JUNE 202 NEWSLETTER

Cheers to June! It’s been a hard year so far. We are all looking forward to a better time. The last 3 months have been a surreal journey for all of us. Although we are not out of the woods yet, we are hoping the warmer months of summer will prove to be the end of this pandemic. Only time will tell.

It seems that mother nature is testing us all to the limit. The month of May has been a very stormy weather month for us here in the Texas Hill Country. (and in other ways too) Particularly in the past week, we have had severe storms every night. We’ve had winds of hurricane force, tornado warnings, severe lightning and thunder and torrential rain mixed with hail. It ripped part of the roof off our barn, tore the tar paper off the roof of an equipment shed we are trying to get finished, blew down a big old tree in front of our house and wreaked havoc with anything not nailed down outside. 

It’s been a bit of a war zone around here. Sad to say, work on the new house is still at a standstill due to all these emergency distractions. Life in the crazy world of us! We will get there, we’ve just tested the “come hell or high water” theory and we are still here !!! LOL

We have managed to do some improvements at the shop. Besides lots of deep cleaning and constant sanitizing, we built some new cabinets for all the Cuddle fabrics and more Christmas fabrics. As we start to return to some sort of normal, new shipments are arriving, more Christmas and Halloween prints and a huge order of Shannon Cuddle.

Beautiful fabrics. I have to say that the designers have done a fabulous job of the Christmas prints for release this year. I wish I had the budget to get ALL of them! Trying to decide on which ones is hard! We’ve had some other beautiful prints arrive too, like this stunning 60” X 60” floral panel, Royal Beauty from Oasis Fabrics.  Isn’t it amazing? It’s big enough to just back and have a beautiful throw instantly.  

It’s a confusing world we are living in today. And it has come to my attention that there is a lot of misunderstandings concerning this pandemic we are trying to deal with. I hope that this doesn’t come across as a lecture. I feel this is very important for all to understand, you wear a face masks protect others, not yourself. This is one of the most prevalent misunderstandings about face masks. It’s a matter of care and respect for those around us who might be vulnerable. This virus is violently contagious and so easily spread. As I’m sure y’all have heard, you can have and spread it, without symptoms.

It makes my heart sad to have people come to my shop without masks, or be irritated that they have to wear a mask in my shop. There are a lot of sweet, severely compromised customers who enjoy shopping in my shop as much as the more robust customers. I am trying my very best to keep the shop sanitized and safe for all. But I need your cooperation in this to make sure everyone who visits my shop is protected and safe.

Starting Wednesday, June 3, 2020, we will be open for regular business with the protocols below in effect. Our new summer hours will be:

Tip of the Month

March 2020 Tip:

Do you have fusible gunk or other stuff stuck on the sole plate of your iron? Here’s a great tip for cleaning it: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Allow your iron to cool to room temperature. Dampen the Magic Eraser and rub in circles on your iron until it all comes off. Sometimes this takes a bit of work. Once the gunk is all removed, wipe with a clean damp cloth and dry with a soft towel. Your iron will shine again like new without the scratching damage of other cleaners.

Creative Stitcher’s Club : Has been postponed for the rest of the summer. Our leader is experiencing some serious health issues and is too vulnerable to be exposed at this time. We are looking at possibly starting back up in September. Stayed tuned

 Warriors Heart Quilt project. This is a great project, for a fantastic cause. Use up some of your stash, or you can order a kit from the shop. Check out Warriors Heart on their website.  www.WarriorsHeart.com

Valuable Info

Face Mask Instructions

As we all struggle to understand this pandemic and stay safe, we are all creating face masks for ourselves and our loved ones. Many of you are also making hundreds of them to donate. A big shout out to all of you for your efforts.

I have been doing the same, and struggling to figure out what is the best way to make them. So after making a dozen proto types and getting feedback from my family on how the masks fit and wear, etc., I finally wrote out a detailed instruction sheet for the pattern I downloaded from a site on the internet. I have refined the process and come up with the most effective way to make and wear them. I hope this will help y’all in your efforts to stay safe and well.

Face Mask Pattern & Instructions

You can download and print the pattern for this face mask at:

https://www.craftpassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/face-mask-pattern-rev3.pdf

1) Print out the pattern at 100%. Match the size key. I print out 2 per size. One is the for the front to which I add a seam allowance all around the size you want to make. (I use a 1/4” seam allowance for this project) The biggest pattern seems to fit all adults. (however, I did enlarge a set of patterns for larger heads)  I also added 1 extra inch to the sides for a casing. The second pattern I do NOT add the seam allowance, and only 1/2’ to the side. This is the lining pattern. (You will also notice that I slightly reshaped the top at the nose)

2) Cut 2 pieces of light weight fusible interfacing and fuse to the wrong side of the front cotton fabric pieces.

3) Sew the two pieces of the front fabric together at the center curved seam, right sides together. Do the same for the lining. I have been using 100% cotton tee shirt knit for the linings. It has been tested as one of the best filters when combined with quality quilting cotton. Make sure the scratchiest direction of the knit is across the mask, side to side.

4) The sew the outside and the knit lining, right sides together, at the top of the mask. finger press open the seams.

5) Open up the two pieces flat and topstitch all layers of the seam to the lining.

6) Take 2 long, plastic coated twist ties (the kind that come with the big black yard garbage bags), stack them together and place them along the top stitched seam. Plastic coated is very important so the wire doesn’t rust in the laundry. Two twist ties makes a better nose bridge piece than one.

7) Fold the front piece over the twist ties and lining to adjust until the twist ties fit snuggly into the fold. Pin all along the twist ties. Stitch a 3/8” seam along the edge of the top of the fold forming the casing for the nose bridge wire.

8) Turn the front and the lining pieces inside out to be right side together and sew the bottom seam. Do NOT stitch the sides closed.

9) Press the bottom seam so the front fabric is even with or slightly showing on the lining side. Press the side over 1/4” and then another 1/2” fold toward the center and press. This will form the casing for the ties.

10) Top stitch down the edge of the side tie casing you have just pressed in. 

11) Cut 1” strips, 36” long, to make the ties. The jersey knit will naturally curl into a cord. (this great tip came from Lisa Wilson, Thanks Lisa) If it doesn’t curl immediately, pull on the length of the strip and it will curl, or throw it in the wash with a load and it will do the same thing.  Attach a safety pin to one end of the jersey cord and thread it thru the casing starting at the bottom of one side and then down from the top of the opposite side. the jersey cord will stretch and move with you making the mask a very comfortable fit.

Putting on the mask:

Place the mask against your face and pull the top loop of the jersey cord over your head and situate it in a comfortable place. Then pull the cord snuggly around the base of your scull and tie the ends together. Adjust if necessary. Once you have fitted the mask to your face and head, you can leave the ends tied permanently, even when being laundered.

To temporarily remove the mask, simply slide the top of the loop off your head and let it hand on your neck. Then when you are ready to replace the mask just adjust it on your face and place the top of the look back on the back of your head.

To take off the mask when not in use, remove the top loop off your head and slide the mask down the cording to allow a larger opening to remove over your head.

If you are wearing glasses, slip the top of the mask up under the edge of your glasses. This will help with fogging and slipping.  Also, if you clean your glasses with shaving cream, it will help cut down on the fogging. I’ve tried it, it works.

Masks made of 100% cotton can be machine washed and dried without issue. Nothing more is required to sanitize your mask.