Saturday, April 18, 2020

Quarantine Dust-off

Well, it has literally been YEARS since I posted on my blog.  After getting a very full-time singing gig, I had to put the Bernina away for a while.  I had been wondering if/when I would take it out again.  Then this little think called the Corona Virus came along.  It has totally devastated the live entertainment industry (as well as most other industries), and as a result I have some time on my hands.  OK, actually I have all my time on my hands now!

The quilting world has come to the rescue with homemade surgical masks for healthcare workers, and I joined in a couple of weeks back.  I brought my Bernina down from the guest room closet (oh yeah, we moved out of our 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan to a house in New Jersey), and made 3 dozen masks for our local hospital.  Here is a picture of my lovely wife modeling a sample. 


I actually ran out of elastic very quickly, so ended up making most of the masks with homemade bias tape ties.  After some friends and family heard about my project, they hit me up for their own PPEs, so I obliged and brought out the fun fabric.





I finally found the patterns for kids, ladies and men that were good tight fits for most, and really have enjoyed getting back in front of the machine again.  In fact, I am considering making a quilt during the quarantine...I mean, if I can't find the time to make one when I am basically locked in my home, when am I going to do it?