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CalicoKatie

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There are many ways to pass the time while self isolating, social distancing or in quarantine. For quilters, it's obviously a time to pull out our fabric and get to work! Are you going to start a quarantine quilt or pull out some of those UFOs to finish up? Tell us what you're up to and post pictures if you can! Here are a few suggestions I've seen online and if anybody sees more just post them in this thread.

Piecing the Past Quilts has a new BOW starting in April but in the meantime, they're offering some free patterns to keep busy with.
Homebound - Free Quilt Patterns - Piecing the Past Quilts

Here is a Quarantine Along.
Elvira Quarantine Quilt Along!

This quilter has the lovely idea to get her whole family involved.
Quarantine Quilt ideas sewing discussion topic @ PatternReview.com

Sentimental Stitches is sending out a free pattern every day in a newsletter. Here are the details and first pattern if you want to sign up for the newsletter.
Project “You are My Sunshine” | Sentimental Stitches/

Here are a couple of quarantine quilts that are already getting finished up during this "sew"cial distancing.
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I think it's a great idea to make squares of old t-shirts or flannel into squares for tp and/or sanitary pads. I like the old t-shirt idea because it doesn't ravel so you wouldn't have to edge it. I don't think it will get to that point but it's good to be ready just in case and those rags can be used for something else if they're not called into tp service. It seems like it's mostly men who have their panties in a twist about the tp. You see pictures of them with carts piled three feet high. One of my grandsons works at Walmart and a few days ago two men got into a fight over toilet paper. I dunno, maybe it's because from the time we're 12 or so years old, women have to deal with cleaning up after body functions. If we have children, we're cleaning up after other people's body functions. There isn't an actual shortage of toilet paper and this isn't a permanent problem so hopefully everybody will calm down soon.
 
I ran that idea past our granddaughter and she wasn't too happy. I don't have flannel, but we can gather old t shirts. I also have some of those squirt bottles, never used, that say ketchup, mayo, mustard. Those would work.
Sewing projects are a great idea right now.
I have a couple boxes of old t shirts, thinking I would use some of them to make a memory quilt for my daughter of her childhood activities. The rest of them certainly could be used to make t.p. alternatives. I have seen that some people make them double ply, sewing around the edges. Cotton is preferable, but in tough times, anything is better than nothing.

My thought on if and when we get to no t.p. is that the user gets to wash it and hang it up to dry immediately after use. Supplies for doing the clean up could be kept close. I have a clothes drying rack in my big bathroom where my washer and dryer are also. Color coding could help people do a better job of their own.

I have a bunch of t-shirt that I no longer wear because they are worn. I had thought I could make a quilt top with them, but they certainly can be used for other purposes. I have seen hooked rugs made from t-shirt strips.
 
It's hard to like your post, Weedy. In the back of my mind I've been harboring unclean thoughts about having to use old flannels etc for tp and other bodily functions.
But Patchouli, this is what my great grandparents did.
And probably yours too.
I would rather be prepared than not.
And the great run on tp shall come to pass.
 
But Patchouli, this is what my great grandparents did.
And probably yours too.
I would rather be prepared than not.
And the great run on tp shall come to pass.
Yes, they had no other option. Tp hasn't always been available. People had to do what they had to.
It's hard to like your post, Weedy. In the back of my mind I've been harboring unclean thoughts about having to use old flannels etc for tp and other bodily functions.
I totally understand. There are probably already people who are out of t.p. and many who have very limited supplies. I am not looking forward to this idea, but it is what it is. Whenever I have gone to fabric stores, I have always gone through the remnant bins because the fabric is always half price in there. I have some flannel remnants from doing this.
I think of many places in the world that probably don't even have a fabric option. Middle easterners have been using their left hand forever. Now that is even creepier.
 
This would be a good time to teach kids how to make rag quilts - both boys and girls. The type that you cut and layer squares then sew them together with an X. After you get enough, connect them to the size you want. It would give them something to do and they would always remember making it during the pandemic. I looked for some videos and found three that are each slightly different.

This is the traditional way to make your blocks and fringe after they're sewn together.


This one fringes the blocks before they're sewn together.


This is really neat because she uses two layers of flannel and doesn't cut them into blocks. She sews and fringes and has a quilt! I liked this one so much that I looked at her channel and she has other styles, too.
1 Hour Rag Quilt - NO Cutting Blocks - Easy Quilt Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF6OsS-yoLc9rpDzn4ELjjg
 
This would be a good time to teach kids how to make rag quilts - both boys and girls. The type that you cut and layer squares then sew them together with an X. After you get enough, connect them to the size you want. It would give them something to do and they would always remember making it during the pandemic. I looked for some videos and found three that are each slightly different.

This is the traditional way to make your blocks and fringe after they're sewn together.


This one fringes the blocks before they're sewn together.


This is really neat because she uses two layers of flannel and doesn't cut them into blocks. She sews and fringes and has a quilt! I liked this one so much that I looked at her channel and she has other styles, too.
1 Hour Rag Quilt - NO Cutting Blocks - Easy Quilt Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF6OsS-yoLc9rpDzn4ELjjg

Amish Heart,
Think of the math skills they will be using.
And they are making a functional quilt to keep themselves warm in the winter months.
All kind of life skills in this little gem.
 
Oooh Nooooo!! Edyta Sitar is doing a mystery sewalong for the next couple of weeks and she does such beautiful work. How can I resist?? sigh I can't. She's releasing one step every day for the next 15 days and the first pattern has been posted. I have some rose prints somewhere that I'll have to pull out for this. I really am a sucker for florals. Towards the bottom of the block 1 page, just above the teapot, is a schematic showing the placement of the blocks on the finished quilt. It looks like these are six inch blocks. I don't like making six inch blocks so I should skip this. But I know this is going to be gorgeous. But I don't like making six inch blocks. sigh ….

Mystery Quilt 2020/

Mystery Quilt 2020 – Block 1/
 
Oooh Nooooo!! Edyta Sitar is doing a mystery sewalong for the next couple of weeks and she does such beautiful work. How can I resist?? sigh I can't. She's releasing one step every day for the next 15 days and the first pattern has been posted. I have some rose prints somewhere that I'll have to pull out for this. I really am a sucker for florals. Towards the bottom of the block 1 page, just above the teapot, is a schematic showing the placement of the blocks on the finished quilt. It looks like these are six inch blocks. I don't like making six inch blocks so I should skip this. But I know this is going to be gorgeous. But I don't like making six inch blocks. sigh ….

Mystery Quilt 2020/

Mystery Quilt 2020 – Block 1/
I think that is a great time for one of these sewalongs. I have a long to do list and won't participate. I hope you keep us posted on your daily progress.
 
Mo - I know you make a lot of baby quilts and the no cutting style would be really fast for you. I did notice that after the sewing and washing, there was quite a bit of shrinkage so it probably wasn't more than 34" square when she finished - newborn size.
That's why, I sew completely around the fabric so nothing gets jumbled(yucky) tangled then pre washes everything.
I also buy 1/4 more yardage than needed too.
Then if the 1/4 yard isn't needed then it goes into my strip basket, where eventually it will be made into jelly roll for a quilt later.
 
I looked for my rose print fabric last night and only found a few scraps so will need to change my plan. Since I had started a new project a few days ago, I won't be starting the Laundry Basket Quilt for a while but it looks like the blocks will be easy to catch up on. Block 2 has been posted and from the placement on the schematic, I'm still loving this idea. Maybe it's going to be a medallion style and the center will be shown last. I am considering using yellows instead of pinks because yellows and blues are so pretty together.

https://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/blog/mystery-quilt-2020-block-2/
 
I've been busy!! I started the Laundry Basket mystery and I'm loving it. I'll make block #4 this evening so I'm a little behind but not by much. Here are the blocks posted so far. I think this ends on April 3rd - ish. Look on the top right side under the heading "Recent Posts" and you'll find a link to each block.
https://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/blog/mystery-quilt-2020/
I also thought of another good home bound project. If you have any tops put back that need to be quilted, consider tying them. Donna Jordan of Jordan Fabrics has a good video showing how to "birth", tie and finish off a quilt. I've always just pin basted my tops and then tied them with a single strand about every 5 or 6 inches but I think I'm going to give her method a try. I also want to try the fray stitch stuff because I've never used it.


Her quilt top was made a couple of decades ago but it's so pretty and she made up a pattern for it. Yep, I have or had some of the fabrics she used in the original top. 😁
 
Bonnie Hunter has started a sewalong that will last for 7 or 8 weeks. She's starting us with a medallion center and every Monday she'll give us a border to put around it. Here is her first post talking about fabric requirements and today's post giving her medallion center.

UNITY: The Quiltville Sew-in-Place Quilt Along!

Sew-in-Place Unity Quilt Along, Part 1!

I'm glad she gives us the illustrations in solid colors because I can see the pattern clearly that way. Her medallion is a 16" block with a 1" frame finished sizes. Sooooo, if you have an orphan block of that size you could just start with that if you wanted and save yourself some sewing. Or … make a completely different center if you want!

One reason I'm excited about this sewalong is that it's a very interactive project. Bonnie is giving us instructions for a quilt that will finish at 72" x 94" but as she says, you can adjust your size by adding or leaving out a border. I love the way she promotes the use of scraps - even those recycled from men's shirts. I'm just not as bold as she is about using those small pieces. lol If one of her borders is a little too intricate for me, I'll do something simpler like a border of churn dashes. By making this a round robin, she's giving us the freedom here to really personalize it.

Is anybody interested in making this one? I started thinking of different blocks that I could use for a center and got some ideas from Patchwork Square. I'm not completely committed to this yet but I do like the Blackford's Beauty block for the medallion.

https://www.patchworksquare.com/ind...howCategory=Y&links=2&id=72&link1=60&link2=72
 
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