Q may have stood for quarantine for many the last couple of months and it certainly started out that way for us. We had a couple surgeries late in 2019 and fall in the “age bracket” for caution, so TGQ went on lockdown. We found the rest and slow pace nice . . . at first. It’s true, we’ve been blessed. We hit the ground running and 400 quilts later, haven’t really stopped to look back. Since July 2017, when we began, we always had quilts in the queue. Stopping and catching our breath really was nice.

However, soon quarantine became “q-munity”. I grocery shop for ourselves and neighbours who should not be out. I, along with four others from my church, divided up the registry and called to check on people to see if they needed anything, how they were getting along, etc. I reached out to our quilters to say hi by USPS or digitally. It was great hearing back from them, getting a surprise note in the mail from a few, and finding out how they spend their time. We also try to support a local small business each day with a purchase. We keep an eye on St. Louisian Joanna Serenko, who is competing on The Voice. Her Mom had us quilt a t-shirt quilt she made for Joanna last year and we’re able to follow both on TV and a Facebook group supporting this rising star. (Go Joanna!!) We also have a biweekly video chat with our UK friends who visited just before all came to a crashing halt. That has been especially fun and below you see a couple photos of them keeping their sanity as they quarantine at their home. So all in all, we feel we have been able to keep our community while keeping our distance.

Cheers! Malcolm and Sue back home in the UK after a lovely visit to St Louis and Mexico.

But then it got busy! We were asked to make a mask. We thought we would need some for ourselves, so we said yes. The masks were offered to those in need in our condo building and the requests were many. We asked a $5 donation per mask with proceeds going to a front-line essential worker we appreciate very much and whom many knew. Don’t listen to all the negative news! Generosity abounds!!! We made 125 masks and collected $1,000 which we turned into gift cards for him! Like our quilts, our masks ended up going all over. Below Lynn, from southwestern Missouri, models her mask. It was great receiving pics of folks wearing their masks. Thanks to those who sent one! To those reading this who donated, Lamar was blown away by the gift cards!!

Like so many others have needed to do at this time, we knew to resume quilting, we would need to be creative. Besides, we had quilts ready for pick up when this virus kicked into gear as well as quilts to be quilted! Luckily, our shop is in a large converted manufacturing building so space we have! Often, I post pictures from “the annex”. It’s the large, open hallway on the main floor which we’re near the end of. In the photo below you see “the annex”. TGQ was an early adopter of Quilt Distancing!

The “American Eagle Outfitters” quilt, all 13 pounds of it, waiting to be picked up.

There is also a spacious hallway in the back of the building with natural light coming in, so between the two spaces, I can open the doors, prop them open until a person is inside, close them, and show the quilt without the customer having to touch a thing. I advise the total due and payment can be set on our small table outside our door. I package the quilt, set the bag down, back up, and the person can pick it up. I, again, open and prop the doors, let the customer leave and all of this can be done “touchless” and with appropriate distance. In one case, it was literally a curbside pick-up! I had it all packaged and ready to go. Once I received the text she was out front, I popped outside with it and made the handoff with my mask on.

How will this work for new work coming in? As things relax, we will try accepting work as detailed above. Luckily, we have French doors and a large TV monitor, so we feel we can discuss quilt patterns and thread colours with a safe distance. For those who already know us, every cold and flu season, we’re diligent about germs, but this year we have definitely stepped it up a notch. We hope all will understand the need to keep our small workspace to just us and be flexible to use “the annex”. Below you see The Gentleman is properly prepared and protected, we hope you are too.

Please stay safe for yourself and others! ❤️️The Gentleman Quilter ❤️️

Q-munity