May 22

May 22 Quilting through Covid

Happy Birthday?

If there was ever a time to quilt like a crazy person, the recent pandemic sweeping across the world gave an opportunity for just that. Although Ontario never declared a total lock-down, enough restrictions were put into place to make even the most menial of tasks a bit of a farce. Schools suddenly shut, panic buying began and we all know how important loo paper became! And it all went down the day after my 40th birthday.

If April showers bring May flowers, what does May snow bring?

Yes, snow in May. As if 2020 wasn’t bad enough Ontario got hit with a very not-normal cold May. Usually, by the first or second week of May, the flower shops and nurseries are open, the garden is waking up and the promise of summer is in the air.

But not this year.

As if the pandemic mayhem wasn’t enough, Mother Nature decided to add to the proverbial poop show and keep us cold and miserable just a little while longer than normal but hey, at least we were all stuck inside anyway so I guess not much was missed.

So what does one do when one has no options but to sit on one’s behind all day?

One QUILTS!

Vintage Housewife Sew Along

In January, before our time of forced isolation, I decided to tackle my first applique project. I had been following a particular designer for a while and when the kit was finally available for a beautiful applique quilt, I grabbed one. The kit was designed by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet and the fabric was designed by Lori Holt for Riley Blake fabrics and it all just blew my mind! Lori Holt has designed many wonderful quilts, kits, and fabric lines and this one really spoke to me. I think it was the tiny typewriter and the sewing machine that did it for me.

I had never done applique before and I really looked forward to the challenge, not least because it would keep me occupied through the winter (Covid not considered at this point.)

All the shapes, rulers and other notions were designed specifically for this particular project and I did find that the cost of doing these particular quilts can skyrocket if you bought absolutely every recommended item to make this quilt, however, I was able to get by with a few minor tweaks and sneaky changes.

The most time-consuming part was cutting all of the 41 fat quarters into their pieces and I think I calculated the total cutting time to be approximately 10 hours! This was mostly due to my choice to really pay attention to what I was doing as I have a bad habit of cutting things smaller than I’m supposed to. All in all, 644 pieces were cut to construct the 9 main blocks, the center apron piece and the square pieced border. Each week saw a block being put together with the finished design always fun to see however I most enjoyed being able to sit quietly and let my mind calm as I sewed. All in all, it took just under 5 months to create this quilt and it’s just lovely!

And then the sun shined

Yes, after 8 months of winter we finally have weather which allows us to be outside without the need to wear a winter jacket - what a novelty! With the Vintage Housewife Quilt finished I am looking to my UFO box to see what forgotten projects could be finished and the Bargello Rainbow is looking to be the next contender.