Mask Mania and more!

Well, my last post gave you a clue what I had been doing, but I had no idea it would parlay into a huge, going concern!  My friend Joyce sews professionally, creating a wide variety of products that are sold in gift shops throughout the southwest.  She even has a sales rep who visits the shops and sends her orders for products!  Well, with the Covid-19 shutdown, the gift shops closed down, and she had a brief -- very brief -- respite before the deluge of orders for masks started to come in.  Truck stops, gas station mini-marts... suddenly she was getting so many orders that she asked if  I could give her a hand, and that was many, M A N Y masks ago!  One busy Saturday I was in the middle of cranking out masks, and wanted to change needles, only I couldn't get the new needle to stay in.  I have had this problem before, but this time I couldn't overcome it.  The machine went into the shop, and I ended up buying another one on sale and had it up and running within minutes of arriving home.

It's very similar to my old machine, but 12 years newer!  

I have lost count of how many masks I have made since early March, but it's been a lot, and I don't see any end in sight!

I did take a brief break last week to make a couple of coiled fabric bowls.  A friend of mine, Jana, is a soap maker and we are collaborating on gift baskets.  She wanted a couple that could be suitable as a Fathers' Day gift, so I came up with these two:

This one is made of hand dyed fabric

This is made from fabric I found in a thrift shop

And finally, we are starting to work towards re-opening the gallery next Month.  This is going to be a slow process!  Many of our artists are in the "at risk" age group and are reluctant to risk their health by coming to the gallery.  We have worked on guidelines to ensure the safety of both our artists and the shoppers who come in, but may only be open on weekends to start.  We do now have an e-commerce site : https://www.flagstaff-arts.org/the-arts-connection-online-gallery.html, and yes, I am one of the artists listing items for sale there.  That way, even folks outside the Flagstaff area can order items!  So please check it out.  So far we have 10 artists offering work on the site, and we hope to have more joining us soon, so bookmark the link!

Okay, time to go back to work, and I hope you are all staying safe and enjoying Spring!