April finishes

I only got one quilt finished in April, but I was glad to get it done.

As you know I have been focused on making masks for friends, family, and coworkers. I completed another 37.

So far I have finished 217 masks with elastic and 77 with ties. I have another 4 with ties to finish and 94 with elastic that are in progress.

Here is the fabric I ordered for masks as work. Since it took over two weeks to get it I ended up using fabric in my stash, fabric I was glad to use up, to get started on masks. They desperately needed the masks for all the employees at work so I couldn't just wait. I have used 45 yards of fabric from my stash for all the masks I have made and in progress. My shelves still have plenty of fabric on them. It will be a bit boring to just make the same mask with the black Kona on one side and that batik on the other.

Here is what the squash seedlings look like now. They seem to be happy and many are getting their first true leaves. It is forecasted to be warm on Saturday and Sunday so I will put them outside to get some sunshine.

More masks sewn

I got another 60 masks sewn together so I now have 120 waiting to be pressed, pleated, then topstitched. I did get the fabric that I had ordered April 10th yesterday, but I want to use up the fabric I already cut. I have enough cut for 11 more masks.

Here is the recipe for the bread. Very easy to make.

I have plenty of yeast since I bought a one pound package months ago. I keep some in a airtight container in the refrigerator and the rest I keep in the freezer. It seems like a lot of yeast, but I get this at a bulk food store and the cost is so inexpensive compared to buying the packets.

Masks and bread

Between yesterday and today I have 60 more masks sewn together. I have a three phase method for making mass quantities of masks after the pieces and elastic is cut to size. Phase 1 is sewing the masks together. Here are the 60 masks. I have another 54 ready to sew together.

Phase 2 is pressing the mask. I first press it flat then I press it not quite in half. Here I have about 1/2" exposed

Next I open the mask up and pinch that pressed fold toward the wider side. Press the fold.

Next I pinch the fabric for the pleat that would be in the wide side. Press the pleat.

Lastly, pinch each side and make the final pleat in the narrower side. Press.

I then flip the mask over the press the backside. I press because I find it easier to topstitch and sewn the pleats down.

Phase 3 - topstitch the mask.

Yesterday I made bread. The house smelled wonderful and the bread was so good.

I had some entertainment yesterday with the neighbor's house getting a new roof. This is the same crew that is going to do my roof which was damaged in the hail storm we had at the end of March.

4th finish for 2020 - maybe

I have been having issues with the internet so I just haven't bothered to fight with it to post. It seems to be responsive so here goes!

I finished the red, yellow and gray hourglass top. It finished 40 1/2" x 51 1/2".

Why I might not consider it done is because when I was quilting it I didn't discover until after I began to put the binding on this piece of fabric that got quilted on the back!

I trimmed away as much fabric as I could and slashed between the rows of stitching. I will have to use a tweezers to pull the fabric threads out. Of course, it is batik fabric which will be harder to pull out. This fabric was a piece for a masks that got away from the pile.

I made 5 masks for a friend and her family, made 36 more for work, and have another 40 for work in progress. So far I have made 273 masks - with ties, 77 for work and 14 for friends and family. with elastic 180 for work and 2 for friends. I still have not received the fabric I ordered two weeks ago for masks for work.

I was up until 1 a.m. getting these done so the intern could pick them up this morning. I'm tired. It took me almost 45 minutes to put this post together. Downloading pictures is so slow.

Kathy S. I haven't forgotten about showing how I pleat my masks.

Still making masks

Well the intern stopped over tonight and picked up 60 masks. I made 30 Tuesday and 30 today. I am not sure when my mask making will be done for work. I will just keep making them until they tell me to stop.

Pretty much nothing else going on here except mask making.

Cutting and straightening up

I needed to go thru my stash and find more fabric for masks so I spent all day yesterday going thru each pile of fabric on the shelves, pulling out fabric to cut for masks, throwing all the scraps in a bin, and straightening out the pile to put back on the shelves. Here are the shelves before and after.

I already had plenty of scraps and now I have another bin! Yikes! LOL!!

I did find some heavier weight fabric that I am going to make tote bags out of for the band's merchandise booth. The band won't be playing anytime soon, but I will be ready when they do!

I found a couple UFOs too. The green embroidered blocks and fabric must have come from an auction.

Then I found this pile of strips I had cut for oversized 9 patch blocks.

It dawned on me that I need to save my full with of fabric trimmings to use to tie up my plants that is if it ever gets warm enough to plant anything! So now I have a nice little pile with more to come since I have more masks to cut out.

Here is my pile of batiks and my pile of cotton prints that I will be turning into masks. I have no idea how many I cut. Last time I checked the fabric I ordered to make masks has not been shipped. I need to get some masks into the company employees hands.

Sewing for me

I decided I was not making masks this weekend and do something of mine. I got the hourglass quilt pin basted and about 90% quilted. All that is left to quilt is a bit more of the funky gray hourglass border. I quilted the hourglass circles with a free motion spiral in yellow thread and then meander stitch the surrounding block in gray thread that matched. It is hard to photograph the back of the quilt, but it is kind of cool with the yellow spirals.

I transplanted my squash seeds that sprouted. I decided to put them in food containers that I had saved. Once they get too big for those either they will be transplanted into individual containers or maybe they will end up in the garden. None of the yellow squash sprouted so I just took what seeds I had left and put them in a tray in dirt. It they grow, they grow.

I made homemade pizza yesterday. Let's just say it was very tasty and it will give me enough for several meals.

Today I have been going thru my stash looking for fabrics to make more masks. The fabric I ordered April 10 has not shipped yet and I have to keep making masks. The company I work for is going to reimburse me for the fabric I use. I have been cutting fabric all day and sorting and straightening out the fabric in my stash. I have found a lot of scraps when going thru the piles on my shelves and have tossed those scraps into an empty bin I had. I will post pictures of the shelves and get a number on the amount of fabric I have gone thru so far.