Quilts, Quarantines, Babies and More

Oh my gosh, where to start! This is such a crazy world these days. The news is all-consuming as we constantly check for updates on the spread of Covid-19, within the US and internationally as well. Our philosophy is to take it seriously and try to remain calm and rational at the same time. The Governor of California spoke yesterday. He has ordered all pubs, bars, nightclubs and wineries in California to shut down for the duration. All restaurants are to cut their capacity for seating in half and move tables much further apart. People age 65 and over are to quarantine in place at their homes. No visitors at convalescent or senior homes unless it is a terminal situation and people need to be there to say goodbye. So, things are serious here in CA. I believe if people respect the rules and stay home for a bit, the contagion will be limited and hopefully the situation can be controlled. I hope you are in a safe situation and able to stay healthy.

My son with his two sweet girls.

Moving on to better and more enjoyable topics, my new grand daughter arrived on March 12th!!! Such an exciting event to break up the negative vibe we have all been experiencing. When I look at the photo above, I just love how big sister has her hands up to her face, looking at her new sister with awe. Isn’t this heart-warming? The baby is healthy and mommy is healing well. She was very chunky at birth, weighing 8 pounds and 14.5 ounces. She has dropped to 8 pounds, one ounce but is feeding well and doing fine.

Two sisters just hanging around together.

Big sister surely loves little sister but is a tad disappointed in the baby’s lack of abilities. On the first day, she asked her father to bring the baby into her room so “she could crawl around a little”. Once she realized this wouldn’t happen for a while, she got a little bored of baby sister. Today I got to FaceTime with them and she was “playing” doctor with dad and little sister. I could hear my son quietly say, ‘gentle, gentle’. I think it is going well though. So all is as it should be. My husband and I were supposed to travel out to Vermont on March 31st and we are soooo sad to postpone the trip. We will go just as soon as the Covid crises calms down. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Postage Plus Quilt

I finished up a quilt for Mercy Hospital! I am really pleased with this finish. You may remember I started this back when the blog hop was running for the Modern Plus Quilts book. I took it to quilt it on a friend’s long arm and had a horrible time with it. In frustration, I took it off the long arm and brought it home. After ripping out so many stitches I came to be extremely annoyed with the whole thing. It was folded and placed in a basket where it sat for two years!!

I decided it was time to finish it up and really had fun with it. I used my walking foot and quilted it in a grid fashion. I outlined the patchwork plus in the center. With the wide brown stripes there is quilting running in both directions. The horizontal lines are stitched in brown and the vertical lines in green. It looks wonderful!

Backing is a pale yellow batik heart fabric.

For the backing, I used a piece I had thrifted years ago. It is a buttery yellow batik with hearts all over it.

Scrappy binding for the win!

When I pieced the plus in the center of the quilt, I used a jelly roll. It didn’t take but 1/2 of the strips so I decided to use some of the leftover strips for binding. It looks really pretty since, naturally, the prints and colors work perfectly.

Ready for Mercy Hospital

I am so happy to have this done and ready for Mercy Hospital. I am already working on the next one for them. Their supplies are down so I am trying to boost the stack for them just a bit. Mercyful Quilts is once again thrilled to be a recipient for quilts made through the 2020 Hands2Help event that is hosted annually by Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I am so grateful to have our organization included. Last year so many gorgeous quilts were donated and it was hugely helpful. Thank you in advance to all the quilters who participate in this year’s event!

I have been thinking quite a bit about being home for the duration of the Covid-19 saga. Many of us are turning to our craft and sewing rooms. I read a great article about how soothing it is to involve oneself in a craft, such as sewing, art, woodworking or other project during stressful times such as these. Ray and Julia have been talking about working out in his woodshed while she is home. All three of us have been baking. Of course, I plan to sew. My shop has been quite busy the last couple of days so I think many quilters are planning the same thing.

To this end, I want to help out a bit. Lots of quilters are turning to on-line shopping if Covid is prevalent in their area. For instance, I have noticed a substantial increase in orders from the Bay Area in California where so many people are home and quarantined. To make things a bit better for those shopping on-line, I have a Free (standard) Shipping promotion going in the shop. It started today and will run through Wednesday. All orders will ship for free during that time! You won’t need to enter a promo code – it is all set up for you. I hope this is helpful to you! Click here and browse a bit.

I am going to sew this afternoon. I haven’t made any of my scrappy projects for March yet. So I need to make my orange block for the Monthly Color Challenge and then something with the teal scraps for RSC20. After that, I will pick up another quilt top to finish up for Mercy Hospital. What is your plan? Is Covid affecting you and your daily routine? I worry about people who live alone and are quarantined. Can we all support each other? Let me know how you are doing and let’s all keep each other busy and engaged.

Linking up with several sites, including Brag About Your Beauties and Elm Street Quilts.

24 thoughts on “Quilts, Quarantines, Babies and More

  1. Carole @ From My Carolina Home

    Good plan, and congratulations on the new addition. We could use a few more case sets for Safelight if you have some scraps laying around. I am playing a new sewing machine today. And I am cooking up a special challenge for all of us to have some fun. More on that on Saturday.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Good morning Carole – I definitely have some pretty scraps to use for the Safelight project. I will work on those as well this week. I read your post with all the ideas of fun things to work on while everyone is home for a bit. Lots of great suggestions there. Take care and be healthy!

      Reply
  2. Kathy

    This is unprecented Times ahead so here in NY it’s kinda changing hourly. I sure can’t get use to seeing shelves empty and I think I am in good shape for groceries now if we have to shelter in place. Certainly have many projects I can work on so I am fine with that. Yes I think of all this affects like elderly who can’t get out in their normal daily pattern so checking in with some I know to at least talk to them. It’s almost like we are back to the basics…..grow your own food so you have it and talk on the phone to check in on people.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      I agree when you say we are back to the basics. I think that is because the basics are the foundation, right? We need to cover the essential needs – food and good health, and we need to be sure everyone has those. So we check on each other and help our neighbor. My son and his wife are sheltering in place in their apartment in Brooklyn. New York is definitely having to be very careful. Stay healthy, relax and create something pretty, and check on your neighbors. 🙂

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you. I am loving seeing daily pictures of her and enjoying lots of FaceTime with my kids. So very grateful for the technology we have now. Take care Janice.

      Reply
  3. Allison Reid

    Lovely to see photos of your little Granddaughter – congratulations! And thank you for your common sense comments around the whole virus outbreak. We do need to distract ourselves from the constant discussions on the media and being creative is both soothing and stimulating.
    Looking out for those less able to cope with the lock down is so important too.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Yes on all counts – I get tired of the focus on Covid. I get it because it is weird, dangerous and scary but sometimes I just don’t want to think or talk about it. And supporting each other is really important. Take care Allison. Be safe and healthy.

      Reply
  4. Linda

    Our daughter had to do the same cautions of “be gentle” with our granddaughter, and now that our grandson is 10 months old they roughhouse a bit and sometimes Everett gets his head bumped – lol! I’m sorry you won’t get to fly to see her; hopefully things will even out and you can go soon.
    Your quilt is so pretty. Isn’t it fun when everything goes together so well!
    Our daughter and grands just visited, and now that we all have groceries stocked for awhile, we are trying to stay home and carry on. There have only been 3 cases confirmed within 50 miles of us, none in our county or adjacent counties, and we are hoping it stays that way. We have birthdays to celebrate this month, but I’m guessing we will postpone that for awhile. Is Julia’s university still in session? Our grandson is at Texas A&M, and they are now doing online classes only for the rest of the semester. It’s all scary, but we feel hopeful as you do that it will be limited and contained.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Hi there – It won’t be long till these two girls are tumbling around and playing but for big sister, this stage is kinda boring.
      We are stocked on groceries. Yesterday I made a list of meals I could make with items in the freezer and I swear we could skip the grocery store for several weeks. We accumulate so much in the freezer and I tend to cook with whatever is in front. There is tons in there!
      Yes, Julia is home – they are on-line. We have to drive back to the university and clean out her dorm room. She won’t be going back until September. Ugh. Not what we hoped for her first year of college. Very strange. But then all of this is strange, right? Hang in there!!

      Reply
  5. Cindy B

    Congratulations on a new granddaughter and blessings of patience as you wait to meet her in person! Thank you for sharing those precious photos. I teach and it looks like an extra long spring break for us, so definitely heading to the sewing room beginning today!!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Cindy. Patience – so needed and sometimes hard to attain. All of us are being tested lately, right? How long are your schools out? In California the governor said he isn’t sure schools will re-open before the end of the school year. So sad – all these kiddos missing three months or more? Not everyone has parents who are able or willing to homeschool. These are trying times. Time in the sewing rooms helps a lot though. As does time outside but today is cold and rainy/slushy. So, it will be an inside day. Stay well and content Cindy.

      Reply
  6. Kathleen Scargle McCormick

    So pleased to see the new grandchild, but sorry you won’t get here for some time. We have decamped our MA location for our island location in ME. We have more food in Maine, but it is always a tad harder to get fresh veggies here…not impossible just requires good planning. Let’s hope this goes quickly and that the virus behaves better when we are all distancing ourselves.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      We are hoping the same thing Kathleen. This has exploded much more than I ever imagined. It is very hard to adjust to and figure out what is right for each of us. We are hunkering down and trying very hard to stay home and be content with that. Hang in there and stay healthy (and creative!)

      Reply
  7. Mari

    I’m so sorry you won’t get to go right now, Bernie. What a disappointment, I know. Thankfully we live in the age of video chat, so that makes it a little better. Your quilt turned out great. I know it will be appreciated. Have a good, isolated weekend!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      FaceTime helps tremendously. Yesterday we were chatting and big sister was all over the place – I kept thinking she would tumble over and slam the baby who was laying on the floor. Yes, her mom was sitting right next to the baby but I am grammy so you know….

      Reply
  8. Bonnie in Va

    I see where everyone is to stay home I. California. This reminds me of snow days when I was so happy to have a day off in the dead of winter but didn’t get much done. At least I’m working at playing in the studio. Happy wishes to the new babe. Love the pictures of the the two girls. Take care.

    Reply
  9. Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

    The newborn in our family was born about five weeks before your granddaughter, and my niece had the same reaction to her little sister: She can’t do *anything*! HA! Yeah, babies have good gig — it’s all eating and sleeping. I imagine it’s heartbreaking to have to postpone your trip to VT, though. Thank heavens we live in a world of FaceTime and Zoom so you can see those sweet little faces whenever you want. : )

    Reply
  10. Preeti Harris

    Bernie, I have to say that your family is the best looking family I have ever seen. Tall and handsome men, lovely women and the most adorable grandchildren. Picture perfect.
    In fact, I almost forgot the beautiful quilt :-p
    Best wishes to all of you as we deal with this strange situation.

    Reply
  11. Carol Andrews

    Bernie this is such a sweet quilt and your granddaughter is beautiful. Hang in there. Time will go by quickly if we all “stay home; stay safe” and then you can visit that precious little bundle.

    Reply

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