Yard of Bricks Race

We had another wonderful day sewing for Charity in our annual Yard of Bricks Race. We honor our Indiana roots with races that mirror the events held at our storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway each year. We started with a May race to honor the Indianapolis 500 using Jelly Rolls to race to victory. We award prizes to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers, but we don't make them "kiss" the bricks. LOL.

A few years ago we decided to honor the Brickyard 400 with a Bricks race. We use a easy pattern that uses 3"x6" "bricks" sewn into strips and then arranged in a staggered layout for movement. This change was well recieved by the guild members, as this pattern gives us more leeway in created unique designs, from Bargello, to Chevron, to random.

We gather in the morning and set up the room with each "driver" receiving their Nascar number, the pattern, and a Pit Pass for our door prizes drawings. We also set up a concession stand with drinks and snacks to help fuel our drivers during the "race".

Once all the drivers are in their start position we begin the day with the playing of the Nationa Anthem and then the call is made "Let's Go Racing!".

As with all races, there are mechanical issues and this day was no different. We had a lost electrical cord and "car" manual. A few drivers were out of tune with their travel machines and needed time to remember how the mechanics worked. But soon all 20 drivers were off and running.

Sandy M, our top Race official, instructs the drivers on the rules of the race. She always brings examples of the differnt layouts for the Bricks quilts and over the years has made dozens of these easy quilts.

We get the drivers started on sewing strips sets and then as they reach the 1st stage of the race they come to her for the next step in constructions. This allows each racer to work at their own speed.

During the race the Announcer shared trivia items to see how much the drivers knew about Nascar. We learned that their education is sorely lacking.

Here are some of the "haulers" with their team colors proudly displayed. A few upgrade have been made to the race with the addition of a thin inner "track" added to the left and right side courses.

The endless design options create wonderful tops to be quilted for use by the various chairties we support in 2026. Our donations are set each year with 6 charities receiving quilts we have made. We collect them every 2 months and then present them to one of the chairties at the end of the collection period.

After a short Red Flag, for lunch, we resumed the race and it wasn't long until we had a Winner!!!

Cyndi B with her Bargello inspired top.

Not long after the 2nd place finisher crossed the line.

Sally S took a more jumbled approach to her race.

And coming in a distant 3rd

Kerrie G with her all blues version of the race.

The rest of the field that finished the race in the alloted time

shared their accomplishments.

Colleen McP and Debbie D

Katie W and Cheri W

Mary Ellen H was the last one on the lead lap and then we have the stragglers like Ann H

Angie V and Cindy H

Melissa R and Barb N

Peg B and Kathy Z

Jen L and Linda G

And 2 racers did not finish

Linda R and Helene J

Helene took home the Loser's prize which was a silk eye mask to help her recover from her dispair and a Poof to scrub away the disappointment. But she doesn't look too unhappy with her position.

Many thanks to the following race officials who made all the preprations for the day: Sandy M, our lead race official, Sally S who was in charge of operations and concessions, Laurie F who was this year's sponsor and in charge of awards and concessions, Martha R who was our promotions and operations gal, and Chris B who was the general gopher and Announcer. We couldn't do this without the help of the guild and our wonderful members. Until next year, stay safe and drive (sew) fast!