 15 inches and are great for coffee time.

$45 set of 3




Coffee Mug Rugs
4-5
These two little coffee mug rugs are perfect for coffee and a little snack. They have light batting and are machine quilted with dark brown border and binding. The backing is the brown/gold plaid as shown. They measure 11 1/2 by 11 1/2  inches and are great for coffee time.

$20 set of 2