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Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Some of this is a repeat of the article I wrote for our most recent guild newsletter. The additional things that I had submitted to the newsletter,  that did not appear there, are included here. (BTW, after Friday’s pickup of masks our guild total is up to 3135!!!!!!!!!!!!  You go, girls!!) Be prepared, it’s a long post! Linda Hunter was contacted by the Army Corp of Engineers, and she “enlisted” Annette’s help. First is the letter to Linda that prompted this effort.“I am the EEO Manager for the Army Corps of Engineers in Buffalo and have an engineer who is deaf. If you know anything about American Sign Language, facial expressions are a big component of the language.Traditional face masks hide the face, presenting an issue for someone who reads lips and/or needs expression to understand what is being communicated. I found two sources for […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.Mask making has certainly been in the news of late, hasn’t it? Our guild received a very nice mention on Spectrum local news, and Mary Ann sent it out via our e-mail tree. Niagara Hospice gave us a thank you for the masks that we have donated them. I know that Mary D. has done a great job providing them with the majority of the masks we sent there. Roswell sent a nice thank you to us as well, but I can’t get it from my phone to this blog to share it. So please take my word for it, the patients and staff appreciate the masks we have sent to them. This week we sent 477 masks to the Air Force base. The Clarence guild is assisting in the effort for the base, so hopefully their request for 1000 masks will be filled soon. Our […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. In my NY Times summary this morning this article appeared. Capitalists will find a money making opportunity in nearly every situation. See what you think about this. From The New York Times: Should Masks Be a Fashion Statement? Capitalist opportunities often emerge from times of trauma. That doesn’t make the origin stories any less uncomfortable. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/fashion/coronavirus-fashion-face-masks.html?smid=em-share

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. You ladies are amazing. With the Monday pickup of masks we reached our 2000 donation challenge goal. I’ll wait until after Friday’s pickup to give you an exact number. Maybe we’ll hit another milestone! Remember we are working on getting 1000 masks to the Air Force Base (Did you see them featured on 60 minutes on Sunday evening?) Remember for the Air Force masks use predominantly drab colors, and no patriotics. If you have already made masks with patriotic fabrics, we can donate those to veterans. I’ll be posting our last construction step for the corona quilt in the next day or so. There is a slight hold up due to a puppy chewing up a friendship star block for which I do not have enough fabric to repair. So I’ll be making 3 new ones. Then I can decide on the  value placements in […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.I’m guessing you’ve all gotten calls this week asking about masks since the governor put out his requirement for all of us to wear them in places where social distancing is not easy to do. I’ve gotten a couple of calls from neighbors I haven’t spoken with all winter asking if I knew where they might be able to get a mask LOL! I’m sure they knew — and I gave them the masks of course. Our guild tally of donated masks (that we are aware of) is up to 1848. We’re going to hit 2000, I know it! If you can make even a few for us to give to the Air Force Base, that would be super. They have asked for 1,000. A few parameters for them–no patriotic fabrics please. It makes them easily identifiable as Americans when they are deployed. Drab colors for […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.In case you missed it… one of our guild’s long time members wrote an opinion piece published in yesterday’s Buffalo News. You mask makers should take particular note. (BTW We’re approaching our next milestone as a guild of 2000 masks made and donated!) Thanks, Linda, for letting the readers know what quilters are up to these days! Quilters are cottoning to face mask production

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.Here is a link for those of you wanting to purchase the Rosie style mask maker T shirt. Thank you to Paula F. and Diana B. for their help. Another link is in the replies to several commenters back at the original post. Click here. Please understand that the guild has no connection to either of these two companies in any way whatsover. Let the buyer beware!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.I’ve attached a file with all of the corona quilt steps we’ve done so far and the next step as well. It is in pdf format so I’m hoping everyone will be able to print it out without difficulty. Please let me know if you have trouble with that; I’ll send it to you via e-mail if so. I’ve put all the steps together somewhat in checklist format, I like to check off where I am in a list of directions when I work on a quilt pattern. I hope it works for you too. corona quilt

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you haven’t seen this on Facebook yet, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to Diana B. for sending it to me this morning. Next installment of the corona quilt will be up later today.  

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Well, you’ve done it again. With the additional number of masks reported in the comments on the last post you topped my latest challenge to you. Those brought our total to 1595 masks. (Is 2000 within our reach?) I think the positive feelings from giving to others are a motivation in themselves to keep on giving. So let’s keep it going and make ourselves feel great. My next challenge to you is not a numerical one. I challenge you to keep a mask or two in your pocket or purse. When you are out walking, or at the pharmacy or grocery store, or wherever you might run across people not in your usual social circle, give a mask away to someone who needs one, with your best wishes.  Let us know how it goes…and keep on stitching!