Yay and Sigh

First - to see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

The Yay  - the Quilter's Exchange group that I belong to was able to meet on Saturday. We usually meet in a smaller meeting room which isn't big enough for the number of people in our group.The library allowed us to use a larger area of the library where we were able to socially distance ourselves. We were required to wear masks which no one protested. It was interesting to see the different styles and fabrics we all chose for our masks. Some brought Show & Tell which, of course, is always fun! I did not take photos.

I got all the blocks pieced for Sticks and Stones.

 

The strips and squares are 1-1/2 inch.

I need to trim them, cut the sashing and cornerstones and get it sewn into a top. I thought this would be a good use for all the scraps I have. The scraps - they seem to increase daily.

Then I will start sewing together the blocks for Diamond Head. 

I liked the fabrics - a 5 yard bundle, plus yardage, but I'm not sure this was the best pattern to use. I think part of the problem is not enough variation in the fabrics. The same fabrics appear more than once in each block and in blocks next to each other. Oh, well.

I'm not sure how I feel about either one of these quilts, but I plan to donate them so I hope someone likes them.

Another Yay - This lovely is blooming again.

The Sigh - I am making masks, again.

Two of the places I have sent masks previously feel then need more child sized masks since school will be starting soon. I find making masks depressing. I wasn't going to make anymore, but really feel that I should. I have the resources and the time. This is why my scraps keep increasing. There is always a bit of fabric left after cutting the masks. 

Another Yay - my friend in the hospital - his daughter informed us that the doctors/nurses feel he is improving. He is too weak to go home and will need to go to a rehab facility until he regains his strength. Small victories. 

Stay safe and well.

Masks

To see what other quilters are up to go to

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I was able to get four sunflowers appliqued on the Butterfly baby quilt.

I am really enjoying this quilt, but I had to stop there and make some masks.

Son's GF needed bigger, man-size masks. She, meaning the male employees she manages,  also requested more masculine fabrics and colors. I try to put a more subdued or tone-on-tone type fabric on one side along with a 'fun' fabric on the other. 50 masks are ready to ship off to her tomorrow.

My mom retired several months ago, but her former employer sent a Facebook message that they are in need of masks in both adult and child sizes. So I have been busy with that, too.

I am trying to be mindful and make some masks more masculine. I am also trying to remember that not everyone likes 'fun' fabrics. Keeping that in mind, even with the ones for kids, I am trying to pair quieter - solid or tone-on-tone - fabrics with the fun fabrics.

My personal opinion is that if we have to wear a mask why not make it fun! But, not everyone feels that way and I understand that.

I have mentioned our barn cat previously.

I don't usually see him much. But, last night he decided to hang out on the ramp at the front of the house. He stayed there for about an hour.

I kept watching him. He really is a pretty handsome, cat, but doesn't allow 

anyone to get too close. I caught him taking a little cat nap. I love when cats curl their front paws in.

Then, he stretched, washed his face and was gone. 

Stay safe and well.

Ugh!

I think I am just about to give up on growing a garden.

Yesterday morning there was this -

 There were five mini cucumbers left. 

I planted 10. 

Beans have been de-leafed.

This morning -

 More beans de-leafed.

Two decent cucumbers left. 

Two more that are basically just stems.

I'm sure it is the starlings.

Bird netting and more wire coverings have been ordered. The garden supply place called yesterday to inform us that these items will be shipped - wire coverings in July, bird netting in August. 

A little too late, I fear.

However, most of the flowers are doing well.

This Malva Zebrina did get chomped off, but has new growth. 

Either the rabbits will leave it alone or are waiting for it to grow a little bigger before they snack on it again.

 

 

The Hibiscus that the rabbits also dined on took a hit from the wind last week. 

The tallest stem was laying on the ground. It still is. I don't know how, but it surviving, so far.

Work on the Butterfly Baby Quilt continues.
I laid out the pieces to get an idea of what it will look like. 

GF is happy with the look.

I appliqued all the stems in place.

Then started with the sunflowers.

I am using Sulky and Star variegated threads. I am so thankful for my fabric AND thread stash!

I am usually not too excited to do machine applique. I like the look of it, but my needle gums up and I have lots of thread breakage. I use Steam-A-Seam 2. I read on a blog a while back (sorry, I can't remember which blog it was) that they use 'anti-glue' needles when doing applique with fusible web. So I ordered some and decided to use them.

The needle seems to get a little sticky after a while, but I am not having thread breaks.

I just got a call for more masks for an organization that provides residential treatment programs for children. They will be resuming home visits soon and need masks. So I will put the quilt aside for a few days and sew some masks.

Stay safe and well.

Today

started out with some cuteness!

Husband found a barn baby. And, it's a cutie!

He knew there were kittens he just had not seen them or been able to find them. Today he found one. I got to snuggle with it for a little bit while he did chores. It is now safely back with Mama Kitty.

Then, later when I looked out the front door this greeted me.

I don't know if this is the same one from the other day, but it is kind of cute how it comes right up to the bottom of the step and looks at me like it is saying 'Good morning!'

I don't have much on my design wall, 

but to see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I have been working on masks.

Kids masks, adult masks, different styles. I will mail these and wait to see if they still have a need. The email said they had 585 people that had made donations. I think that if there are that many, maybe more by now, they should be getting a good supply donated and I don't need to try to supply the world. But, I will make more if needed.

Anyway, I decided to try a couple of different styles this time. There were requests for child sizes and for some with ties for people who are having to wear masks for longer periods. The elastic causes skin issues with the ears after a while. 

So I made a cup style one in a child size.

Then I decided that I might want to 

check to see if it works well so I 

made one up to try on myself.

 

 Coverage is good, but feels a little small. This is the Women/Teen size.

 

The elastic didn't work that great for me. If my hair was down or the elastic was under my ponytail it slid off my ears and the mask didn't stay in place. If I put it over my ponytail it stayed up better. I am wondering if a person with short hair would have a problem keeping the mask in place.

Next I tried this same mask with ties. I didn't want to spend time ironing and sewing ties from fabric so I decided to try T-shirt ties. 

I learned a few things.

Rib knit shirts do not work well.

The rib knit stretches fine, 

but it doesn't curl.

And it sheds. All over everything.

However, T-shirts work great.

I cut 1 1/4" strips. They stretch well.

And curl well. These photos are the same shirt taken moments apart, weird how the lighting affects photos.

I removed the elastic from the mask and replaced it with a T-shirt tie.

That seemed to work well with 

my hair down or in a ponytail. 

The stretchy ties will fit anyone.

It could be left loose around the neck when not needing to be worn, but still handy to put back on when needed. Since the T-shirt fabric is stretchy it doesn't even need to be untied. It easily slips right back in place.

So I made some more in that size and the Men size. These are just a little more fiddly, but work up quickly.

Then I made some with three pleats but used ties instead of elastic.

Then I made one with ties, but no pleats. It gathers up along the sides of the face and fits much like the pleated ones.

My piles in progress.

I kept sewing until I had 25 child 

and 25 adult masks.

They are now bagged, packaged and ready to mail which I will do tomorrow since the post office closed for the day now

I had a wonderful surprise on Saturday! I got a call from a friend wondering if I would be up for a 'driveway visit'. Of course, I said yes!

Three of my quilt friends, who live right next door to each other and spend time together every day, drove over. We had a lovely visit. One of the ladies had a show and tell. She had finished a quilt. It is beautiful. Here's part of the story. C and S are housemates. C bought a computerized long-arm a couple of years ago. D lives next door - they live in the country so less than 1/4 mile down on the other side of the road. D quilts her quilts on C's machine with C instructing her. Their skills have improved quite a bit since C got the machine and they wanted to show me. It is gorgeous. I wish I gotten to take a photo. I do have a photo of this...

D gave it to me. 

She found it on her walk down to C's house before they drove out to see me. 

In other news, the rain can stop now.

It started Friday night.

By Saturday morning the field across from my house looked like this. 

Last night it looked like this.

It was a pretty sight to see the rain clouds moving out and the sun peeking through.

It will be a while before Husband gets back into the field to plant beans.

Stay safe and well.