Thanksgiving Day, 2020

 I am grateful to all who have dedicated their time and skills to the mask-making this year. It has been my privilege to provide free fabric to those earnest souls who have given so much of themselves to help promote the health of others

.  Wishing you all a peaceful, safe Thanksgiving! Keeping Rick and many others in my memories today.

Late October,2020

The number of  Covid-19 cases in Massachusetts is trending upward,  and Quilters' Quarters will remain closed to the public. Individuals who want to stop in on a Saturday afternoon may call for an appointment, to be sure I am here to open the shop. (978-352-2676)

Fabrics for Covid-19 Face Masks, Surgical Caps and Surgical Gowns (for those willing to make such for charity) are free and can be ordered by telephone and picked up at the door, contact-free. Thank you to all who are volunteering their time and skills for these public health items, and for your generosity in not asking for payment from those who requests such effort from you. I'm happy to provide the fabric and threads needed for this work.

The re-opening of Quilters' Quarters will depend on the availability and acceptance of a proven vaccine. Until then, curb-side (aka storm door) pickup will continue.

Donations have dwindled this month, but I was able to forward $100 to our latest charity, Lazarus House in Lawrence, Massachusetts. This organization assists homeless parents and children with clothing, meals, etc., and Quilters' Quarters is connected to them by the Kindness Collaborative, a Facebook Page that has dozens of volunteers doing great things to help residents of the Merrimack Valley. 

I have no Halloween fabric in stock, but can advise you to contact Bits'nPieces in Pelham, NH  if you are looking for it ... I believe they may have every Halloween fabric ever printed! 

Stay safe, stay warm, wear your mask, keep your distance, wash your hands and be well.  

Tall Order~!

No News is not always Good News

 

There is no new news here at Quilters' Quarters. The shop remains closed to the public, although Google insists on still saying it is open on Saturdays ... it is not, but I am not averse to opening for someone who took a ride to get here because of Google's  persistent error. All I ask is that you wear a mask and use the hand sanitizer before touching things.

I am still using storm door pickup for requests of free fabric to mask makers.  And I am trying to amass a quantity of child-sized masks for the local public schools, and invite mask makers to leave some here at the shop for that purpose. 

Enjoy the Autumn ... I'll update here in about a month.

Terry

Shop Closure For Now...

 August was a very challenging month ... many messages to the shop requesting specific fabrics, some requesting specific designs for masks, and others wanting to come into the shop to browse and select for themselves ... all reasonable expectations for a fabric shop to fulfill. But my three day week of part time  hours was becoming much more than that, and life itself was making requests that at times conflicted. Medical appointments, postponed during the Covid-19 shut down, are now coming home to roost and imposing their own schedules. Surgeries and followup wound care for melanoma sites are ahead.

The shop will be closed for a few weeks at least... messages on Facebook or email or phone may not be received or answered. The collision of business, medical and personal time has caused an  unintended blurring of boundaries, and it is time for me to step away from that frame.

My apologies to all who are left inconvenienced by this ...my best recommendation for a solution to meet fabric needs is to connect with other small fabric shops who may have more than one sole proprietor to handle the volume of customer needs.

Here is a link to help you connect with others around us:

I will update the Quilters' Quarters Facebook page when the shop is able to reopen.

I appreciate your understanding.

~ Terry

PS: An update on our collective donations ...

From the middle of March to the third week of June, generous donations from mask recipients were left here and also with the mask makers, who brought them to the shop ... they totaled just over $2,200 which was forwarded through Quilters' Quarters to the Georgetown Public School Lunch Program to assist with costs for the Bagged Breakfast and Lunch assistance for eligible families during the school shut down.  When that program ended in the last week of June and was replaced with state funded food coupons for eligible families, the mask and fabric donations were then forwarded to the New Life Community Church Abundant Food  Pantry. From the end of June to the beginning of September, Quilters' Quarters forwarded over $1,000 to the food pantry. The generosity of mask makers and mask receivers is very much appreciated. When school sessions resume, next week, either virtually or in person, the donations that may continue to arrive here will be sent to the school program again. Thank you, all, who donated. 

2/3 of the Summer Has Passed.

 Getting closer to the end of August ... this has been a very long summer, with heat waves, high humidity, and many long hours cutting and sewing face masks for the pandemic. I'm very happy that I started and nearly finished my granddaughter's first birthday quilt six  months ahead of time ... so it  was ready to be dropped off, left in a bag at the gate to their side door on her birthday, where her dad or mum would find it and bring it in to her... Keeping social distance and not seeing my grandchildren has been very challenging. But as the white house occupant said, "It is what it is."

Here is the quilt I made for her, from a doll house panel on the front (from Red Rooster's Home With Me line) and a beautiful foliage/forest (from Timeless Treasures) print on the back. 

A few cute dolls from the dollar store makes this sweet panel a happy play space for a one year old granddaughter.

The mask production continues ... 'smile masks' are coming along more quickly now, and the pleated masks still disappear quickly each time I put some out on the bench for free. Donations for masks (and sometimes for free fabric for mask makers) also continue to arrive, those more slowly on these very hot August days ... Still, nearly a thousand dollars have been sent on to the food pantry.

I'm doing my best to stay cool and productive. I plan to interrupt the daily mask making sessions next week so I can make a few more comfort quilts for the fire and police vehicles... I haven't brought them any since February, and feel remiss!

Visit the shop's Facebook page for more updates on in-stock materials. I'll continue with the Covid-19 Stage Two contact-free plan of 'storm door pickups' and online orders.  Call or email your requests, and I'll do my best to respond on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of each week. 

Thanks for following the blog, and please feel free to share this link with your friends and family.

Third-Way Through Summer

I find it hard to believe that only one month of summer has passed; it seems that it started months ago ... schools have been out since mid-March ... all of Spring. Not to diminish the hard work that teachers and students did during those Spring months ... working from home via Zoom meetings and the like. I am not sure I would have succeeded at that type of teaching... my episode of working on a new computer platform to complete my taxes was humbling enough!

During the Spring my mask making improved gradually, but this past week I've begun using a different pattern, so my speed is back to the beginning ... but I will work on it each day and eventually have enough to share with the team of sewists in North Andover and Andover who are making these for special education teachers.

If you would like to try this pattern, you'll find it on You Tube at this link: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78VGVWa6hw&fbclid=IwAR2-L_WnBJYI5HpsclXOOyGrhrP7ifoS7dXk7894JbuNl18kR7gCAzagOgM&app=desktop

I was given a supply of vinyl for the window of these masks, but I hear it can be purchased at JOANN'S Fabric Stores. I was able to use 1/4" elastic, but have ordered some 1/8" as it was quite a tight fit. 

As it will soon be the middle of summer, I want to share some fabric that would make a lovely picnic quilt: one bolt is a border print, and the other an overall scatter of very large 7-8"sunflowers.

Quilters' Quarters is still at stage two step two parameters ... "storm door" pickup ... Call 978-352-2676 to order, and to schedule a pickup. If you are wearing a mask you can make an appointment for an individual visit to the shop. Preferred hours are Thursday through Saturday, noon to 5 pm. 

Thanks for following the blog ... and if you're reading this in email, feel free to share it with your friends.

~Terry

Stage 2 Step 2 Massachusetts retail re-opening guidelines

Quilters' Quarters is going to postpone crossing over to the Stage 2 Step 2 timeline.  This means that, while other fabric shops are opening their doors to walk in customers as of June 22nd,  QQ is remaining on Stage 1 guidelines, using 'curb-side" pickup strategies (read that: 'storm door" pickup.) Our online webstore will also continue meeting the requests of distance customers, with the use of PayPal invoicing and payments.  At the physical shop, only cash or checks can be used to pay at the time of pickup. 

Customers who wish to come in to the shop to select fabrics or notions will be asked to wear a face mask, and to use hand sanitizer, to minimize the spread of Covid 19. The shop's space will only allow for one customer at a time, and appointments are strongly recommended. Drop-ins unannounced will be accommodated when staffing is available, but calling ahead is recommended.  Terry is vulnerable to the circulating virus due to age and medical conditions, as are other members of the shop, and minimizing health risk is a primary concern for all.

People unwilling or unable to wear a face mask will be limited to the curb-side pickup option. Orders can be arranged by phone or email (see top of home page.) QQ's inventory will continue to be shown on the shop's Facebook page. This week's post at Facebook showcases our collection of threads. 

The fabric inventory is slowing going down in size, as QQ will continue to provide free fabric to face mask makers in our area. Best estimate is that the shop will continue to have fabric for sale (and mask-maker donations) through fall of 2022. Until that point, only fabric specifically requested by members will be ordered from the distributors and manufacturers.  Interfacing, batting, stabilizer, threads, needles, pins, rulers and other miscellaneous items will also be ordered only when specifically requested by members. 

In the fall of 2022, a decision as to the future of the shop will be made ... will it continue to be a retail shop? Will it become instead a workshop where quilt and sewing classes take place? Will cleanings and lessons for self-maintenance of sewing machines continue? There are many unknowns ahead ... decisions to be made ... plans to be explored. Promises are not to be made if they are vulnerable to not being kept. 

Sewists and Quilters continue to be appreciative of the discounts QQ can offer, and are often generous in turn, leaving extra change or dollars at the shop. During the past two school years, these donations were forwarded entirely to the local school department to cover student lunch accounts that slipped into arrears. People receiving face masks from the many makers also often make donations in return, and the mask makers bring those funds to the shop when picking up more free fabric. This spring QQ was able to forward more than $2,000 to our school department to help provide the bagged breakfasts and lunches delivered by our schools to eligible students throughout the shutdown weeks.

During the summer months, while the eligible students receive state funding for extra meals no longer available at school, the donations received at QQ are being sent to a local food pantry. It is called the Abundant Food Pantry at the New Life Community Church on East Main Street in Georgetown. Please let people you know who may need food assistance to know of this local option.  During the last full week of June, QQ was able to send almost $300 to the pantry.

Sadly, as the country continues to re-open widely, the second surge of the first phase of the Corona Virus spread is growing exponentially. Here in Massachusetts, with our slower re-opening, we may see a continued decrease in cases, God willing. It depends on the the continued responsibility of people ... remember, please, and share with everyone who resists: Your mask protects me, and my mask protects you.

Be safe, be well, and be proud that we are able, so far, to do it right, here in Massachusetts.  Wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep a social distance.  Your health ... our health ... is worth it.