BOMs Away & Colorado Balloon Classic

Welcome to the Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!

 

We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.bo

This week's link-up is at the bottom of the post.

 

(BOM work in a sec - gotta journal some family fun first).

 

We had the best time yesterday! Scott and Marissa and I got up before the sun to drive down into Colorado Springs for the 38th Annual Colorado Balloon Classic. We wanted to catch this unique bit of fun in Memorial Park since it looks like it's the last time it'll be held here. Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't an open free-for-all where crowds of people could literally walk right up inside the crush of densely-packed hot air balloon crews. Owners brought their balloons in pickup trucks and small trailers (sometimes just the trucks!), and they were literally being inflated within touching distance of each other. Some pilots didn't have enough crew members, so Scott and Marissa answered a call from the organizing staff to jump in. I would have been a superfluous helper, so I had fun catching snapshots of the process.

 

First you pull everything out - prep the basket, lay out the envelope, and then get to the big work.

 

Mr. Keller (owner and pilot) was very particular about the hoses being connected properly.

The entire envelope is in that canvas bag!

Hmm... not sure where the shot went of the top pulled out entirely -
it stretches out in a line maybe 20 yards long.

 Pilots "cold pack" the tops, which is blowing regular air into it first. As that is starting, folks up front hold the opening open, and folks in back attach the top to the top. (Don't know any more terms than "envelope.")  Somebody holds on to the tether line that is attached at the tip-top to keep the whole thing under control as the inflation process continues.

 

 

 

The fan behind Marissa is what fills the balloon in the first place.

 

Attaching the very top while the envelope fills

 

Once the balloon is full of cold air, the pilot oh-so-carefully sends jets into the opening to heat things up. It's amazing how fast the air in there responds, and very soon you control the tip of the basket as it all pulls itself upright.

 

 

 

 

Once the organizers remove the "hold" flag, the pilot gives a little boost to his hot air, and he's up - up - and away! 

 

 

Have a great flight, Mr. Keller!

 

 

What a great random adventure to be able to be a part of that process.  :D

 

Here are a few of my favorite shots after that. They had 80 balloons this year, and sent them off in two waves. Check out how the spectators are packed right in with the balloons once people really started arriving!  Also, you can see in some of the pics how the pilots love to come down and "kiss" the little lake in the park before re-ascending for the rest of their flight. Oh, and don't miss catching the crazy man sitting in a "Cloud Hopper." Two of those were there, and they just sit on a little aluminum chair instead of in a basket!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheshire has a tail, just out of sight -
hangs down almost to the basket!

 

 

It was a superb morning - definitely worth the too-early rise out of bed and the $10 parking we paid to get into the lot the Boy Scouts could use for fund-raising.

 

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So - for BOM stuff!  I didn't do much at all, cause the day at the Balloon Classic was too much fun and then I wanted a nap.  But I did do some hand work. 

The bottom of the first block for "Fiesta Mexico" is stitched now - that piece is over a yard long.

 

 

 

Navarre says to tell you it'll eventually have this design work stitched on it:

 

 

 And I hand basted the 48 berries onto the applique border for "Heart & Home."  But I didn't stitch them down yet - started to, but had to go take a nap!

 

 

 

Also, the second of my cousin Kelly's Joseph Smith quilts has been up to bat at the quilting machine for about 10 days. The stabilizing is finished and the stars are quilted.

 

 

 

The finish will be a lonnnng time coming, though - I only get two 20-minute quilting sessions per day as breaks in my thesis work, which is back at full-steam-ahead. Last semester!!

 

 

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Have you done any work on your BOMs recently? Hope my U.S. friends are enjoying their Labor Day weekend!