Life on Hold

I feel as though the world, and my small life and sphere, are on hold. Or maybe a better description is that it’s shrinking. Not that I had any travel plans internationally this year and domestic travel is even not advised. Heck, we’re not even encouraged to go across town unless we have an urgent need. Our lives have been reduced to our homes, solitary walks (presuming good weather and no more earthquakes), and the occasional trip to the grocery store. Not that we’ve tried the grocery store. We’re thinking maybe next week during one of those special early senior hours. Maybe we can restock our fresh fruit and veggies. Or maybe find something chocolate. Priorities, you know.

How are you faring in your corner of the world? Thank goodness we all have our technology to keep us connected with family and to allow so many to conduct business from home. My heart aches for all those who are laid off and for the small businesses who are struggling to stay afloat. Many of them, like many COVID-19 victims, won’t make it.  It will be a changed world when we emerge from this. Whenever that is. 

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There is a growing need for home-sewn cloth face masks in the medical community. Even the CDC (who has some instructions for making them on their website) has OK’ed the use of cloth masks for physicians, nurses and other front-line health responders. They are best used in conjunction with a plastic face guard that can be sanitized. Hospitals can wash and sanitize the cloth masks between their single usages and thus recycle them. So, starting back east, and surely moving inevitably throughout the country, there is an urgent need and call for home sewers to make face masks. There are plenty of sites on FaceBook, YouTube, etc. Just Google Million Mask Mayday. Again, it’s home sewers and quilters to the rescue! Check out this FB page.

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But enough of that (for the moment). Let’s talk, um... maybe Rainbow Scrap sewing??? LOL

I had so many teal/aqua/turquoise scraps left that I decided to add another block to my monthly repertoire. It’s a split-9 block. Please excuse that I didn’t trim the block before I snapped a picture.

I made 9 of them. There is no specific plan for them yet. I’ll just make them and worry about assembling them down the road.

And I did finish the flimsy for my teal/aqua (etc) Creature scrap quilt.

I had so many good name ideas from you all that I wanted to call it The Shaken (Not Stirred) COVID Creature from the Aqua Lab. But that is too cumbersome. So, meet Creature from the Aqualab. As usual, the flimsy is partially pinned and partially hanging from my design wall, so it looks a bit weird. But, we’ll just blame it on the virus...

My March OMG (One Monthly Goal) was to finish up the two flimsies from my On Ringo Lake project from a couple years ago. I’m pleased to say that I’ve finished them both, and will be linking up to Elm Street Quilt’s finish linky party when that goes live in the next few days. It’s live now. Let’s go visit!

Flimsy #1, On Ringo Pond, measures 45x45". We will not discuss the misssssnakes I made in piecing and orientation. This will be a donation quilt.

Flimsy #2, On Ringo Lake, measures about 55x66”. I’ll be keeping this one. It won’t have any big  borders because it’s just right as-is for me. And also because I don’t have anything that’s right for a border and I’m not going out shopping to get any fabric. But now I’m not sure. I could see a thin white stop border and at least some bright binding. We’ll see what I can dig up.

I am so happy to have these flimsies done! This weekend I’ll get the Creature and the Ringos basted and then quilted. I’d like to have them all completed for March. If that happens, I can then turn my focus to finish up my Seeing Stars wall hanging and an International Sisters wall hanging. Both of those projects are ready for assembly.

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So, while the virus rages all around us, Bruce and I are safely cocooned here. Thank goodness we have our hobbies and interests. And I’m particularly glad that Bruce is not only my sweetheart, but my best friend. We get along great, and are even having some fun during the madness. He spends his afternoons in his play area - his “laBORatory” doing “Big Science”.  This week he even voluntarily cleaned his bathroom, no hazmat suit required. Usually I have to ask him to do it first, and then I get a silly reply like (in his best Dr. McCoy from Star Trek voice): “Dammit, Jim, I’m a scientist, not a housekeeper!” Then we laugh and he does it. And I keep busy with my iPad and some housework in the mornings (someone please save me from myself!) and sewing in the afternoons. I think this will get easier as the weather warms up. It would be nice to go outside for awhile.

Linking up to Scrappy Saturday at Angela’s Super Scrappy blog.