Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Helping

The most precious thing you can give someone is your time because you can never get it back.
When you don't think about getting it back, you've given it in love.
~Mitch Alborn in Finding Chika

Quilting

Just a bit of quilting this week. Sort of. No sewing, only arranging the arcs. They required lots of moving/adjusting. Because the values occupy a narrow band, the colors blend into grey-ness. {That's not a word but you can see what I mean. The greens and reds seem to blend rather than contrast.}

Fan blocks set as wheels are arranged on the design wall in two ways
Arranging the wheel blocks into a quilt

But now... the original background doesn't work. It's much too strong against the sewn arcs. And there's nowhere near enough yardage either. Darn. This shot cotton in grey and brown has been pulled for every project for the last three years and never fit. Such a funky non-color. Of course I cut several before figuring this out. Audrey mentioned how much waste arcs leave - big melon shaped lozenges. She saved hers for an appliqué project. Mine are going into a bag for the future, too. They are simply too good to toss.

Sample of brown shot cotton background is place next to some of the fan blocks
This grey-brown is too dark for the background

Masks and Gowns


I made fourteen more masks and am almost out of cotton knit for the lining. Then a friend asked me to join a non-profit group sewing isolation gowns. There is little I can do to help right now other than stay home so I was honored to join. The group provided the fabric, velcro, and elastic. We provided polyester sewing thread. I sewed twelve this week. They need 10,000.

Cutting out, sewing, and finished isolation gowns for area hospitals during CoVID emergency
The design is very basic but the protective treatment on the fabric means we cannot iron it. Finger pressing bias strips for necklines and ties while wearing masks and gloves. The masks aren't difficult to use but I have trouble pinning and finger pressing in gloves.

The good news is this first batch is on its way to a New York hospital. Even though new cases are declining, staff is seriously short of gear and these should help until commercial manufacturers can ramp up.

Coronavirus Study

Stanford Medicine started a daily survey to predict future outbreaks and help direct medical resources. You can help if you live in the United States. Here's the link for more information and to sign up. It took me about two minutes to fill out the original questions and less than a minute for the daily update.


Reading

Once the gowns were finished I was, too. For relaxation I read The Secret Commonwealth, the second book in Phillip Pullman's Book of Dust series. When Pan witnesses a murder the victim entrusts him with his wallet which brings echoes of their old adventures. The clues lead twenty year old Lyra on a search for a city haunted by daemons.

Enjoy the day, Ann

22 comments:

Julierose said...

Lovely array of colors in your wheels...will you set them with narrow sashing or together into single wheels?
Quite a challenging process...
~ ~ ~ ~waving from sunny skies today Julierose (at least for now...)

Janie said...

Progress is being made and then more decisions! The creative process, I love it.
And you're helping by making masks and gowns, wonderful.
We are currently sojourning back in NorCal. My sewing machine is packed away but I have hand quilting
to work on. The creative life takes a turn and goes on.

Angie in SoCal said...

I kind of like that grey-brown for the background. It makes the wheels pop!

Robin said...

How frustrating that the background isn't doing the job. Hope you can find something that works for you soon so this doesn't become a UFO.

audrey said...

You would think that reds and greens would provide a great contrast to each other, but somehow it doesn't always work that way! Best of luck finding the perfect background. I never seem to have enough when I do find it.:)

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Love these arcs, Ann and good luck with the perfect background search. And you are so good to be making masks. Happy stitching from me who is in isolation too.

LA Paylor said...

I forgot to come leave a comment... your circles are so graphic and wonderful. Thank you for always inspiring us to reach higher in general, and for book reviews

Mystic Quilter said...

Oh yes the chosen background is very dark against the delicate colours in the wheels and seems to overpower them. Good for you with the mask making, I don't know how many quilters here are making them but I would think batiks, being closely woven, would be good.

Kaja said...

Who would have thought red and green could look so alike? Maybe when things calm down you will get your bits out again and the perfect solution will present itself.

Ann said...

I originally planned to set them as wheels but now prefer narrow dashing between the fans. Stay safe

Ann said...

Me,too. I love the iterative process of creation. Even though it takes longer, it's much more engaging to use your brain at every step. Sorry you're missing your machine.

Ann said...

It's a favorite of mine and I'm very sorry there isnt enough yardage to use it here.

Ann said...

I was disappointed but it's part of the process, isn't it? Some other fabrics are working. Just need a bit of time.

Ann said...

That was the biggest shocker. They all have similar values - as low volume as red and green can be. I guess that's why they blend together. But I still like the quilt. I've wanted something soft like this for a while.

Ann said...

We forgot about curved blocks when rotary cutters came on the scene. It's fun to work with them. We quilters are luckier than most; we are a bit more accustomed to working on our own in our own little worlds. And we are fortunate to still be able to connect through the internet. Stay safe, Jocelyn.

Ann said...

Thanks, LeeAnna. I'm delighted you like them, too. I've really been wanting to make blocks with curves. Such a nice change. Your TV recommendations are always helpful to me.

Ann said...

Thanks for the confirmation, Maureen. Hopefully, NZ wont be in as bad a shape as many places in Europe and the US. Your Prime Minister jumped on the pandemic very decisively and quickly. Stay safe.

Ann said...

It was the biggest surprise to me, Kaja. Now I see how quiet most of the prints are and how close their values are. I'm looking forward to getting back to this quilt but I still have masks and gowns to finish... although most people around here have masks now.

Preeti said...

I kinda like the dark background so that the delicate arcs have a good contrast. Of course a white background will yield a subtle soothing quilt. I don't think there is wrong choice here. However, if you want to have some fun, I suggest a bright and sunny golden yellow solid background :-) I am sure whatever you decide it will be lovely. Stay safe.

Ann said...

That was my first thought, too, but not enough of the fabric I wanted to use. Yellow sounds interesting. I hadn't considered that. Thanks.

Nann said...

I know what you mean by "funky non-color." I've had a couple of pieces like that -- they looked great on the bolt but when I'd try to use them in a quilt they didn't go with anything.

Ann said...

Exactly. At least these look better in person than they show in a photo.