Goodbye 2020 and First Sewing challenges for 2021

Well what can I say other than 2020 has been a different and difficult year for all of us.   Life changed dramatically in many ways and in some cases still has.    While masks in some parts of our country were never mandatory it was recommended when out and about that they were worn which in turn saw many of us sewists making masks for family and friends.     I ended up making a total of 20 masks. 

Many started working from home, parents became teachers overnight,  you consulted the doctor via the  phone.    More and more people turned to on-line shopping, having meals delivered and when the local libraries were able to re-open you could get home delivered library books.      Zoom, Facetime and Skyping became the new norm where to meet up and have a chat, coffee or  sewing sessions together via the screen.  

Shopping did prove a bit of a challenge  as there were shortages of several items for a period of time and customer numbers were limited in shops that were open.   You were greeted at shop entrances with hand sanitiser and hand washing stations as well as having to follow the arrows on the floor around the various isles.

During the height of the pandemic when we were restricted to a "partial lockdown" my garden received much attention that it was desperately needing.   Many books were added to the "read list".    Jigsaw puzzles were dug out from the bottom of the cupboard in the garage where they have been stored for many years and long walks were all part of the day.   

Sewing was a big part of my life during the year and while large sized quilts were not made my projects included many smaller items such as cot size quilts,  coasters, tablemats, tablerunners, wallhangings, fabric baskets, babies' bibs, aprons for adults and children etc.    At the beginning of the year I set a couple of goals to reach  namely a landscape quilt and a collage quilt both of which were achieved.  

Hubs and I along with the members of our immediate and extended families were all spared the horrors and effects of suffering with COVID and apart from not being able to visit each other in person for quite sometime we count ourselves amongst the lucky ones. 

As the year  progressed restrictions on social activities were relaxed somewhat which meant that we were able to meet up with groups of family and friends both inside and outside our homes again so life for us had just about returned to normal for which we are thankful.    Travelling overseas as we have known in the past will not be available  for sometime to come but we can now move around our own country freely which was not the case for many months.    Many families living in different States were unable to see each other and even within different local Council areas were unable to travel.  

When I  originally started typing this post little did I know that there was going to be an out break  in our local area just 10 days prior to Christmas which ended up seeing hubs and I as well as thousands of others being locked down and not able to join our families for Christmas Day.   We are on lockdown now until 9th January with a review to be made then and hopefully restrictions will be eased.      

That was 2020 and hopefully as we move forward into the New Year progress will be made medically so none of us will need to experience such a nightmare again in our lifetime.    I did say to Miss M -  even though she was only 6  at the time when COVID was at its worst -  she is living through what will become a major part of history and when  older  will be able to tell her grandchildren about the times when she could not go to school or the  park, visit her family or play with friends, the year that our family Christmas Day was put on hold as well as wearing a mask when outside your home was part of lives for many months.

I am linking up with Elm Street quilts again this year for OMG.    My goal for January is to turn these pink scraps into my next fabric basket. 

I had made a bit of a start a few weeks ago but put it away to have a break from 2 1/2” squares.    I still need to cut quite a few in order to get it finished.

Over at the Joyful Quilter a new challenge - Table Scraps - is being held on the last Saturday of each month.   It involves making anything that covers a table from a mug rug to a runner and the colour is to correspond to that chosen for  the RSC each month.    Seeing that pink is the colour for January I will keep going with the pink scraps.

Wishing you all a safe, happy and healthy 2021.   Cheers everyone.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all