As the weeks wear on and more quilt festivals and gatherings are cancelled, I feel an emptiness inside. Reviewing the photos I took in Tokyo and at QuiltCon helps, but still no matter how busy I am, there is an empty space where quilts and quilters once filled me up with the kind of inspiration one finds only at a physical gathering with amazing quilts to admire up close and personal. I miss the joyful hugs when we spy a good friend walking through rows of beautiful fiber art.
So here we are, making the best of this event, Zooming and sharing online….stitching at home…and most of us are making masks instead of quilts. (according to my unofficial survey of quilter friends) How will this translate into quilt exhibits and festivals later this year and early next year? We will all find out together.
This is a detail of a quilt at QuiltCon by San Diego quilter Juli Smith. “Summer Sea Breeze” is part of her series of color gradation studies. She is exploring how color transformation embraces negative space. She felt that the negative space was where the sea breeze would ebb and flow, with the sand below and the sunset above.
Somehow that seems to capture the place we are all in now.
All of us at eQuilter are acutely aware that you are making masks for your community’s healthcare workers, frontline workers, and loved ones. Like the other few online fabric suppliers still open, we are running up to a week behind. My classroom has been transformed into a cutting room to accommodate new additional workers, so we can keep everyone safely spaced. We’ve been practicing health and safety protocols for a month now, and we are following very strict disinfecting and hand washing guidelines to keep everyone safe. Our buyers are working hard to keep products stocked and restocked for your PPE sewing projects – and you will see that elastic goes in and out of stock each week. Contact customer service if you want to be emailed the minute those items are back in stock! Search for “COVID” to see which of these specialty products are in stock on any given day.
We are aware that Military Moms are now sewing masks for those who are serving, and now need protective masks. Fortunately we have a great network of friends who give us a heads-up as these new categories of need pop up. We are doing a very deep restock later this week of specific solid colors for those who are sewing for Police, Army, Marines, Navy, etc.
Batiks and Hand-Dyes have been very popular because they are a higher thread count and tighter weave, as are premium muslins also with the high thread count. As your facemask and PPE sewing needs grow and change, we will continue to work hard to get these products into stock and continue to restock. We are in touch with our suppliers every day and have close partnerships with many of them. I continue to update our Facemask Info page. Let us know what we can do for you!
All of us at eQuilter wish you health, peace and comfort in these troubling times.
We will get to the other side of this…together.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
*This quilt was photographed at the Feb 2020 QuiltCon in Austin Texas by Luana Rubin. For more photos visit her photo page.
eQuilter Classroom:
October 5-9 – Susan Carlson – RESCHEDULED
October 11-15 – Paula Nadelstern – Kaleidoscopes & Quilts – RESCHEDULED
2021 – Jacqueline de Jonge, Betty Busby
