General Membership Meeting: Building a balloon for the Great Lakes science center

Club members brought a dish to share and everyone had a great time socializing before the work actually began.  Dan and I eventually corralled the group and we headed to the basement to see what we could accomplish. I conducted a brief business meeting getting club members up to speed on board happenings, calendar and the financials. Dan then introduced Val and he explained the mission of the Hot Air Balloon Exhibit. He brought pictures from the floor of the Science Center and related stories of how the balloon came to be. Dan displayed our fabric color choices and we divided into two groups. One group started coloring balloon designs and the other tackled getting a gore panel out of the old balloon. I participated in the panel removal and we started with seam rippers and small scissors until Mike Emich (balloon builder extraordinaire) demonstrated a two person technique that made short work of cutting the thread that made the seam. Soon we had a panel free and it was time to trace a pattern.  Dan has a very large table created for just such a thing and several tools to help get things straight and lined up.  We centered the gore on the trace paper, used the top half of the gore to trace a pattern and then a straight edge to clean up the bottom half. We carefully cut the paper away from the pattern and then used it to create a mirror image for the other half of the gore.  Once that was done the color pattern was presented and discussed. This discussion led to cutting the pattern in thirds to create three sections, bottom middle and top. To each of the three sections we had to add a ½ inch strip for seam allowance. At this point it was time to adjourn but not before signing up a new NOBPA member. Below is the schedule created to finish this project and deliver it to Val and the Great Lakes Science Center.

Sep 23 - Panel cutting based on pattern

Oct 21 - Sewing Demo

Nov 4 - Finishing

Nov 18 - Presentation

All events start at 6:30 PM at Dan’s house 395 Brenelle Lane in Medina. Bring a tasty plate to share with your fellow project team members and please bring a friend.