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.

Well, Good Morning!

When I was looking out my front door this morning I saw this little critter hopping around the flower bed.

Then it came right over to the steps as if to say "Good morning". 

We had a freeze warning for last night so Husband brought me a bouquet.

It did freeze. I am hoping that the lilacs, peonies and poppies that have buds will still bloom. My apple tree is loaded with blossoms. 

It would be nice to still get apples. I guess we will have to wait and see. 

Meanwhile, I have been busy at the quilt frame with Circle of Life.

It is now off the frame and the binding will get attached today. I will sew it down while watching TV.

Husband and I ventured to his Pulmonology* appointment on Thursday. We wore masks and had our temperature taken when we entered the hospital. This doctor thinks that Husband does NOT have COPD, but rather asthma. He says it is often hard to tell one from the other, but his lungs are clear, he isn't worried about the small nodules/slightly enlarged lymph nodes seen in the last CT scan (said that he sees that every day in his patients, it's common in the farming state we live in, and is generally not a serious health issue) and feels that the sleep apnea is minor. He changed one of the inhaled medications and a CT scan has been ordered to see if there are any changes in the lungs/chest from a few months ago. I find this slightly encouraging. What I find discouraging is that the health insurance company will not approve the new medication so the doctor increased the dosage on the one Husband is currently taking. They had also not approved the PET scan ordered by the heart doctor after the nodules and enlarged lymph nodes were seen in the last CT scan. But, after meeting with the Pulmonologist* I understand why they might not have seen that it was necessary. I just find it frustrating that health insurance companies can and do refuse treatment and tests that medical doctor feels are necessary for treating their patients. 

Hope you stay safe and well.

*Blogger is underlining these words in red which indicates that they are misspelled. I looked them both up and they are spelled correctly.