Beta as far as the eyes can see

It's time to catch up. I've been away at Beta Convention. My last one, so it was a little bittersweet. I celebrated my 20th year on Friday morning at the sponsors' meeting. 

Maybe it was bittersweet, but there was definitely lots of frosting! Bunkie High (my old school) brought home all sorts of honors. Since I didn't get to Pin It Weekly, I thought I'd pull some BHS photos from Facebook (there are lots!) and show you how awesome this group is. There are, I believe, around 70 students from tenth through twelfth grades. 

They competed in academic, artistic, STEM, and just-for-fun competitions. These are the winners. All of them can now go on to Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, in June to complete with students from other states. 

Grace won La. State Secretary

Mia placed third in
Special Talent for her song.

Isabelle placed
fifth in Jewelry Design

The school received an award for increasing membership by 10% or better. And finally, they placed first in Group Talent with their modern adaptation of 
The Wizard of Oz / The Wiz.
(This link will take you to the video on Facebook.) 

That, my friends, is pretty awesome! Imagine the preparation it takes to build backdrops (yes, plural), props, record lines and music, and costumes. (Remember the monkey costumes?) Add about 70 teenagers to the mix, teach them your vision of the adaptation, teach them to dance--together and in sync--with the mix recording that, yes! they put together. 

I'm proud of Bunkie High, not because I played my part (however small) but because it will always be in my heart. I have strong ties to BHS and will always love the school, the people, the students and wish them well.

Louisiana Beta Convention -- and I'm back!

sound and lights and cameras, Oh My!

I haven't posted this week because I was at Beta Convention, running things backstage. The convention has been at the Raising Canes River Center in Baton Rouge for several years now. It's huge, but we fill the place! The River Center people are accommodating and do their jobs well. Never-the-less, we ran into a problem right at the start: there had been a huge show the night before, so turnaround was backed up. We arrived at our usual time ready to get to work, but that was long before we could get into the arena to set up. 

Few people are allowed in the arena while the stage, sound, and other equipment are being set up. There are booms, and poles, and just stuff everywhere. And electrical lines...huge wires going from huge breaker boxes to the stage and other places. It's fascinating to see the place transformed, like watching ants make an anthill. 

my office during convention--at least I had a great chair

It was quite a bit of fun, despite how hard I work. I'm definitely not used to standing on my feet for hours at a time. My "work station" is a table in the back corner of the stage. I do a bit of paperwork to keep things organized. Mostly though, I move kids from one area to another. As schools arrive, I tell them where to put props and costumes, show them the bathrooms and dressing rooms and give them a rundown of what to expect.

Ready or not, here they come!

Before and during competitions I call schools back to prepare for the stage, get them in the right place, keep them quiet, move them from one staging area to the next. Sometimes there's only one kiddo going on stage. Sometimes there are as many as 80. I don't know numbers until they arrive for their part. I also don't know how large or how many props they'll have. Some schools are new and have just a few things they carry in their hands. 

My view throughout convention--backsides only

Others are old pros. One school had a 40' backdrop that had to be moved in one piece. It was made of PVC pipe, concrete in buckets, and duck tape. Nope. No kidding. The guy who thought he was in charge left with part of it blocking a doorway. He did not appreciate my moving it. Uhm, have any sense?!

over 5,000 Betas fill the arena up to the nose-bleed section

My "big three" concerns are safety, time and noise. Of course, safety is at the top of the list--there are many, many dangers that the kids don't see--but keeping everyone on schedule is my primary job. Well, I also try to keep the noise level down so that speakers and performers are not distracted. 

Beta convention still life

All in all, it's not a terribly important job and anyone can do it, but I enjoy it and take it seriously. There's an added bonus that I get to meet speakers and dignitaries, such as the officers visiting from out of state and the governor's wife. Who knew she was coming? But mostly I enjoy seeing young people filled with enthusiasm, energy and joy. 

Beta officers visiting from out of state with
Mrs. John Bel Edwards, the governor's wife.

Of course, sometimes I get a kid with a serious case of stage fright. One girl ate a chunk of my bagel because she felt sick and weak. Okay, glad to assist! Actually, it feels good to be there for them and to do my little part in making things run smoothly and efficiently. 

Back to Beta and a fabric sale

Convention theme: Beta on My Mind

I'm pretty far behind blogging about the things I've been up to. For example, I haven't reported back on my trip to Beta Convention. I really had a great time catching up with old friends, getting some "away" time, and helping others. 

Visiting state and national officers lined up for an intro

 My job at convention is to manage backstage: call groups to the back, line people up so they are ready when it's time to go on, and get people out of the way (back to their seats) when they're done.

Just a few thousand teenagers

and they love to support their clubs, even
if it means sitting on the floor

 I'm sorry that the pictures are so bad, but it's actually a good thing. These days we post all the pictures that we want, but I still hold by the adage that children don't have the mental capacity to decide for themselves what is safe. 

BHS students who were in the club I sponsored before retiring

Parents are quick to complain and sue if they think their child has been exploited. Of course, that's a parent's job, so I agree. But because there are always those who take things too far, I don't post clear pictures or names of students under the age of 18. Now that I'm retired, I don't have to be concerned so much but old habits tend to hang-on to a person.

When I returned home from convention, I got busy cleaning the studio again. I'm going through some of the fabric that I know I'll never put in a quilt and am trying to sell it online. I've joined several FB groups, some of which allow people to post ads. To find my ad, just click on this link.

Hopefully I'll sell some of this rather than give it away. I can't toss it, that's for certain. I struggle to toss out even the stuff that I know is not good because of stains, fading, damage, etc. I suppose it's time to say I might be a fabric collector!  :)

Harley Davidson memories ~~ finished top

I've been working on this customer quilt top for several days now. The customer's husband must have been a Harley Davidson fan for quite some time now. His HD tee shirts come from all over the United States.

I haven't counted the number of shirts that I used in the quilt, but it's quite a few. Some of the shirts have interesting fronts and backs, so I tried to keep those together, but I didn't worry about which side I attached on top. It was enough to keep them together. 

Since my customer wanted me to arrange them in a puzzle configuration, I decided to put these two black shirts together so that they would look like one large block from a distance. I may even quilt them the same since the designs make quilting almost impossible in their centers. Stitching through the rubbery screen printing ink is a mess. The thread shreds as the needle punches through the heavy ink. 

When I have a shirt with a full design, I try to find a line or two where there is no ink. Sometimes, the printer chooses to skip the spaces where the shirt color will suffice.



An example of that would be the Grand Turk design on the left. Although the design is heavy, there are places without ink, the tan parts of the motorcycle, the character's face, and between the letters. 

The Renegade shirt is one that will be difficult because there are no open spaces in the design. To handle that one, I'll have to slowly stitch through the ink, going around the Indian character. To ensure that the shirts don't stretch, I'll quilt some small motifs, trying to find some that will work with the overall design of the individual shirts. 

 Hopefully I'll be able to get started on the quilting this weekend. I plan to go the Baton Rouge from Wednesday to Friday to help with the Beta Convention talent groups. I go behind stage and boss people around. Remember (click here) how I did that last year and had fun? Well, I get to do it again.

Link Ups!

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!) 

Six Lessons from Our Guild Quilt Show

If your guild puts on a quilt show, you may have all the knowledge you need to continue doing what works for you. But if you are like me, every event teaches you a little something. Although I've worked on Beta Convention and putting together huge events, the quilt show had its own issues.

So what did I learn? Here are a few of the big ideas.

1.  Pre-show planning: finding and comparing venues; determining a hanging system, rental costs, who and how it will be set up; scheduling both people and events; marketing; assigning people to work; etc.

2. Guild quilts alone? Our guild has 60 members, but many of them either no longer quilt or are too bashful to enter quilts in a competition. We set a goal of 30 quilts, which see may seem easy enough. Instead we were forced to have members enter two or three quilts in the show. I had four in the show but brought seven "just in case we needed them." 

A show of fewer than 30 quilts would be a disappointment to patrons, who may not return for the next show. Plan ahead for what to do should there not be enough quilts for your show. Set a deadline for entries so you will know in advance how many quilts you have. Then move to your Plan B if necessary.

3. It takes many people: to clean, to hang quilts, to take down quilts, to sell tickets, to sell raffle tickets, to work the craft booth, to organize and get everyone working. How will you get these people? Do you have a "right-hand" who can handle those jobs you can't get to? Can you plan activities around work schedules? Are there jobs for those who can't handle the heavy lifting but are still willing to help? (Two ladies helped by hand-sewing sleeves on quilts.)

4. Porta potties, water, and other services require time: determining how many you'll need, where to put them and getting permission from the owner, payment, drop off and pick up, supplies, and so on.

5. Additional events that go along with the show: in our case the town held a city-wide garage sale, the museum held a special art show, and the guild also had a craft fair. Those events were meant to draw more people into the town than the quilt show alone could. 

6. Will the show include quilt-related activities, such as trunk shows, demonstrations, Quilt of Valor etc.? Although we planned for two separate trunk shows and three demonstrations, things did not go as planned. Although six people had promised to bring quilts and to speak for five minutes, only three members participated. 

What will you do if an activity doesn't go as planned? How will you fill the time? Is there a way to make adjustments so that people who paid an entry fee will feel that they got their money's worth? Can you afford to lower entry fees? Can you find someone to step in at the last moment? To make up for the lost time, I brought in quilts for sale in my booth, which meant extra work for me and presenting without having time to prepare. 

There are other considerations that arise, of course. Certainly it's not possible to plan and prevent all problems, but thinking ahead and having many people who are able to step in and help when the problems do arrive can prevent some big issues. It's true that the best plan is to start early and plan ahead. 

Try to think about what could go wrong and how best to deal with those possibilities. While many people say that it's a negative way to look at your event, the reality is that it's actually a positive way to run your event.  Don't mix up looking at your event and running it. Those are separate ideas. 

Looking at your event means having hopes and dreams for activities--what you want other people to see. 
Running your event means careful planning, contingency plans, and people you can count on--what you don't want patrons to see. 

Thinking of them in separate terms means you and your patrons will be better able to enjoy both. What would you add to these big ideas? What problems about your own show would you like to share or discuss? Can you explain in a different way how looking at the event and running it are separate? Please add your thoughts in the comments. 

Back from Beta!

We survived Beta! It got a little dicey at times, but with almost 7,000 teenagers in one room (albeit a large room) one can expect some tiny issues to present themselves. My duties at convention are relatively easy--if everyone cooperates. I am in charge of stage left. Because the stage is 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep, it's impossible for one person to manage it all. So someone has right, someone has front, I have left.

Betas hanging out in the hall.
photo from National Beta Club website  

The person on stage right handles sponsors, trophies, minor issues and overall stage persons, like the officers, MC, etc. The person in front of the stage manages judges, timing, candidates, scoring, etc. I'm the third man so I get all the backstage kids. We have three types of entertainment: candidate skits (1 minute), special talent of four or fewer competitors (4 minutes), and group talent of five or more competitors (8 minutes).  I manage anyone who is in one of these three competitions. 

River Center Baton Rouge (Last General Session)
photo from National Beta Club website

That means I can manage a single person from a club (special talent) or I may also have control of a group of 80-100 with props, backdrops and costumes (group talent and candidate skit). I assign areas for each school to put their "stuff;" call schools to come and prepare for their entertainment, keep them relatively quiet, line them up, get them on stage and off stage, make sure their stuff is safely put in place (to avoid accidents); get them in and out of the area (to avoid overcrowding) and help the sound people as necessary. Oh, and let's not forget that we are trying to meet time constraints so that other things can begin on time. If you're curious about what kids can do while at convention, go to Beta Club Conventions or to the LA convention program here. It's really too much to say in one post. 

Making doggy toys from old socks in the Service Project room.
photo from National Beta Club website

Of course I didn't take any pictures with all the goings-on, so these are all from the National Beta Club website or Twitter page. 
I'm exhausted from remembering all that work, so I'll take a break right about here. 

Beta Above and Beyond ~~ finished top

The BHS Beta Club is gearing up to go to convention this week and, WOW, have we been busy! First there's the candidate skit: 58 seconds of screaming props, backdrops and costumes. Then there are the academic competitions: a simple job of convincing students to participate, and creating a test schedule. and telling each kiddo when and where to be, and making sure that they actually GO to the competition. Let's not forget the arts and crafts competition: wood working, painting, pencils, photography, wreath, banner, needle crafts, and many, many more. 

Our kids finally decided that they would make a banner. Since one of the sponsors is the art teacher, she took on this creative endeavor. This means she pushed the kids to develop an idea for the theme (Beta Above and Beyond). 

Next, we gathered the materials and tweaked our idea a bit more. The kids thought about printing pictures of themselves to add to the banner. Paper wouldn't work, though since the banner is made of fabric, so then came printing pictures on fabric. That actually did work! 


So after a test of the fabric, the kids had to come up with a plan for the photos. They used their phones to take pictures of Betas posing to create a particular scene. One standing on another, for example. Since we wouldn't allow them to actually climb or stand on each other, they had to work that out. And they made it work seamlessly!

It would be difficult to tell that no two students are in the same photo, but that is the case. The photo of the girl standing on the boy in this photo was taken at a different time than his. The trick was to have him stand with his hands in just the right place to hold her feet. Then she had to stand with her feet just far enough apart. 

There was none of this business of printing 3 or 4 copies of the pictures. That gets expensive. So the kids manipulated the photos on their phones or on the computer. Once the photos were printed on fabric, we began playing with where and how to manuver them on the banner. 

The earth and the large star were at the front of the line for fusible web and pressing. Then came the kids. It didn't take long to realize that there weren't enough kids. Back to the drawing board to figure out new poses and choose Betas who could hold a pose long enough to get several photos. 

Interestingly, one of the girls immediately had the idea of taking burst shots. That was a bit of a life-saver for the girl in a hand-stand.


And this one? She is not actually hanging from the monkey bars...we don't have any of those at the high school. How ingenious did they get by lying her on a table with her feet dangling, posing her just right (including her hair) and then standing over her on a ladder to get a down shot? 

I was impressed! But what impressed me the most was the way that they brainstormed ideas, adding to the available information, and collaborating like a team. Some of the kids didn't want to be in the pictures, but when pressed to help out, they agreed, especially when they could turn away from the camera. There were no bad ideas, though there were a few that didn't work out as planned. 

Now that the banner top is complete, I've shown them how to make a turned closure, and we have plans for a few of the kids to come over and use the long-arm. I would like to have the quilt loaded on the machine to save time because I expect it will take a while to quilt this 24 X 36 banner. The plan is to quilt the background heavily and outline around the people, stars, and earth allowing them to pop forward. 

It's been fun sharing a small bit of quilting and fiber arts with the kids. A couple of the kids were all in with the photography. One of the girls really jumped into the quilting process and enjoyed manipulating the fabrics. I think that she may be interested in making her own quilt later and plan to encourage her. She could use the machines at school, and I'll help her to get it quilted...if we get that far. Wouldn't that have been worth all the late afternoons?

Linking up with

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict