Are You Stitching?

Hello Friends

Right now most all of us are in some stage of a stay at home order or quarantine.   So I'm wondering if you are stitching and being productive or if you're in the same boat as me.  I seem to flit from one project to another and can't seem to settle on anything that will hold my interest for more than 10 minutes.  It really irritates me that I have all of this time on my hands and can't seem to focus.   I have to tell you that I really admire all of you out there that are plowing through your UFO pile and finishing things.

You already know that there's a whole range of emotions that go along with everything going on.  My friend, Val, sent me a funny message the other day that she found on the internet:

I've joined along with a number of you, and I'm making masks.  The first few I made were from Patriotic fabric.   Then I read an article where batiks were a stronger fabric and would be better to use for masks.  I also read where there should be a different fabric on each side so when someone wears the mask, takes it off, and puts it back on they can tell which side was nearest their face.

If any of you are making masks, you know there is some elastic to be found now, but not much.  At first there wasn't any.  So I pulled out my bias tape maker and made ties.  That is really time consuming.  And you're wondering what the problem was with that because I had the time.   I don't have a good answer for that......      I can tell you that I find the mask making process just a bit depressing.  Some days it's really depressing.   I know that there are people out there that want and need these, so I keep making them.  At first I made a few masks and then I'd make a box of ties with my bias maker and then complete the mask.

The mask part isn't hard to make.   It's simple sewing, ironing in 3 pleats and then top stitching.   After making a bunch with ties, my friend, Rosemary, sent me a couple packages of elastic.  That makes things go so much faster.  She sent me 20 yards so I made 50 masks with that.   I've donated to a lady setting up a homeless shelter in an old hotel, neighbors, relatives, etc. whoever wants or needs them.

I just scored 40 yards of elastic from one of our local quilt shops, so I can finish sewing the 100 masks that I have cut.  I was just about ready to get rid of my batiks before all of this happened because I just never use them.   I'm glad I still had them.  

And then there is food during quarantine.  Do you know how easy it is to wander into the kitchen and just grab something to munch on?   We don't normally even eat bread, but there is just something about being home that makes me want to bake.  I know I'm not alone.   

I thought I was pretty well prepared for all of this.   I watched this virus go through China and then Europe.  I figured we might be in here a week or two, so I bought a few extra things - including toilet paper.  I probably don't need to even tell you about grocery shopping in a pandemic.   I go on line and click the items that I want, drive to the grocery, and someone brings the bags out and loads them in my car.  This whole process is kind of like playing the lottery.   You pick a few things and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.   Either way, I think we are all learning to get by with less (or at least substitutions).

You might know that I wasn't the only one in town that thought making bread sounded like a good idea.  So every time I put yeast on the list, there wasn't any.  Amy and Trudy, friends from Michigan and New Jersey both mailed me a baggie of yeast so I could make bread.  That was really nice, and the bread tastes so good and makes great toast.  The two loaves on the left are banana bread because I don't let bananas go to waste.

That yeast bread above really lopped over the pan edges.  It wouldn't fit in the toaster without trimming it.  So I put a little bit larger bread pan on my grocery order, and it's just the right size.

I've been cleaning and sorting through my sewing room hoping that something will spark joy.   (I couldn't help myself.)   I found a bag of Peanuts fabric that I'd bought to make Christmas stockings to donate to Quilters United.   I used some batting scraps and other Christmas fabric for lining and made 24 stockings.  

One thing I've been doing is counted cross stitch.   I used to do it years ago when it was popular and have some pretty large pieces that I've done.   Here is one I finished a couple weeks ago by Country Cottage Needleworks called Holly Jolly.   My friend Michele gave me several different pieces of the cloth to stitch on.    If I remember right, we called it Hopscotch cloth back in the day.  I found some Christmas fabric in my stash and will make this into a pillow.  

At first I spent a lot of time looking out the window like I was waiting for a space ship to land or something.  Now going down to the grocery to pick up an order is exciting because we get to go on a car ride.  My last time shopping inside a store was March 11.  That trip was to JoAnn fabrics to get some colors of DMC floss and a couple of extra pieces of cross stitch cloth just in case I was in here a week or two.  

Now that I look back on the last couple of months, I wish I would have journaled all of this because we're living in history.   Our state is beginning to open things slowly in 5 phases.  

My age group will be one of the last ones to be turned loose.  So until then, I'll be sitting here on my porch watching the ducks and cross stitching.   Please everyone stay well.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.