It has been a long time since I have made a post on the blog. Life sure has a way of intervening with the best laid plans. So much has happened in the last 5 years that it is unbelievable. Time itself has changed so dramatically in the last month with the pandemic of Covid 19 rampaging around the world. At the time of my last post, I was one of very few in the world who was wearing a face mask to keep from getting sick due to being on chemotherapy. Now everyone is making and wearing masks to keep from getting the Covid 19 virus. And now it is my husband who is the one taking chemotherapy. What a time to have to be going through the ups and downs of therapy.
As I said, everyone is making masks these days and I am one of them. I love to shop the thrift stores in our area and have accumulated quite a lot of quilting scraps from Goodwill. At the time I bought them, I had in mind of making quilts in the tradition of my mother, grandmothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. Little did I know that I would be dipping into my stash of fabric and making masks for, not only my immediate family, but also some extended family as well as friends and neighbors. During stressful times, I find that I can deal with life much easier if I keep my hands and mind busy creating something useful.
Ideally, I would love to be making these masks and giving them away. However, being a stay-at-home Mom and a husband who is fighting bladder cancer and on medical leave from work, I’m unable to do that at this point in time. But, I am not in this to make a killing off the public, either. I am trying to provide a quality face mask constructed in the matter the CDC has recommended for the general public and providing them at a very reasonable price of $3.00 each.
I would love to be able to offer a specific variety to choose from, but since I am using the materials I have on hand, I am limited in those scraps available. However, I am able to offer adult and child size as well as gender appropriate. For example, the plant where two of my sons work is now requiring them to wear face masks and provided some for their use. The first day of this new policy, one of them had to wear an obvious female face mask as they ran out of the ones made for the guys. (Needless to say, he was not thrilled with this idea!!)
Our masks are made of 100% cotton fabric and lined with cotton flannel. I have made them with a pocket so that a filter can be inserted between the lining and the outer fabric if you have the filters to do so. The masks are approximately 8.5 by 5.5 inches for the adults with 35 inch ties. Child sizes are approximately 6.5 inches by 4.5 inches with ties about 33 inches in length.
There is no doubt in my mind that we will get through this pandemic with the help of our families, friends and neighbors pulling together. However, we all need to be turning to God, repenting of our sins and realizing that He is the one to bring us through this trying time. There needs to be a revival around the world and we can only make it happen if we all do our part and learn to lean on the Great Healer and have a revival in our hearts.
Stay save, stay healthy and remember, Jesus loved us enough to die for us. He will see us through!! God bless each and every one. Have a great day!