My Horse Show Ribbon project!

[kellyb]

While moving, I re-discovered all of my old horse show ribbons. I had around 150-200 from a few years of showing in my youth. I was thinking...what the heck do I do with these? I'm too old to have them hanging in a border around my bedroom, but they did mean a lot to me - no justice would be done just shoving them back into the darkness of the attic.

I love those ribbon quilts, but wanted something a tad different, that I could hang in my office/spare room/future barn (should I be so lucky). I 'shucked' all the ribbons (haha like you shuck corn!) removing the rosettes (not sure what to do with all 150 of those yet!!). I saved each middle piece of ribbon, since that is where the text is written. I picked up a thin piece of masonite for $7, and went to town.

The worst part was the math :lol: and drawing straight lines with a yardstick & maker so I'd know where to place the ribbons. Then gluing each one down (I used 3M spray adhesive, works great). Then I used some of my grand/reserve/year end rosettes to adorn each square. I think it turned out neat!

Here's how it looks for now. I plan to pick up some plexi glass and frame it next week! :D

Let me know what you think!! You guys are pretty much my only horsey friends, my s/o just doesn't understand :lol:

http://www.keliente.com/ribbon1.jpg

[Evalee Hunter]

I like it very much. Well done.

[Jaegermonster]

wow that looks great. that must have taken forever to do
how did you do it? I have that box o' ribbons too

[Aussie08]

You did a great job! It looks wonderful.

[scotchie]

Very nicely done- you worked out a very nice pattern. :yes: I definitely agree that it is nice to be able to read all the ribbon text since that is where the memories are. That is why I designed my quilts the way they are as opposed to using smaller designs that I have seen others use. They have to cut the pieces so small it essentially just becomes a satin quilt in primary colors.
If you sew you can do your exact pattern- that way it is foldable (is that word?!) and easy to move. I tab all my quilts at the top for easy hanging.

[AppJumpr08]

That is beautiful!!!

[Tamsin]

What a great idea! It is a very creative and attractive solution for a ribbon collection.

[kellyb]

Thanks so much everyone!!

wow that looks great. that must have taken forever to do
how did you do it? I have that box o' ribbons too

First take inventory of what you have...I made a list of how many blues, reds, yellows, etc. Then figure out a pattern. The size of the printed area on the ribbons is roughly 7", and I wanted two rows, so that ends up a 14x14 square. I cut the ribbons to 7.5" in case I needed to overlap.

I took a yard stick and marked out all of the squares, so I'd have straight lines to go against for gluing. I used the 3M adhesive spray, wet down the board and sprayed the back of each ribbon, then glued it down to the masonite board. It is really messy, everything wants to stick to your fingers and it's a pain to get it off!

Then I found the center of each square, and glued down the grand/reserve rosettes with hot glue. The last thing to do was just run some black satin ribbon down & across it to cover up the ends of the ribbons and make it look nice.

All I have to do now is saw off the remaining overhang of masonite, and make a frame for it with plexiglass. :)

Very nicely done- you worked out a very nice pattern. :yes: I definitely agree that it is nice to be able to read all the ribbon text since that is where the memories are. That is why I designed my quilts the way they are as opposed to using smaller designs that I have seen others use. They have to cut the pieces so small it essentially just becomes a satin quilt in primary colors.
If you sew you can do your exact pattern- that way it is foldable (is that word?!) and easy to move. I tab all my quilts at the top for easy hanging.

Thanks scotchie, that means a lot coming from you, I absolutely love your quilts. Mine won't be easy to move - but hopefully I won't have to move anytime soon!! :D

[Guin]

That's GORGEOUS! Make sure you hang it somewhere the sun won't shine on it and fade it. (Also, sun turns plexiglass yellow.)

[HuntJumpSC]

Wow! That is very cool! That may be a good project for me during my upcoming maternity leave! :)
You mentioned what to do with the rosettes? One year for Christmas, I decorated a tree with rosettes. I simply matched them up, then hot glued them back to back with a loop of dental floss to hang them with. Turned out pretty neat!

[ExJumper]

That looks really cool! I also like to do things with my ribbons. (The ones I don't send to scotchie, of course :) )

I made pillows that turned out really well.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/irishgryphon/PS2LGEC004ed.jpg

Those were my first two. My other ones were better. I backed them with a pretty blue fabric. I think I might try something like yours.

Oh, and I should mention that scotchie makes smaller quilts that are a little easier to hang. I got two as gifts as well as the one big one that I have hanging in my house.

[Melzy]

It looks beautiful! Well done! Congratulations.

[Puddin Pie]

You did a great job with that!

[BuddyRoo]

THAT I think I could do. The sewing not so much 2 hand surgeries later. LOL Awesome!!! Well done!

[texang73]

I like it very much. Well done.

Ditto! You did a lovely job!! Kudos! :D

[appychik]

Wow. Very impressed. I'd love to do something like that, or have a ribbon quilt made, but I'm just too lazy to do that. Have so many memories with those ribbons... and I've got a lot of writing on the rosettes (on the back part).

Very pretty though.

[Nski32]

Very Nice! I love the ribbon quilts and stuff, but I cant seem to bring myself to ever take scissors to my ribbons! I guess they will hang on my walls forever!! :lol:

[Party Rose]

Way cool! You should be very proud of another job well done. Cherish it and don't ever dispose of it. The feelings it will bring in years to come will be amazing.