Corona-cation. Week Three.
This series began on as Thursday, March 19th. It's hard to believe that an yet another week has gone by. And yet another is hot on its heels! Thanks for staying with me to see how this week unfolded.
On Day FIFTEEN, Thursday, April 2nd...
I was actually on time for the ZoomBEE meeting of my Weekly Quilt Group today!!! :o))
It was SEW great to see these smiling faces for the second week in a row. Unfortunately, a few people were missing this time:
This evening, I spent some time out in BlogLand catching up on what my bloggy friends have been doing this week.
Day SIXTEEN, Friday, April 3rd...
This morning, I was able to join our ZoomKnit meet-up. It was good to see my knitting friends (for the first time in WAY too long!) and be able to chat with them for a little. Video chats are MUCH better than not seeing your friends for weeks on end. Thanks for arranging it, Cindy!
Stacy:
Linda:
Beth:
Cindy:
Tracy:
Nicole:
The only person missing (from our core group) was Hilary! :o((
But...
... In the midday, she and I "met up" at the coffee shop (meaning we parked our cars 6 feet apart and talked for a little bit through the open windows. Until my allergies got the better of me!)
Anyway...
The purpose of our meeting was so that I could pick up THIS:
Aaawwww... Silly me! I forgot about the fact that it might be autographed until I was posting the photo of the cover:
The majority of my afternoon was spent working on the blog post for yesterday's ZoomBEE meeting. I got a head start this week, but it still needs MORE words.
Before dinner, I gathered backing and batting for my latest quilt top. The backing is a different shade from the colors on the front, but I think it will work. I found an off-cut of batting from a large quilt that I will be able to slice in half and realign. Once it's put back together, it will be almost exactly the size I need.
Update from my friend Lisa: Good news! Her daughter's boyfriend's mother, who was hospitalized for almost 2 weeks, has been released and has now returned to the comforts of her own home. There is a happy story to go along with so much sad.
Day SEVENTEEN, Saturday, April 4th...
As of yesterday, the CDC is recommending everyone wear cloth masks in public to fight coronavirus infection. Having resisted any mask-making effort thus far, I promptly ordered some from a friend. Please don't judge me. I'm a quilter, not a crafter.
After checking in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this morning, I went up to sew Frankenbatting for my Magic Stars donation quilt. Here's what I'm talking about:
I absolutely LOVE it when I can use up scraps!!
According to data compiled by John Hopkins University, the U.S. now leads the world in the number of COVID-19 cases with more than 266,000 confirmed. Those cases contributed to the world's more than one million cases globally. There have been more than 6,900 deaths from the virus in the U.S. and the numbers continue to grow daily.
In other news, according to Market Watch, a small bank in West Virginia became the first institution to fail during the corona virus crisis, being closed by the FDIC on Friday. The First State Bank of Barbourville's four branches were reopened as branches of MVB Bank, Inc today.
Back in the studio, I loaded my Magic Stars quilt this afternoon:
Day EIGHTEEN, Sunday, April 5th...
The latest news update is that there are 1,202,236 confirmed cases worldwide and 311,357 in the U.S (more than double the number of cases in Italy.) New Jersey has had more deaths resulting from the novel coronavirus than the number of residents killed in the 911 attacks. Closer to home, North Carolina now has 2,402 confirmed cases and 24 deaths. Right next door in Durham County they have had their first COVID-19 death.
Kim's notice that there would be a Project QUILTING Quarantine 2020 Limited Edition was released last week. The first prompt Q1 was BIG. The projects are due today. Here is a teaser of the entry I made:
I also released a new Sew Some Love post and cut fabric for my very first homemade face mask, but quickly abandoned the entire process before really making a start on the project. I don't have half of the necessary supplies in my stash because I'm not a seamstress. Nor am I a sewist. I'm a quilter and don't have much in the way of elastic or other such items in my stash.
Day NINETEEN, Monday, April 6th...
In addition to PQQ20 Q.1, I completed a UFO (WIP?) yesterday. (You can read more about that in THIS post.) Whatever you call it, I call this quilt project DONE:
The first one of the Spring 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club. Yay, me! Check back tomorrow for the post about that.
This afternoon, I released a new Mail Call Monday post. I sent Sandy @ Sew High Quilts some scraps to help her finish her Awesome Land quilt. She sent me this box of goodies:
Today also brought the 2nd step of UNITY: The Quiltville Sew-in-Place QAL and I am toying with the idea of participating by working through last week's instructions...
... And continuing with a portion of this week's instructions, to come up with my own abbreviated version of the Sew-in-Place UNITY QAL. The resulting quilt will be something that (vaguely) resembles this segment of Bonnie's quilt:
More to come on this in a later post. I've got other projects that require some attention before embarking on this one.
And in today's corona news, England's Prime Minister, who was diagnosed 10 days ago, was admitted to the hospital and later moved to ICU. England has become Europe's COVID-19 hotspot.
Day TWENTY, Tuesday, April 7th...
Yesterday, the Washington Post finally had an article about Sweden in the wake of the coronavirus. I've been wondering about them for weeks! My two pen friends were both from there. (I also wondered about our neighboring Mexico, but that question was answered last week - even if I didn't post about it - will have to check.)
Back to Sweden... it seems the country is taking a bit of laissez-faire approach to the pandemic. As of Sunday, there have been more than 400 deaths. Here's hoping my old friends are safe! Unfortunately, we lost touch with one another shortly after high school (all those many years ago.) I do still think of them fondly.
Grocery run. This morning. It was the first one in 7 days!! That's the longest time between trips to the store. Probably EVER! We checked the receipts (since neither one of us could remember) and that's extended from every 5 days over the past several weeks. Not bad, since we were in need fresh produce.
Today's (pitiful) score:
I can't tell you how happy I am to have a few extra rolls!! :o))
For today's sewing adventure, I armed myself with more information, one brilliant idea, two pattern sources, and three people to thank, and I have FINALLY embarked on the way to making my very first face mask!! Will there be more? Only time will tell. Here are the makings of the first one:
Day TWENTY-ONE, Wednesday, April 8th...
OK! I've been avoiding this task for more than two weeks. I bit the bullet and made my first homemade face mask today. There are SEW many patterns and tutorials out there that I found it rather overwhelming to decide which one to try. (This was added to the fact that I really didn't want to make any, at all, since I would then need to admit that we are in a very REAL and super SCARY situation.)
The mask I chose to try first was the Men's size of THIS PATTERN @ Craft Passion. It was recommended by Beforesunrise on Ravelry's Sew Obsessed group, who found it very easy to sew:
I agree with her. I didn't even use any pins! My chosen materials were shirtings from Cherie @ Quilted Jonquil and scraps from my T-shirt Quilt leftovers drawer:
The straps are Tarn (t-shirt "yarn") cut to .5 x 6.5" to fit DH:
Unfortunately, the mask gapped on his face, but fit me perfectly...
... Without fogging up my glasses:
Not that I plan on going anywhere
that would warrant needing a mask!!
For the second mask, I chose a t-shirt without interfacing and another of Cherie's thrifty finds:
This one, without the interfacing, didn't work any better for DH:
Tomorrow is another day (with the potential for making another style.)
SEW...
You can all stop wondering how I'm doing. As you can see, I'm doing just fine. (Although, I did manage to see a few of my friends this past week and that felt a little like cheating!) I survived another week without appointments, shopping, or very much galivanting and I have to tell you, I'm starting to forget what the alarm clock even sounds like! And that feels REALLY good!
I'm pretty sure brain thinks we're on vacation. This must be what retirement is like. I think I like it! Well... Except for the whole coronaviris thing making this break from the norm necessary!!!
I am focusing on being thankful for the productivity these extra hours in the studio have allowed. I am totally ROCKING time with a statewide Stay-at-Home order!
Until next time...
That's it for Week THREE!!
That's quite the diary. It will be an interesting record to look back on when we are finally on the other side of this pandemic. I also had trouble getting myself to sit down to make masks, but finally made some for all 4 of us at home and a couple of friends. I followed the pleated pattern with ties rather than elastic that the local hospital put out and was happy that the one pattern fit all of us equally well. I'll make more for friends as needed but I'm not giving up the quilting. Quilting is my sanity sewing when the world is a scary place. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI've been vacillating on making masks, too. Probably for the same reasons as you. I have gone as far as pulling some fabric and my meager supply of elastic. We still have a box of disposable masks that I think came with this house (someone had allergy problems) so that is what we are currently wearing when we have to go out.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to make a mask! I don't think I have the skills (or want) to make any. You are keeping busy, for sure. Glad you scored some TP and fresh veggies. I 'might' attempt some blocks today from your tutorial - my day off so I can play in the sewing room.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are doing okay! I like the contour face masks, too. It's hard enough to breathe through two layers of cotton, so I can't imagine trying it with a filter. Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are doing so well and that you scored some TP! They have a small supply on our grocery store shelves almost every day now, so hopefully it is getting better in other areas, too, or will be shortly.
ReplyDeleteI've made so many masks now, I've lost count. Each time I sit down to the sewing machine, I have to make more masks. But one girl in our little village home from college was bored and offered to make masks for anyone who wanted them. Within half an hour, she had 500 orders. So I won't complain anymore. I could not do 500 of anything. Not even snowflakes.
Virtual isn't as fun as in person, but since that's not a choice, it's nice to be able to check in with people. I'm with you on the mask making, I put it off till we had to have some. Looks like yours worked out pretty well. I had to tinker with My Guys to get it to fit. Things won't go back to normal anytime soon, but hopefully we'll get closer to normal in a couple of weeks.
ReplyDelete