What’s Under My Needle – April 24, 2020

If you had told me at the beginning of 2020 that I’d have entire weekends, mornings, and evenings at home with zero distractions to sew, I would have responded with a huge list of quilts that I was going to work on.

But the reality of a social distancing lifestyle in response to a global pandemic is much, much different. I haven’t been nearly as productive as I would have thought.

Initially, and as the deaths in NYC skyrocketed, I had a ton of emotions about 9/11. On 9/11, I lived in Brooklyn, NY. I’ll post another time about my memories of 9/11, but on March 13th and the subsequent weeks afterwards, I think I was grappling with PTSD from 9/11 as well as trying to wrap my head around the realities of a global pandemic and the changes in my day-to-day life.

Prior to March 13th (the day that my sons schools in Massachusetts were canceled and shifted to online learning and the day we started social distancing), I was an active gym goer for the past 6-7 years. I spent 6 years participating in CrossFit 3-5x per week, and the last two summers I’ve run a bunch of Spartan, Bonefrog, and Savage Race obstacle races.

Since social distancing began, I haven’t been able to figure out a home exercise routine that works for me, and that’s been distressing.

But, I’ve slowly started sewing amidst all the feelings and emotions. Here’s what I’ve been working on.

Sugaridoo Bernina Quilt along

I sewed the second row of the Sugaridoo Bernina quilt along. Sugaridoo is the blog of Irene, the quilter who designed the quilt, and the quilt along is hosted on the Bernina blog. After 12 monthly rows, the finished quilt will be 70 x 90 inches.

I discovered the quilt along via Crystal Drummond’s Letsquiltalong Instagram account. If you’re a fan of quilt alongs, you should definitely follow Crystal’s Instagram account. She shares tons and tons of quilt alongs from all over the web – from modern to scrappy to traditional.

It’s a monthly quilt along, and it started in January, so I’m behind on sewing rows. But I don’t tend to stress. Sugaridoo publishes great tutorials in both text (with photos) and video (YouTube). Here’s a page with links to all the rows and tutorials.

Bonnie Hunter Unity Quilt along

As I’ve written about before, I’m a fan of Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilts. Bonnie recently started a Unity Quilt quilt along for all the quilters’ social distancing and looking for a project. Bonnie’s mystery quilts are a true service to quilters – and they’re absolutely free. It’s not a surprise that Bonnie launched the Unity quilt along.

Here’s my Unity quilt along thus far.

365 Quilt

This is one of my longest-running UFOs – Kathryn Kerr’s 365 quilt. Most quilters use a scrappy color palette and fabric selection for this quilt, but I decided to go for solid fabrics. I can’t remember when she originally launched this quilt. I think it was 2015. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. 1 quilt pattern for every day of the year. I have about 80-90 blocks left, and I’m back to work on my 365.

Also, I don’t know if her plans will change due to the pandemic, but earlier this year, Kathryn announced that she’d be launching a brand-new 365 quilt this July. I haven’t decided if I’ll participate or not. Who am I kidding?

Finally, I hope you’re staying safe and socially distanced and that sewing can bring you some comfort during this time.