Who is that Masked Bandit?

COVID-19 precautions are urging all those who go outside to wear masks or face coverings of some kind, particularly when running necessary errands. Ever since the recommendation came out, DH has been asking me when I'm going to make some.  I knew there were many, many video tutorials on the interwebs but dreaded slogging through them to find one I liked and worked well. 

Since someone needs to keep the ice cream supply stocked in this house, I used a double over bandana on Thursday for the shopping run and that is NOT a good solution, fit wise. Nor did I like looking like a bandit, a bad bandit at that. 

The time had come for me to stop procrastinating and get busy. You all know I have enough fabric in this house! And I knew I didn't want to deal with elastic loops over my ears, especially since I wear glasses. 

Actually, the procrastinating worked in my favor for once! I was reading thru my favorite blogs and it turns out Bonnie Hunter combined the best of two masks into one, created a quick video, solved my 'No Elastic' restriction (and very creatively, I might add) and BAM! I had my plan! 

I am not going into the how-to here, just click the link above to see her post, complete with YouTube video.

I will mention the cool hack for the ties. Use an old T-shirt, one that has no side seams and cut 1 inch wide strips across the body, creating a loop. 

Then s-t-r-e-t-c-h the loop. the fabric lengthens, curls inward and forms a soft tie string. It's flipping brilliant!!

I made two in about a half hour but I wasn't rushing. If I decide to crank out more of them, I would set up a production line to be as efficient as possible. So far, 2 for me and 2 for DH and 1 for backup or someone else.  DH loves his masks, especially since they are large enough to fit his goatee! Making these masks only requires fabric, thread, t-shirt ties and time. 

And time I had yesterday.  Normally, my April is chock-a-block full of events, road trips, doings and more. Not this year. But just because all of those things were put on hold, and I'm working from home for the foreseeable future, didn't mean I couldn't use a break. Really? A staycation in the middle of a quarantine? 

YEP!

I took yesterday off! And while I though I'd spend a relaxing day at the sewing machine, responsibilities reared their ugly little heads. I pulled on my big girl panties and tackled filing our income tax returns, paid bills & did laundry before rewarding myself with machine time.  Would you believe it take twice as long to file the state return as it does the federal return? I only needed to print out 4 pages for the federal vs. 11 pages for the state! Yeah - that's crazy! But now the whole weekend is free to spend as I wish, with no big chores hanging over my head. Studio time for sure! 

Spring COLOR!

Who Knew? 

Gardening is considered an essential business! I understand that, given we can grow our own food, but not quite yet around here.  The calendar may say Spring but it's not safe for tender plants until after May 15th. 

BUT, (and there's always a BUT) there are some cold weather hardy plants available now. In an effort to overcome some of this 2020 general icky-ness, I made a special stop while out with Odie the other day. I like to take him to the conservation area in town for exercise rather than walk around the block. More nature and less other dogs, kids on bikes & people. 

My shopping stop involved safety measures - mask, gloves, hand sanitizer and social distancing, all while supporting a small local business. 

Add to that seeing all the pretty plants in and out of the greenhouses, giving a lift to the soul. 

Things are hard right now - we have new realities across so many aspects of life, be it work, friends, family, recreation, hobbies, necessary errands, finances, etc. Everything is different, and it needs to be so we can stay safe & healthy. But "Different" requires adapting to changes, accepting limitations, finding creative solutions, fighting against the isolation maintaining safe distances, finding an inner place of peace, remembering that things will continue to evolve. It can be exhausting!

I brought home not only bright pretty pansies, with a few violet stock. I brought home a reminder that hope springs eternal, and that the wheel of the year keeps turning, regardless of what's happening in the world. 

I need to get these potted up for the front of the house and maybe they will help brighten up someone else's day. Any little bit of normalcy helps right now. 

Tuesday Technology Glitch - Good Morning!

This morning has been a bit of a challenge! 

I simply needed to print 3 pages of a document from my personal laptop & home printer, in order to work on a critical project for work. Easy, right?

Never had a problem printing from this laptop before but apparently today was the day! 

An hour (!) later, I finally had the 3 pages in hand. However, that made me late logging on for work and for getting a post up to this blog. But the fun didn't stop there.

OH, NO!  No good deed goes unpunished!

My trusty lappity-top needed several updates and what better time than now to get these done. ARGH!!

Okay - so this is totally my fault for not taking care of housekeeping duties on the electronic devices in a timely fashion. I need to go stand in the corner! And I might - outside, in the sunshine, on the patio later today - LOL!

It's rather amazing how much of our lives right now, particularly now, are dependent on electronic devices and virtual technology. Can you imagine trying to do what we do - blogging, working remotely, online shopping, etc., - if we were all still using dial-up connectivity? 

I'll take my sewing machine vintage any day but I'll keep my technology modern. 

So now that everything (I hope!) has been updated, I will return to some regular blog content tomorrow.

Hope you all are staying safe & healthy!

Working on 'Unity' Quilt Center

Cut my pieces.

Drew my sewing lines and got busy. It didn't take much to get this done by Friday evening.

All set for the Part Two instructions releasing today. I'll wait to see what it is before deciding to stay with my colors for the next round or change things up. 

Right after I finished this up, I realized that I have a wool pressing mat, brand new, still in the package. SMH!!  I'll be opening that up before I start stitching next.

Dreaming Progress

The outline stitching around the petals on my Dream Big panel is done.

I changed thread colors as I progressed outward.

Lots of thread tails to bury as I didn't want to stitch back over areas excessively. 

This has been put to the side, but not too far, until I figure out the texture I want to add to the petals.

Unity Quilt Project - Colors

Got around to digging in my stash to select the colors for my version of Bonnie Hunter's Sew-In-Place Unity Quilt. Getting the fabric to show up correctly in pictures has been a pain. I tried a couple of combinations of light source, time of day, etc. both inside and outside. This is the best it's going to get - taken this morning outside in the cold Spring morning light. 

Cream, Aqua, Turquoise, Cobalt & Navy

I decided to go with a monochromatic color scheme. Do I have all the yardage amounts recommended in my colors? 

Cream, Aqua, Turquoise, Cobalt & Navy

Probably not but I may only make this lap size quilt or I can find different fabric in the stash or I can change the colors with each border I add. Bottom line - it will happen the way it happens. 

No Stress Here!

Speaking of stress, I needed to iron the fabric and someone in my Studio HATES the ironing board. Odie loathes the sound the iron board makes when it's unfolded. I get that  - he has very sensitive hearing. So rather than send him running just as he settled down for a snooze, I opted to iron the fabrics atop a towel on my sewing table. 

Totally hi-tech here. LOL!! On to Cutting, next...

Quilter's Version of 'Shelter in Place' Order

Most States are under some version of a Shelter In Place order, as it's called in Illinois, to help battle the spread of the Coronavirus. Ours is in effect until April 7th, though it most likely will be extended. Further, my company has issued a Work From Home directive to those who are able to do so, which was recently extended to May 1st. I fully expect that to be extended until June 1st, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Working from home has some advantages, though certainly so one is thrilled with the reason why. For me, it eliminates the 2+ hours I spend driving back & forth to the office. That affords me more time for activities like dog walking, cooking and of course quilting!

It's times like this I am thankful for the luxury of a good size stash. But what project to do?  I'm not wanting to have to design a quilt right now, I just want the soothing, productive action of putting fabric bits thru the machine. 

Many quilt instructors have been offering up quilt projects online to help quilters stay connected. On Monday, Bonnie Hunter revealed Step One of her "Sew-in-Place" Unity Quilt Along. It will be a medallion quilt, adding rows each week around the pieced center. Check out her blog for details on the getting Unity Introduction and the Unity Part One. 

My goal is to use my own colors, though I have NO idea what they will be, and shop my stash for this quilt. This project will add some direction to my quilting and hopefully re-ignite some designing passion. There are a few quilt design ideas languishing in the dusty corners of my mind.