Staying Safe

Stay safe, self-isolate, social distancing - these are all words we've heard frequently in the past few weeks. The coronavirus has arrived and it has changed our world significantly. I pray that none of you are dealing with Covid-19 first hand. We are all trying to find ways to deal with this daily threat - humor, prayer, avoiding the news, etc. I've enjoyed the memes on Facebook and as a retired librarian, particularly the ones about homeschooling. Laughter does help to ease the tension, even if it's only for a few moments.

I congratulate and thank all of the quilters that have stepped in with sew-alongs on Instagram and the tutorials for making face masks. I question the people that are hoarding food and toilet paper (why??). This is a time when we should be coming together as a country and helping each other out. If we work together, we will get through this.

For me, social distancing is a way of life. I spend the majority of my day in my sewing room working on quilts and projects for Red Crinoline Quilts and I love every moment of it. I should probably take some of that time and organize my sewing room or something along those lines, but I'm very happy doing what I do; well until I had issues with the cabinet near my sewing table. Dang wheel broke and I had to unload the whole thing so I can figure out how to fix it. That wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but my husband had to assist with the unloading. Really didn't ever want him to see all those kits that are stored in the bottom drawer!! Now you have to understand that I have a room full of fabric, but somehow having him see me pull all of those kits out of that drawer just gave me a fright. I was just waiting for the comments and there were so many he could make, but fortunately he kept it to - wheel probably broke because that drawer was so heavy. I agreed and moved on quickly!! Time to reorganize that cabinet when I figure out how to fix it!

Aside from the cabinet issue, I've been busy working on quilts from Paula's new collection - Madison Square. This collection should be in stores around May 1st. We decided to make 2 quilts from these yummy pinks and browns - a re-do of Pinwheel Triangles and a new quilt, Madison Waltz. Pinwheel Triangles is one of the quilts in the pattern, Red Crinoline's Favorites Collection #4. There are 3 small quilts in each of our Favs patterns and we now have 7 of them. It's an easy quilt - just HST's and a border. And even easier when someone makes all of the HST's for you - thank you Paula! Here's a picture of our latest version.

Madison Waltz is currently being pieced, but here's a picture of the fabrics we're using. Don't you just love that border??

We will have kits for both quilts when the fabric is available. I've linked both the fabric collection and the pattern for you. 

Up next will be quilts for Paula's next two collections: Indigo and Madder (7-1-20) and Little Companions Shirtings (8-1-20). I fell in love with the large floral for Indigo and Madder and can't wait to start our re-do of Star of the West. I don't think Paula has designed a quilt for Little Companion Shirtings just yet, but it won't be long. I've linked the two collections to the Marcus Fabrics website so you can see all of the fabrics, but here's a little peak at Indigo and Madder and it's quilt. (Sorry about the blurriness in the quilt picture.) 

So many pretty things to look at. I hope it helped to relieve the stress and tension of these crazy times just a little. Please stay safe. Practice social distancing - if not for yourselves, then for the people around you.

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen