Design Wall and ToDo's

I don't know why I am even making this post, because absolutely nothing has changed. Maybe that's why I need to write this post, because someday, months or years from now, I'll wonder what we did during the Covid 19 Shelter at Home. My blogs are a wonderful resource for my memory lapses. And I want to remember that this wasn't just a time when people lazed about at home. We kept an ear to the news, watching the spread of the virus across the states, and here at home trying to keep working and keep food on the table amid concerns of being exposed to the virus.

On a personal front, quilting has not been Number One on either my "Want to do" or my "Have to do" list. I've been making face masks and other personal items like cloth substitute for Kleenex, toilet paper, and paper towels, which are impossible to find at stores now. I've also been spending more time with the grandsons, and I have a post for my DIY blog in my mind that I need to get written. Plus, my mom has been in the hospital with her heart issues again, and I need to find an assisted living place for her down here. So many things going on right now, it's hard to sit still for quilting.

So if this design wall looks the same as last week, that's why. If my quilting mojo doesn't return soon, I may have to check it for cobwebs.

Last week's ToDo list:
X1. Finish sweater makeover
X2. Join three rows of Scottish Sun blocks
X3. Design borders for Scottish Sun
✔4. Make ten face masks
This week will be the same, except I will ask the local nursing home if there is something else they need. I've read so many things about what to do for people with the virus and a lot of them differ. But most say that keeping warm and covered, even with the fever is very important. I know when my mother-in-law was at this nursing home, that their blankets are very thin.

1. Finish sweater makeover
2. Join three rows of Scottish Sun blocks
3. Design borders for Scottish Sun
4. Make 25 face masks for the nursing home

I hope you are having a better week with your quilting than I am and that you and your loved ones are staying healthy. See you next week as we link to:

Sunday Sewing Reports Week 13

I have done some stitching this week, but no quilting. None. There were a couple of days I didn't even feel like going up to my sewing space. I just felt I needed to be preparing my home somehow, I'm not even sure how, but I feel so unprepared if we have to stay home for another month to stop this virus. My quilting mojo has disappeared, or maybe it has just been temporarily replaced by things that seem to be a little more necessary right now. I hope that's it and that all this will be behind us soon. So instead of sewing this week, I've been making clothing for little boys. Since the grands are living with us now, or next door as Hubby calls it, I see a lot more of the boys every day and I have noticed that neither one of them have clothes that fit. Both boys are small for their age and their jeans are about five inches too long. We had some exceptionally warm days this week, so instead of risking a trip to a store, I remade a pair of my shorts. I don't like the waist band, but there wasn't enough fabric in the shorts to make another band.

I also made some face masks, cloth toilet wipes. and cloth napkins even though paper napkins are the only paper products I've seen in stores in the last couple of weeks. I'd like to think I'll never need the toilet wipes, but the local Dollar General has to have police escorts for the toilet paper delivery. I don't know how other people know when the delivery is, but I need to find out before we are down to our last roll. We had heard that the Dallas stores are so depleted of groceries that people are coming here to shop, but I didn't really believe that rumor until Hubby went to the store a few days ago and saw some people who he said were obviously from North Dallas. If they thought there would be toilet paper, water, or yeast on the shelves, they made a long trip for nothing.

Speaking of yeast, I found a jar of yeast in my refrigerator that expired April 2019, but it seems to be good. I decided to try making a mother yeast starter with a little of it and had one failure I had to dump out. I started another and made one loaf Friday. The bread tasted a little different than that made with dried yeast and the texture was a little tough like sourdough, but it wasn't bad. Definitely not that tangy, sour taste like sourdough. I'll make a loaf today that will be the real test of the starter.

Okay, on to the sewing reports. I used some fabric making the cloths and masks. No fabric out of the stash for the shorts.

Like I said above, there were a couple of days I didn't even go into my sewing space, so my sewing time took a hit this week.

I hope all of you are staying safe, washing your hands a lot, and keeping your distance. Who knew that we would be saying "I wouldn't touch that with a ten six foot pole would ever been mandatory? Linking to:

To Do Tuesday Week 12

I guess this qualifies as a squirrel, and I bet I'm not the only one. When I heard there was a shortage of masks at hospitals, I thought I'd make a few. When I told Hubby, he dug out a box of oddly shaped filters for a half face respirator we no longer have and asked if I could make a mask for them. Since the original mask had a filter on each side of the face, I didn't think I could use them. But after playing around with some patterns I found online, and then stitching two of the filters together, I came up with a plan. Not ideal, but beats no filter at all. However, just like the N95 masks we use in woodworking, moisture from breathing goes up and fogs our glasses. So, back to the drawing board. Also, there is no small elastic to be found around here, so I am going to have to make some fabric ties for these.

I did not do well with last week's goals. With Hubby working from home more, he found more house building chores for me to do. Instead of quilting, I was staining doors and cabinets and building shelves. I'd like to say this week will be better, but there is another door on the sawhorses. Also, the grandsons are over quite a bit, and it is impossible to get anything done when they are around. Daughter has finally realized that the safe environment she created for them also made them think that homes were a big playcenter and that the world revolved around them. We are working on not jumping on furniture, not touching things that don't belong to them, and learning to play by themselves. There have been many tantrums and time outs.

Last week I only had three goals, and didn't complete a single one!

X1. Finish sweater makeover
X2. Join three rows of Scottish Sun blocks - I only got half of one row done.
X3. Design borders for Scottish Sun

This week, I have those goals again and one more because my 86 year old mother wants some face masks too, sans filters.

1. Finish sweater makeover
2. Join three rows of Scottish Sun blocks
3. Design borders for Scottish Sun
4. Make ten face masks

Linking to:

Design Wall Monday Week 12

Not much to show this week.  I only got a few blocks stitched together.  My time this week has been spent working on cabinets in the house.  And cooking.  So much more cooking now that I am stuck at home and have three extra mouths to feed.  That's why the design board looks almost exactly like it did last week.

Linking to:

Sunday Stitching Week 12

I didn't spend much time in the sewing room this week. I may be flattening the curve by not leaving the house, but it is doing the opposite with my waistline. Every meal has to be cooked at home and while we are eating better than we have in awhile, it is fairly time-consuming. With the kids in the house more, I've been working on the pantry and laundry room shelves so I can get some of this stuff put up. So my sewing time has been a bare 15 minutes most days and I don't have much to show for it. No fabric was bought or used, and not much progress joining quilt blocks.

Linking to:

Life in Pieces