I got my new Accuquilt Mask dies this week so I was anxious to make up some masks to see how well they worked.
Learn from me: Do NOT use the instructions that come packaged with the die. Lots of important steps left out.
I ended up with this mess—exposed seams, fabrics every which-way, some sort of something going on with the elastic as it didn’t explain that well at all and I finally ended up shoving the ends of the elastic in and nailing them down the way I had been doing in the other masks but this one had all sorts of seams coming together and it was a heck of a lump…. ahem. I kept looking at the instructions thinking I must have misread something but I’d followed those dang instructions exactly. Poor quality control.
Had I watched the Accuquilt video first, or used the downloadable directions from the website, I’d have been at least somewhat better off as they both had correct instructions for the cutting and sewing. Mostly.
The downloadable instructions tell you to use a different seam allowance than the video I was watching (which was from a quilt shop) because the Accuquilt tutorial video also leaves out a key step: how to attach the ties or elastic.
C’mon, Accuquilt. Get your act together.
Anyway, between the downloaded directions, the quilt shop’s video, and what I’d already figured out how to do by making other mask patterns, I finally got some made. The first photo shows you just how old some of these fat quarters are that I’m using up to make masks—2002? Yikes. My Thimbleberries Era. They make very pretty masks, even if they’re not really my jam anymore. The blue mask is one I made for my husband. The outer fabric is a batik he brought me back from a work trip he took to Alaska—the lining is another really old fat quarter I was glad to use (and it’s cotton, which is far more comfortable against the face than batik is). He didn’t like the way his bulged out at the sides so I took in a quick tuck on either side. It’s not pretty but it’s wearable. I don’t mind mine bulging out—I don’t have to wear mine for as long at a time as he does.
Then I got to work making “kits” to give to a friend of mine who is making masks to sell as a fundraiser for an orphanage in her home country of Myanmar.
She’s going to use elastic so I’m not worrying about cutting the ties. This is the perfect partnership as I don’t mind doing the cutting and donating lots of fabric to the cause, and she doesn’t mind doing the sewing.
I have 13 medium-sized sets cut right now—that represents lots of fat quarters. For the medium and large dies, I get two out of each fat quarter—haven’t done any small ones yet but I’m thinking I may be able to squeeze three. Sadly, I haven’t even made much of a dent in my fat quarter stash yet, but at least it’s no longer overflowing its drawer.
And I’ve got lots of decent-sized scraps left over that I’ll be able to cut down into usable sizes for other scrap projects.
Finally, I mentioned in the Twilters! Facebook group that I’ve registered for the Mancuso Online Quilt Festival this coming week. I’m taking Thursday and Friday and all next week as vacation, and I plan on sewing my head off!
I’m taking a class on the curved log cabin on Friday (I think—not sure which class is which day). It uses 2 1/2 yards of lights and 2 1/2 yards of darks, so I’m pulling entirely from my strip stash. 80 strips total, and I still have a ton left. However, it feels good seeing all of these finally getting used!
I’ve got a pretty wide variety in my darks but I’m hoping that helps it have a little sparkle. The yard of burgundy is the center squares, and can I tell you how glad I’ll be to use that one? It’s one I inherited from my Mom’s stash, and she passed away in 2009, and it looked like it had been on her shelf for quite awhile before I took it. That one is just crying for a home. It’s just an odd enough color that I’ve never found a project I could use it in—so this one is perfect. Cut into pretty small squares, the oddness of the color won’t stand out.
I’m trying to channel my Inner Charlotte with the randomness of the darks. I was mostly sticking to “colonial” and/or “country” tones (again, from my Thimbleberries Years and a whole lot of strip exchanges at my guild), but have a few ringers in there. I think it’ll be okay.
Now I have to start chopping all of these down into the appropriate sizes for the blocks. That’ll be tedious. Saving that for tomorrow.
Last news of the day: Doggos got into the groomer today for the first time since February. Sadly, this turned out to be the last time Princess Doggie goes. She’s going to be 16 in September and is showing her age in rapidly increasing stages. She’s deaf, almost blind, has joint issues, and this past week has started losing her balance pretty frequently. She only let the groomer give her a bath but only one toe got its toenails trimmed before she freaked out. I’ll have to see if I can get her to let me do the rest of them. Otherwise, it was clearly just too stressful for her at this point. Aug-dog, though, was in his glory, having people pay so much undivided attention to him. As the groomer said, “He has so much [pregnant pause] personality!” I’ll bet.
Spencer was in such a fuss when she got home I put her thundershirt on her to help her calm down.
Auggie came with me up to my sewing room and crashed on his bed.
Hygiene is tiring.
(And btw, they got groomed before I did. I still haven’t brought myself to make a hair appointment yet!)