Did anyone think that this would go this long??

We may have talked about it, but, down in our hearts, we expected to be surprised by how fast we would solve it.  WELL, Surprise!  We didn't, and we're still here at home.  Is anyone else dreaming they have COVID 19?

How do you feel about all the protest and reopening of states without following the 14 days of slowdown?   And where in the world did those protesters come up with "it's my constitutional right?"  I don't remember the part that says: "I can do whatever I want, anytime I want, and I don't have to be concerned with what happens to other people when I do!!"

We're all alittle stir-crazy and way ready for this to be over.  But forcing it is not going to shorten it!

I am worried about the food processing plants.  I'd be a little more confident if the people making the decision took a shift on the line.  Portlandia series is a little less ridiculous with the food issues now!  Name that chicken!!

Well, time for some distraction - mostly for me, probably.  I've been busy in the sewing room.  '6' face masks a day really does add up.  I've made over 100 masks this month!  And I owe it all to JOT!  "Just One Thing"



  Kid masks!

I divide up the tasks to work sessions:

• Zig-zag the twist tie into the seam allowance at the top.  Sew top seam and bottom seam, leaving that opening at the bottom
• Put in elastic or ties
• Hand over to DH to turn!
• Press and pin tucks.
• Press and top stitch all the way around, tacking down tucks.
• Press, take photo, put in 'finished' box!
• Repeat!

The #100dayproject is going well.  Granted there are days that I'm making the Plus/X block out of habit.  But there are other days that I'm excited about looking thru the scraps to find a great combo!  I was really excited last night when I hung up the latest block and saw that I'm just 1 block (today's) away from finishing the 4th of 6 rows!!  Time flies in captivity!  Here's the latest blocks:

 

Reds!                                       Sewing!

  

Bikes!                                                  Healthy Foods!

Books I've been reading:

The Lost Man  Jane Harper

The Last Child  John Hart

American By Day  Derek B Miller

The Lola Quartet  Emily St John Mandel

The Keeper of Lost Things  Ruth Hogan

Photo Contest:  We're down to 2 players and I don't send the same photo on the same day!  So there are repeats.

Reveals will be tomorrow!!  Not enough space between!!

Stay Safe and QUILT ON!

Oops! That was a BUSY week!

Wednesday was a tough day around here.  I'm basically a cheerful person (I think!)  But during this self-quarantine crap, about every week or so, I wake up feeling like I could cry all day.  Anything sets me off - commercials, news stories, a book, a movie I've seen 100s of times.  Actually just thinking about this makes me start to feel like it too!  Usually, I wake up the next morning normal - ready to go get'em for another week?  I guess I prefer it to feeling bad every day.  It is what it is, whatever it takes to get us through.

The news hasn't been too good lately, immunity strength may tie into how sick you were.  Vaccines have not been found yet for corona viruses, just treatments.

Yesterday, the Sisters Quilt Festival was cancelled for July.  Now, I agree that it should be.  And if it wasn't, I wasn't attending this year.  BUT man, it sure brought it home!  We don't know what the new normal will be, but we're pretty sure it won't be anything like life in 2019.

Well, we had a GKs uprising this week!  DS and DDIL are way too piled on to help the little guys guess the photos.  We decided that they could just text me everyday to keep in touch.  And then they didn't for 3 days!!!!  LOL!  But those boys, 7 & 9 this month - are energy in a bag!  And the almost 3 year old is becoming her own person and is learning way too much from the boys!!  I'd be lucky if I could stand up without help after a day with them!

On the other hand ... the 11 yr old came back to the game!  I sent him a text that he didn't have to play if he didn't have the 5 minutes ... trying to guilt him.  Didn't work!  But the next day, I told him if he wasn't playing, he needed to send me a text about his day everyday.  The next morning he sent me a photo puzzle!!

The 13 yr old has been steady and is getting smarter ... I have to find some harder subjects to send her - they are way too easy!  J, a friend in Nebraska said she couldn't guess them so she was out!!

So here is a sample of this weeks puzzles:

   

M guessed my sewing basket!                P guessed all my thread!

Papa said my basket wasn't that neat!               Not All my thread!!         

   

Too bad I didn't have an even number of pictures!  Answers are at the bottom of the post.

Face masks requests exploded this week!!  We have a variety of quilters in different clubs and associations, and they have been contacted individually.  We have quilters with children in medical fields, and they have been working faithfully.  And people contact the guild with requests.  Finally we all got smart enough to ask for help when we are getting overwhelmed.

Here are just some of the places that have our masks:

Pelican Bay Prison

Curry County Health

Sutter Hospital

Gold Beach Hospital

Asante Hospital in Medford

OHSU Hospital in Portland

Veterinarian offices

Police and Fire Stations

Headstart Program

Grocery stores

And every friend that knows a quilter!!!

I've been keeping up with my daily block, although sometimes I have to disappear after dinner to finish one!!  22 as of yesterday.  I think 48 will make the size I want - 60 x 80.  Here is the picture of them all together on the design wall that I promised last Tuesday!!  Better late than never???

Pretty wild!!  Of course, these blocks are in the order they were made ... there will be some switching about!  The middle seams are all pressed to the center, so I have to figure out how to do that?  I'm halfway done, so I could just switch then all the other way ... but we've talked about 'old dog new tricks' lately.  OR I can just put a thin sash between them all??  I'll keep you informed!!

Here are close-ups of the ones I didn't post this week.

 Maps                                 

 Birds, Bees and Whales!

 Typewriters!                    

Ok - Photo reveal time!

 

 

 

Stay safe!!

The days are blurring again!! Tuesday?

 

Yesterday was crunch day!  I was making masks for family in the Midwest.  I know I've complained about this before ... but just to reiterate: our small town has ONE delivery / pickup for mail:  11 AM!  So, if you want the mail to go out that day, you have to join the multitudes in line at the post office by 10:30!!  I won't even talk about the fact that mail comes in at 11.  So it doesn't go out -at the earliest - til the next day!!!  So one package made the 11:00 deadline, but I've got to go back today with the other two envelopes!!  Sigh! One price of living on the edge of the earth!

When we are not on quarantine, I cheat by going into California where the mail pickup is 4 pm ... I also go to Crescent City twice a week for water aerobics.  Hmm, I wonder if that will start up again??  Life in Limbo continues!

So I made 9 masks with over the ear elastic.  Most of the masks requested were for shopping trips.  But also have some Nieces working full time ... so a combo of styles were needed.

Meanwhile, I managed to finish an UFO.  Last year, when our block program was Sawtooth Star, I made or delegated alternate squares for a raffle drawing each month.  Yeah, I didn't get much else done last year.

I sewed the very last of my Sawtooth Stars for a lap robe for a veteran in Gold Beach ... and then this Broken Dishes alternate block set got turned back in!!  Seriously, does everyone's luck run this way???  So amid grumbling ... ok, mostly grumbling ... I made more Sawtooth Stars and at February retreat, I pieced it all together.  But, I only took scraps to retreat ... no border possibilities - and then ... someone gave me a bag of patriotic fabrics and this stripe was in it.  Just enough for the borders and the strip across the back.  AND the grey backing too!  Top completed!  I even handed it off to one of our Long Arm Quilters there at retreat!

 

My 13 yr old DGD is still playing the photo puzzle game!  And I'm loving that daily contact. But I'm sad to report that she's the only one!!   The 11 yr old played 2 days, then politely ignored me!!  The Panama Crew is way too frazzled with teaching homeschool lessons over web; teaching elementary dynamos and a 3 year old under martial law and Panama City went DRY!!  Beer supply is diminishing ... can panic be far behind??  So yes, I understand ... but my hopes were so high!!  Here's the photos Miss P and I are still exchanging:

 

 

Reveal at end of post!!

I was on a mission with the Plus/X blocks this weekend!  Twosies!!  I was excited to almost get to fill another row!  I had a pile I'd been collecting on the ironing board.  Instead of moving the piles to the bed (where on the bed I know not!!  It's piled high already! Sigh!) I picked out the ones I liked the best and made them up.  Of course, there was searching for 12 background squares; some light, some dark.  But they all cooperated and worked up fast!

 

 

 

Winners all!!  What, you want to see them together??  So did I!  Just one block short of 1/2 way done!!  BUT we'll have to wait til tomorrow - 3 tries & I'm out!!

Face Masks Galore!

We are an army in motion!!  But we are all figuring it out as we go.  I’m  not an expert, my pattern doesn’t have filters.  What face masks are you  making?  What makes it easier?  I’m old!!  I have problems with hands, wrists, legs, back and ATTITUDE!!!  If I make 6 masks a day, 6 days a week, I can make 3 dozen a week without  killing my body - leaving energy to do something else too.  Most of our  groups masks go to retirement homes, cashiers, friends and family. I cut 2 pieces of stash 9 x 6.5 (width of my ruler!). I go thru the bins  and pick fabric I can spare and looks fun!!  I cut 2 or 3 from each.  I’m  bored if I make a yard’s worth of same-same! I make a nose shaper from a produce bag twist tie.  But they seem to be  gone from the grocery stores - I don’t think I was the only one!  What  works for you?   I zigzag the 1/2 twist-tie (1/2 = 2” length) in the seam allowance at the top of one of the fabrics.  I then, use my clear foot used for decorative stitches, it’s 3/8”  to the edge.  I sew the top seam - twist tie on top so I can keep an  eye on it. I sew the bottom seam, same foot, leaving an opening in the  middle to turn. My masks either have 7" elastic that loop behind the ears; or 14” elastic  looped at the top, and two 15” ties at the bottom.   I pull the elastic straight thru along the top seam, keeping it straight and  out of the way.  The end to be sewn is slightly outside the mask.  I start  stitching the one side, back stitching over the elastic once. Needle is down. I stop stitching and thread the bottom tie thru the mask  opening to the  lower corner.  The tie is slightly outside the mask.  I finish the side seam;  but at the tie, I reverse stitch into the seam allowance, forward and reverse  again - catching the tie at 3 different places in the seam allowance.  I hope  this makes it stronger. I repeat on the other side, trying to keep the elastic untwisted.  At this  point I hand the 6-8 masks to my DH who turns them for me.  He’s not  a pro at any means!  But involving him! When I get them back from DH, I use a wooden knitting needle to shape  the seams out and sharpen the corners.  I also finger crease the opening then .  I make and pin the pleats on both sides.  After I’ve done each mask,  I press the pleats down. I anchor the pleats and top stitch the entire mask at the same time.  I start  at the bottom, sewing up the sides where the pleats are folded toward my  needle.  Needle down; I pivot at the corner, trying to sew over the elastic  or tie.  Across the top - remember the twist-tie!  Pivot, down the other side, across the bottom - closer to the fold, so opening is closed.  Back stitch at  the corner I started at.   I chain stitch the next mask on.  After I go around the first corner I trim off the first mask.  Repeat!!  I press them again at the end and knot the ends  of the ties. I’ve used homemade bias tape (it doesn’t like me and the feeling is mutual!).  Then I tried Rat Tail ribbon from our LQS.  It’s soft - haven’t gotten any  feedback on it yet.   Now I’m stripping some t-shirts without side seams, 1” strips.  Bonnie  Hunter uses these in her ‘halter’ masks.  See her video on YouTube. I didn’t  want to switch to her pattern, too many masks already cut.   The t-shirt tie  cuts easily into the 15” lengths. I don’t expect everyone to go into this detail.  But if you have a different  pattern, tell us why you like it.  And if you have other hints, let us know  them!  And keep sewing!!  -doni

It's the weekend, I guess!!

Yesterday was spent in the sewing room - again.  But it didn't seem as productive.

I resewed 1/2 the Flying Geese blocks - have the blue on.  Today the beige-ing.  Fingers crossed that I can square it up to the right size this time!  Then I just have one more block set, which I'm changing!!  Hey - I had to do it once!!

My DH cleaned out his closet, looking for a missing pair of shorts.  He handed me two pair of shorts and 2 old t-shirts!  So I used Bonnie Hunter's method of making 'bias' for face masks.  I folded them in half, squared them up on my rotary cutting board, cut 1" strips.  Then stretched each one until there was no more give.  It looks promising!  Today I'll put them into my "7 face masks a day" production today. #Ihatebias  Fingers crossed.

I'm dealing with an uprising from 1 DGS and my DS!  Only my DGD is playing the game.  She's 13 - so I'm thrilled to have this daily contact with her.  This weekend I'll try to talk the others into joining in again!

Yesterday's photo, the reveal is at the bottom of the post:

I found a baggie of 3.5" squares.  There were a lot of Blue and Beige-ings, so I marked and made 16 HST starts.  This is for Rd to OK - which I'm excited about, since I managed to sew 3 blocks together correctly!!

My Plus/X block of the day is themed!  I noticed when going thru my scraps that I have a lot of Bee fabrics.  So I used 5 of them, added an alphabet background, cuz we need a "Spelling Bee" too!  #Badjoke!  

Part of the explosion in the sewing room is from the scrap baggies!  Literally!!  Digging around in them, and then making the blocks, throwing back the left-overs.  Bad management!!  I end up with 8 bags looking like this!

                              

Believe it or not - after dumping the baggie on the ironing board, pressing and pulling out miniature pieces for a friend; pieces I want to use, and even tossing some ... I end up with this!

Easy to use again, at least until the next time!  I sorted the Red; Yellow/Orange and the Black/Brown/Greys!!  I have TWO bags of blue; TWO+ bags and piles of beige-ings; Green; Purple and Pink left to manage.  We'll see if that actually helps!

News Alert!  Sue Spargo is presenting stitch lessons on Instagram.  She calls it 90 days of stitches.  She's on Day 20 today!  How I didn't really notice this was happening goes to show my state of (no)mind!  She uses a circle sampler, which I happened to have made the circles after a class I took.  Only stitched one circle and not happy with it - will probably rip that one out.  AND miracle of miracles - I found it!

Now you would think that she would start with some simple stitches ... HA!  Bullion Knot on first day.  That's what attracted me to the first video.  I need to brush up on Bullion Knot for my DropCloth sampler.  Second day is Palestrina Knot!  I've never even done that one!!!  Going to try - no way will I catch up, up but hopefully will save the video in favorites and keep the Diagrams.  Just listening to her calm English accent helps!


 The reveal - the wall that separates the forest from our complex grounds.  One spring a young bear came up from the beach(?) and panicked.  You could follow his large muddy paw prints across the parking lot and up over the wall into the forest!!  We don't get many bears on this side of the Highway.  (Thank Goodness!)

Stay Safe and QUILT ON!