Thursday, November 5, 2020

I was able to find a number of bags to cut up and use as filters in this new batch of masks. I’m hoping I will have enough elastic so each person will get at least one filtered mask. I’ll get the “old” masks back over the next while and I’ll be able to refit them and so elastic won’t be an issue.

I decided to start with the smallest mask that I make (for Taylor). It went together quite well and is not much more difficult than the original method. I worried about pressing but as long as the filter layer was between two fabric layers it didn’t melt. My quilting experience came in handy as putting the layers together was done the same as my cards, and I’ve had lots of practice with them. Pleating is a little more difficult and sewing the pleats down is a bit tough but not too much of a problem.

Test 2 involved one of my own masks that needed to have the elastic changed; when I made it I didn’t have any of the proper elastic. I was hoping to test adding a small filter to the inside of the mask without having to take it completely apart. It was more difficult to reverse sew as the masks are double seamed and the pleats are even heavier stitched. I gave up after getting the pleats taken out. In order to change the elastic the whole thing will have to be taken apart to the very first step.

Test 3 was to take apart a “good” mask and see how it could be refit. Again I think the entire mask will have to be taken apart as I don’t see a way to securely attach the filter and I’m not keen on the idea of a removable filter. The reverse stitching can be done while I watch TV at night or when I have my coffee in the morning.

I’ve worked all day and have several masks done. I have 7 more to finish before I put them in the laundry and get them sent off (hopefully tomorrow).

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

I’ve lost count of how many masks I’ve made since the pandemic started. I’ve sent them to Christy, Kathryn and Elizabeth and both Christy and Elizabeth have passed them along to friends.

Yesterday Health Canada announced that non-medical masks should now have three layers of fabric; the masks I’ve made have two layers but at least one of those layers was batik fabric which was the recommendation at the time.

I talked to a quilting friend today and she has found some re-useable grocery bags that apparently are made of the right fabric to use as the filter or middle layer. I’ll have to go through my bin of bags to see if I have anything that fits into that category.

I did more reading online and it is also said that if you don’t have the right filter fabric then a third layer of tightly-woven fabric (my batiks) will work.

I think rather than waste the elastic (the most difficult to find) I’ll make some three-layer masks, get them sent out, and then have the two-layer masks sent back. I’ll add a layer on the inside to bring them up to code; They will no longer be reversible and it won’t be pretty but it should work.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

It was almost like being back at the Guild today – except quieter and lonelier. I started the day getting everything set to release Clue 2 of the mystery quilt later this week. I have most of the clues prepped but I like to do a last minute look-see and I always find something I want to change.

Next up was the Guild’s block of the month. The directions were a bit off; well no, not off but the method the designer used for half-square triangles was a bit different from how I do it. It meant I had a few extra squares in a certain size but I was using scraps so it didn’t really matter.

After lunch I started putting together Clue 5 of the mystery quilt. The expectation is that I will have mine finished by the time we do the “reveal” in whatever shape that will take. This is the first time I’ve led a mystery and one of our members has bugged me a bit about how well it will all go together – apparently in her experience they don’t always work out. I assured her the designer I chose knew what she was doing and, so far, all is well.

We’ll be glued to the TV tonight watching the US election results. I’m very interested in who the winner will be, when the winner will be declared, and what happens after all that has happened. I know we’ll still get a lot of election-type news but I look forward to a time when it is over.

Monday, November 2, 2020

On the first day of the month I’m supposed to find out what my monthly UFO will be. I noticed once before though that when the first falls on a weekend we don’t get the magic number until the following Monday. I only have two UFOs left on my list; they aren’t all finished but they have all seen significant progress. My options for this month were a project that involves some quilting and a fun project I started the last time Stacia, Deloise and I sewed together.

The UFO for this month is going to be my Limoncello. My notes indicate I started this in May of 2019 so it hasn’t been hanging around for too long. My Thursday sewing buddies each made the same pattern but, of course, they were all done in different colours. I purchased the fabric for this specifically because of the name.

The blocks are all finished and my intention is to use a quilt-as-you-go technique. I’ve only done this once before and this time I’m going to use a slightly different method. To add to the challenge I’m going to quilt each block by using some of the quilting rulers I’ve purchased and, up to now, been afraid to use.