Her We Go Again

I got a call from Son yesterday. They are good, but he had a request for more masks. A friend works at a nursing home. Their dress code is black, gray or royal blue. Could I make him three masks, one each of each color? Sure. GF works with developmentally disabled adults. All staff are required to wear masks all the time now. I had sent her 25, but they need more. They also have sore ears. She had tried using a large paper clip but it ended up getting seriously tangled in her hair. Could I make something that would be better? Sure.

They have been offered the opportunity to work two week shifts - 14 days, 24/7, masks on unless they are sleeping. Two weeks on, two weeks off. They can chose to do so or not. So far enough people have chosen to that GF hasn't had to do this. She is a house manager and is working her regular hours so far. But if a shift cannot be filled she will have to do this. Son is not happy about it, but understands.

So I got busy cutting....

...and sewing...

and crocheting and attaching buttons. 

I am making different lengths because all heads are not the same size! 

I am using cotton yarn leftover from making dish clothes. It doesn't take much to make one. And I have plenty of buttons. 

I am sorting through my stash looking for buttons with shanks or two holes as I thought those would work the best.

I tried one of the extender/ear savers 

out to see if how it worked.

I tried it with my hair up and down. It worked both ways and seemed to get the elastic off the ears. I hope it provides some relief to the people wearing them.

Since all of this makes me feel a little depressed and sad and angry and 

frustrated, all kinds of emotions, I 

watched Bob Ross paint on PBS. I find 

his voice and attitude calming.

Stay safe and well.

Slow Guy

When we first moved here there was very little traffic on our road. Over the years that has changed, but most of the people traveling this road were people we know. Now there are vehicles going up and down our road that we don't recognized. Traffic has increased since the stay-at-home order went in place. And, they drive fast which always surprises me because on this one mile of road there is a stop sign at one end where the road crosses a major road. At the other end the road turns into a dirt road so you it's a good idea to turn right or left. Depending on the weather and time of year that dirt rut is covered with drifted snow or a muddy mess with deep ruts.

A few years ago we started noticing a vehicle that was not familiar to us drive by every day. Slowly. Then several times a day. Slowly. Then we started noticing it on other roads around the area. Husband noticed it when he did chores at his parent's place a mile down the road. We were concerned. It was a strange vehicle, driven by a man we didn't know, and on our road several times a day, every day, never the same exact times, going slow. We are always hearing about farmers noticing things missing in their tool sheds. So we kept a close eye on the vehicle and our sheds. Then one day Husband was talking with a neighbor and asked if he had seen this guy driving around. Turns out the neighbor know who he is and thinks he was just driving around during his work breaks. Seemed to us like he was getting a lot of work breaks. He got to be a familiar sight. We named him Slow Guy. He started waving at Husband. It got so now we look for him. We ask each other 'did you see Slow Guy go by today?' About a month ago we didn't see him for a few days. Every once in a while we don't see him for a day or two and worry that he is OK.  

Sunday we saw him go by in the morning, but didn't notice him drive by the rest of the day. Later that evening, we a big truck coming down the road. It was a tow truck, towing Slow Guy. He was riding in the tow truck with the driver so he is OK. I guess his vehicle decided it had enough of slowly driving around all these country roads. We are concerned. Will Slow Guy be able to fix or replace his vehicle? It's funny how we went from being leery of him to hoping he is able to fix his vehicle.

I have no pictures of Slow Guy or the traffic on our road. Just my yard and some tulips.

I did see a baby bunny hopping around in here this morning. It was too fast for a picture!

Stay safe and well.

Cutting and Sewing

Cutting 

and sewing

and more cutting

and more sewing

and more cutting

The drawers in  my handy dandy cabinet work great
to hold long lengths of fabric while I cut.

and more sewing

and more cutting 

To get this...

all the pieces cut for Designer Star.

And, this lovely top!

Husband saw the fabric in a Facebook post and said 'get it', so I did. I didn't have a pattern, just an idea. So I did a search to find the fabric and ordered it. Then I got a message that the border fabric was on back order. Then I got another message that the border fabric was no longer available. By this time I had received all the other fabrics and had a plan. So I searched some more for the border fabric. I was fortunate to find it. My plan worked and I found I had bought enough of the border fabric that I was able to miter the corners. 

It is 70 x 90, a decent size.

I hope you are staying safe and healthy.

Because I forgot

When I started cutting Designer Star I had planned to cut a bit, sew a bit because I knew I would get tired of cutting. There is a lot of cutting - hundreds of pieces - 512 - 1 3/4" black squares, 108 - 2 1/2" white squares, 256 - 1 3/4" white squares, 256 - 1 3/4" x 3" white rectangles. 

And that is only the first two fabrics. 

Except for the diamonds these are for the outer border. There are 64 stars.

The remaining fabrics will have fewer pieces to cut, but by this time I was tired of cutting. I forgot that I needed to cut more pieces for Jack in the Box so I didn't have anything to sew.

I decided to switch gears. I needed to do some thinking, planning, calculating. I needed to make a sample block to make sure it was going to work. It did. 

I was so pleased that I kept sewing. 

Until they were all sewn together. 

Can you guess what project this is for?

So I still don't have anything to sew. I need to do more cutting - for ALL THREE projects that I am working on.

Did you notice the pile of elastic in the photos? I ordered elastic on April 7th from a US Etsy shop thinking it would be safer than from China and would arrive more quickly. It shipped on April 9th. I had been tracking it and it seemed to be stuck in transit between facilities. I contacted USPS and received a response that basically said they were sorry, but don't worry, the package was showing movement daily. What? Not according to the tracking info I was seeing. Anyway the package was delivered yesterday. My lovely mail carrier apologized, even though it was not her fault, and explained that the enveloped used was an Express Mail envelope, but had a 1st Class label on it. We are pretty sure the label was printed by the Etsy shipper but she said the first post office involved should have caught that and taken care of it on that end. Anyway, I now have lots of elastic. I  hope it isn't needed.

I hope you all are staying 

safe and healthy.

Masks

The hospital where my niece works sent elastic. It took a week to get it. The town it came from is only an hour away from me. Mail is slow now.

My last order of elastic is still in transit to next facility. I have contacted the USPS but have not had a response yet.

I decided I was done making masks unless I got a request. I got a request from a co-worker and good friend of my Mom. I couldn't say no. She needed masks for herself, her husband, her daughter and her husband and 10 year old daughter.She requested light gray and tan for the adults and pink or flowers for the young girl.  I did not take pictures, but one I made for her is the same fabric as one I made for myself. Grandma told me she like butterflies. And what little girl doesn't like purple? 

I made another for her that does have pink flowers, just in case she doesn't like the purple butterflies. 

And, since Husband and I both have masks and he needed some farm supplies we decided to take a trip to the farm store and pick up a few groceries we were getting low on. When we got to the first stop we put our masks on before going into the store. The farm store was open the first hour of business to only senior citizens and people at risk. The cashier had to ask a couple of young-ish men to please wait. I expected the people who were out to be wearing masks since it has been highly suggested in our state to do so. At the farm store the cashier (at-risk heart disease) had on a very good mask, the other store employee did not. The other shoppers did have on mask.

At the big-box store none of the employees were wearing masks or gloves, that I saw. Most of the shoppers were not either. We had read that they were allowing one family member and limiting the number of people in the store. It was early Sunday morning so there were not a lot of people out and they didn't seem to be monitoring the number of shoppers. We went in separately thinking that if one of us forgot something on the list the other would get it. And, if we ended up with doubles that would be ok too. We did pass each other a couple of times in the store so we knew what the other was getting and did not end up with duplicates. The floor had sticker sign reminders of the 6 foot distancing. There were signs at the ends of each aisle that said ONE WAY and DO NOT ENTER. There was one older gentleman who was not following those signs and kept talking to people. He stopped me to ask questions twice. He wandered haphazardly around the store ignoring the directional signs. 

I tried to be nice and keep my distance, but he seemed oblivious. 

With all the conflicting news reports I keep seeing and hearing I don't know if I am at risk being out or not - how the virus is or isn't spread, shutting down helps, no it doesn't, wear a mask, don't wear a mask, same with gloves. I don't know what to believe anymore.

I really hope this all ends soon. But, I don't think it will. I will just stay home as much as possible in my own little world. I have almost everything I need here. I can order most anything I need if I run out. Who knows when it will get here, but I can order! I have enough projects around here to keep me busy for a long, long time. Husband is doing more field work today so he is busy too.

Stay safe!

Around My Yard

Since the weather is finally warming up and not as windy I took a little walk around my yard. Here is what I saw.

These berry vines showed up in my yard a couple of years ago. I tried to get rid of them, but that proved impossible so I am letting them grow. Last year the birds got most of them. We'll see what happens this year.

 

Rhubarb and asparagus are growing. Husband mowed today so there are grass clippings in the rhubarb. After mowing he said the rabbits he encountered around the yard were mad! He is pretty sure there are nests of babies they were trying to protect. I am looking forward to asparagus. Husband doesn't like it, more for me!

Clematis and Lily of the Valley are up.

Lilacs have buds. 

It was windy so it's a little blurry. 

Can't wait for these to bloom!

 Daffodil and grape hyacinth.

 

Tulips.

And, a Robin's nest with three eggs.

I love this time of year!

This is why

I have UFOs.

Before I get started you can see what other quilters are up to at 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I have been working on Jack in the Box using scraps. I started in 2015 and had decided to make eight blocks

each of eight colors.

I had cut most of the fabrics for each color- blue, turquoise/aqua, pink, red, purple, green, yellow, orange.

 

I have pieced the blocks for blue, pink, turquoise/aqua, red and purple.

I started piecing the green blocks this weekend. 

I don't know what happened when I was cutting. Maybe I thought I would combine bright greens with dark greens, or maybe I didn't have enough scraps of those colors. 

And then I discovered that there isn't enough variety which means that some of the same fabrics would end up in one block. I really didn't want to do that. And there is a green block that is not bright green but not quite dark green either. It doesn't look so bad in the photo, but in real life it doesn't go. 

 

Then I decided I don't like some of the bright green prints I chose. 

I decided I would need to cut more fabrics to get the look I want. 

At that point I decided to switch over to piecing yellows. They are all cut which is good. 

Then I ran out of the white squares. 

And, I still need to cut orange fabrics. 

At this point I was frustrated. I did cut some more white squares, but then I packed it all up and put it away.

I looked around my mess of a sewing room, put a few things away and got a little better organized, then I saw my project box. Mid-March I had started packing up my project box for the next Sew Day that would be coming up in a couple of days. Only it didn't happen because the schools had been closed - we meet in the conference room of a community library at a school. Then it was being suggested that people stay at home, and then came the stay at home order. No Sew Days. I miss my group. 

In that project box was this kit - Designer Star from Anthology Fabrics. 

It is a free pattern on their site. I got it as a kit from Keepsake Quilting, but I can't find it on their site.

 I decided to start on it. I got the black pieces cut for the center Lone Star. 

I think I will work away at getting this project cut today. It may take a day or two. 

My plan was to show this in our county fair which is held mid-July. As of today the fair has not been cancelled. But, depending on how things are going by then I may or may not risk going to the fair this year. I am an assistant in the Fine Arts building which means I help get the building cleaned and set up for the displays and I get to help judging day. I help with accepting the exhibits, getting the items in front of the judges, putting items in the display cases, and getting them back out and to their owners at the end of the fair. 

Anyway, being an assistant also means that I come into contact with many people, people I don't know. So we will see how things are going at that point. Hopefully, it will all be much better and we will be starting to get back to normal.

Be safe, stay healthy.

Elastic

still has not arrived. It has taken a little longer than estimated.

Date Location Event

• Apr 15, 2020 12:00am US In Transit to Next Facility
• Apr 14, 2020 8:17am PONTIAC MI DISTRIBUTION CENTER, US Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
• Apr 13, 2020 6:53am DETROIT MI DISTRIBUTION CENTER, US Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
• Apr 12, 2020 12:51pm PONTIAC MI DISTRIBUTION CENTER, US Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
• Apr 10, 2020 5:19pm LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, US Departed USPS Regional Origin Facility
• Apr 9, 2020 10:01pm LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, US Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
• Apr 9, 2020 8:46pm VENICE, CA 90291, US Accepted at USPS Origin Facility
• Apr 9, 2020 2:48pm Venice, CA 90291-2843, US Shipping Label Created

Estimated delivery: Apr 13 with USPS 

This seems to happen to me even in the best of times. My orders go from one place, to another, then back a forth a few times before they finally arrive at my house. 

I have signed up for Informed Delivery with USPS and had gotten a notice that I would receive a package on Monday, April 13th, but that didn't happen. It was still in Michigan on that day. It has been 'in transit to the next facility' since yesterday. I have no idea where the next facility is and no idea when to expect delivery.

I have fabric cut waiting to be sewn - 26 sets cut, 24 finished when I still had elastic.

Since I cant' sew masks I pulled out a project I had started in July of 2015. It is colorful and scrappy. I had decided to follow along with So Scrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I was using the colors for 2014 since I started this in the middle of 2015.

I had most of the fabrics cut and organized. I am cutting white squares as I run out. I am making 8 blocks of each color. I had decided I didn't need ALL the colors, like black and brown. I don't have all the light green cut and none of the orange cut.

I had finished Blue and Pink and started the Aqua blocks. 

I have now finished Turquoise/Aqua and Red and have 6 of Purple done.

I will keep sewing today. Next is dark green. I will see what I can do with what I have at that point. If I can get a decent size quilt from that I will stop. If not I will cut more fabrics. 

There are Bonus HSTs created in making this block. 

I have been stitching them together as I piece the blocks. One layout option makes use of these.

I don't know yet if I will do that layout or use them for another project.

Remember the rabbit hiding under my little garden bench?

Well, the last few days have been really windy and the bench didn't survive. It has been slowly falling apart the last few years anyway. It was several years old and only meant to be a decorative garden item. Today Husband loaded it up in the tractor bucket, but we decided the back might be able to be used as a decorative fence piece somewhere.

And that crazy red chair? I set it upright and every time the wind even thinks about blowing it ends up against the fence again. I have given up setting it upright. It is broken now anyway and really isn't safe to sit in. I guess it will go to the dump next time we go. 

More signs of Spring around my yard.

 We hadn't been seeing many dandelions yet which is unusual for this time of year.

These tulips are so cheerful, but I wonder how they will look in a few day.

Yesterday morning looked like this at my house. It snowed really hard for a bit, then quit only to start up again later. By afternoon it was all gone.

Today is sunshine and blue skies, but it is only about 35 degrees and breezy. 

I would like to do some yardwork but it has just been too cold and windy for me. And, the forecast says we are to get 3-6 inches of snow starting later today. Hello Spring?!