9,000 masks, 500 gowns and counting...

My local guild has made more than 9,000 masks since March!  I imagine a lot of you have similar stories.  If it's one thing we quilters know how to do it's sew and sewing for a cause gets us sewing!  The masks were distributed to a variety of service organizations around our community;  Senior homes,  Clinics, Health department etc.  But once the Health Department heard we could could sew (and for free) they asked us if we would sew hospital type gowns!  Here's the first batch being delivered.  

These are not for hospital use but for their employees performing other Covid related services that the Heath department is involved in.

I sewed 5 of those burgundy shade gowns.  Unfortunately the fabric was some nasty polyester cr__.  It's not what I'd call "fun" sewing but if it helps I'm willing to pitch in.

So that picture was taken a month or so ago.  The health department liked / needed the gowns so much they asked us to make some more.  Here's my silly DH modeling a gown from the second batch.

As you can see he's not shy!

The gals who are coordinating the project asked if people with sergers could sew 10 gowns as the finished edges are a must with this flimsy material and sergers are the ideal machine for that purpose.

 I have a serger.  Kind of a leftover from my garment sewing days. lol

I never named this machine.  But since I've spent so much time with 'her' lately I might have to!   My old Long arm machine was "Nelly Bell".  A node to the old TV show Sky King.   My new Long Arm came with the name "Lucy" which I like to think of as Lucy MacGillycuddy. 

Maybe, Cleo, that has a nice ring,  it was the name of the basset hound that talked only to the Camera in that old TV show.  I think the show was called The Peoples Choice?!

 That certainly dates me! 

Why do I remember stuff like that and I can't even remember where I left my keys! grrrrrr!

Well I haven't gotten much other sewing done lately....

But I have High hopes for next week!!

Stay safe and healthy,

and take care, cw

Another Diversion: Green Orphan Blocks Reach Critical Mass!

I actually Did work on the Purple Thingy this week but it's still in pieces so I won't post another picture of that!  One can only stand assembly line piecing so long before the heart cries out for a little variety.  So, I dug out one of my baskets of Orphan Blocks and realized I had accumulated enough shades of green to construct a top.  The rows are mostly assembled I just need to work out the strips between the rows and how to finish tht one central row.  Here 'tis!

These are all Real Orphan Blocks given to me by various friends and guild members.

You might not think some of these blocks could go together 

but I find the color agreement is enough to carry the design along. 

Some of the block's put together might seem awkward but I think quirky juxtapositions work when taken with the whole! 

I was also lucky to have this collection of quarter square triangles on hand.  They more less run the spectrum of greens that compliment all the greens of the other blocks and help tie everything together!

Another gift;   talk about Free Labor!

I will have this top finished in a jiffy.  This was intended to be a donation quilt but I'm liking it so much I might have to keep it!

Have a great week!

Stay Safe- Stay Healthy!

Please, Wear A Mask!!!

Take care, cw

Diversions from the purple thingy

I'm still working on the purple thingy, but let's face it , there's only so many "in progress photos"  one can post before it gets old.  And I needed  a break.

I found the center of this top at the guild Flea Market.

(No surprise there!  LOL)

I added the 3 outer borders on the sides and the airplane fabric on the top and Bam, Done!

Another humble quilt for donation.

This next one was some pre-cut squares, also a Flea find, also an easy finish for some deserving child. 

All that was needed was sew the patches together 

And add borders.

Kind of like add water and stir....

These animal prints are so cute!!!

It's refreshing to finish something so easily.

OK, so there is the quilting and binding. 

Funs over

 I can't procrastinate any longer....

Back to the purple thingy.

Have a great rest of your week!

take care, CW

Purples Progress

The pieces are beginning to coalesce but it still needs to get bigger I want to make it about 60" x 60".

But of course I can't just work on one thing through to completion so I distracted myself with a kid quilt.

I got a bag of flannels including these big scraps and they just kinda jumped out of the bag and assembled themselves.

These kid prints are so cute.  They are so fun to work with! 

I hope you are all safe and healthy!

Take care, cw

Seeing Purple

Progress has been slow on the purple quilt.  That's the grad present for my daughter in-law who loves purple and she just passed her Board exams in Nurse Anesthesia!  So I need to get myself in gear and finish this quilt.

Monochrome quilts are so much fun to make because you don't have to be to concern with what goes with what 'cause it all goes together!

Take this grouping:  There's Japanese motif fabric, several batiks, 1800's fabrics and contemporary swirls,  all within inches of each other and they all play nice together!

It's also kind of a time line of my fabric purchases.  There's a batik there I bought in 1996, the first time I went to the Sister's outdoor quilt show.  And a couple of vintage fabs I bought when I first joined my local Quilt Guild.

Kinda scary I remember that kind of minutia,  especially since these days I can't even remember what I had for Breakfast!  LOL 

I really want to get this done, I hope upon my next post I will have something more together to show.

'til then stay safe and healthy!  CW

Something New!

It's still in the preliminary stages...

I found a stack of bright charm squares at the Guild Flea Market in Feb. and have been itching to make something out of them. 

I'm working on the idea of using them as a border to surround the more disorganized center that (below) that I started a while ago.

At the time I was just trying to find a way to use all the blocks that used plan white as the alternate patches.  Kind of a disorganized checkerboard.

I like the asymmetry but I think I'm going to have to make it square if it's going to be in the center.

I want to make a new quilt for our new bed.

We  had a Queen size bed for many many years. and bought a Cal. King bed in Feb.   I had been lobbying for this for a long time finally dh conceded we might be more comfortable with more space. Ha!

It will have to be really big to have a decent drape on the sides of the bed.

Maybe 110" square?!

We shall see...

Happy over the Hump day!

( Altho' these days seem to blend one to the next as we shelter so hump day may not be so relevant?!)

Take care!  cw

A finish and more masks...

First the finish!  This is another blast from the past.  This top had to be at least 10 year old.  It's another one of my Strap Strategies class samples that I chose not to quilt because it was so much easier to cart around as a Top.  But now that I'm not teaching so much any more I'm getting those samples quilted so's I can give them away. 
Sometimes I get kind of attached to certain samples because they illustrate certain techniques or ideas that I have worked out for myself.  Those are a little harder to give away.  But I have lots of examples of this kind of scrappy kid quilt so I will heave a nostalgic sigh and let it go.

46" x 47"

There are so many fun fabrics in this quilt!  A lot of them are from K.P. Kids fabric line.  I remember when that frog fabric came out.  It's got to be late '90s.  I just loved it and the dot fabric too!

I quilted it like the scrappy quilt in my last post.  Easy loopy all over pattern.

And I pieced the backing too!

                                      It's nice to have another long term UFO done and donated!!
But what sew week would not be complete in these crazy times without a request for some masks?!  My daughter -in law emailed me last week and asked if I could make some masks for my grand kids. 

My grand children have been very sheltered from Covid-19 so far.  Being only 6 and 3.5 years of age they pretty much stay home, play in their own yard or go visit their other grand parents who thankfully live close by.  But when school resumes at the end of Summer the 6 year old may have to go to school wearing a mask so my daughter-in law thought it would be a good idea to get her use to wearing a mask.  She also asked if I could make some for various other family members.  So I spent a couple of days making these.

These are serial times when we have to be making mask for our G-kids!!!   I hope a vaccine can be developed soon. 
                                            Stay Healthy and safe!!
                                                            CW