Compassion wears a mask by Helen DePrima & Liz Flaherty #HarlequinHeartwarmingAuthors


The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Helen DePrima

God bless all the tireless and selfless women (can men be seamstresses?) who are turning out hundreds of masks to help stem the tsunami of COVID 19 contagion. I’m not one of those. Instead, I’m making masks a few at a time for friends and family who may have trouble laying their hands on well-fitting models which will last through enough washings to get us through this nightmare.

I’m proud of my little-bitty effort which carries a personal bonus: I’m winnowing my 40 year plus stash of quilting cotton. Quilters, like most crafters, I suspect, are hoarders. I have bins of fabric, from yardage sufficient for a king-sized quilt back to fragments no bigger than my hand, too pretty to discard and maybe good for something someday. Today I completed a mask for a teenager who asked for teal and blue. I unearthed a remnant the colors of sea glass, left over from a special quilt I designed to remember my sailing days.

Two small masks went off to Kentucky for a cousins’ sons who haven’t left their yard for three weeks. Another went to Florida for a cousin in her 80’s flying home soon from her winter quarters. I cut two more from the scraps left from a dress made almost 40 years ago for my daughter’s Father-Daughter Dance. I’ve made so many quilts since my first attempt in 1976 but have kept only the nautical one. In sorting through my trove, I remember which fabrics belonged which quilts – the one I sent to college with my daughter, baby quilts for friends’ children, and one which took me twenty years to complete because I no longer liked the colors. I donated that quilt to a charity auction for the Central Virginia Horse Rescue; it sold for $285 , maybe enough for a couple days’ feed or partial payment on a vet bill.

Time to stop reminiscing and start on my next batch of masks. I hope they keep their wearers safe!

by Liz Flaherty
lph Waldo Emerson


When I first started sewing items for hospitals, years ago, I made a few doll-size
gowns, called bereavement gowns, for hospital staff to put on babies who were stillborn or, for whatever reason, didn't survive. I prayed over them, cried over them, and in the end, I couldn't do it. Even knowing it was a gift for grieving parents, I only made that initial few.

Masks are different. I like that the ones I make are from fabric I bought because I loved it. I've been able to remember different quilts when I've sewn them. More often I've used fabric that was an impulse buy on a saunter through a quilt shop. The women around here are sharing their elastic, their ideas--pipe cleaners are good; so are bread ties, just right across the top there--and their time. The masks are a gift--to the wearers and to the people sewing them. They have everything to do with usefulness, compassion, and honor.

We hear from others who are bored with being home, with not working, with whatever unhappy consequence of Covid-19. It is one of the joys of being writers and sewists, isn't it? One of the bigger ones. We are never bored. Or if we are, there's a message in it. If a writer becomes bored with her own story, she knows she's going the wrong direction and needs to turn. If a sewist gets bored, all she needs to do is sew a different fabric or pattern.

Everything else aside, though, sewing masks is a way I can at least feel useful, and I am grateful for that. If the masks keep their wearers even marginally safer than they would be otherwise, I'm grateful for that, too. And now, as Helen said, it's time to start the next batch. 




Comments

  1. Such beautiful masks and what a lovely story, connecting new things to old memories! I envy you both for your sewing talents....added to writing ones. The recipients of your masks will hold onto them long after this is all over too, as memories. Thanks ladies...and great Emerson quote. :)

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    1. He knew whereof he spoke, didn't he? Thanks, Janice.

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    2. Hi, Janice -- I'm enjoying my mask-making so much I feel guilty. My creations are much like tiny quilts, colors coordinated (mine are reversible) and segments mated just so to fit comfortably. After reading a couple of horror stories on line about microwaves exploded by masks metal innards, I now get the same result by sewing a small gather under the upper edge -- works great.

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  2. Great post! It makes me wish I sewed... but I don't, so I write and try to provide some distraction from the news. Thanks, ladies!

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    1. Thanks, Nan. We all need distraction from it, don't we?

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    2. Being useful has been a blessing during these times. On dry days, I've been building a hiking path through neighboring woods so I can get my laps in without adding to the congestion on public walking trails. Sewing masks keeps me busy and somewhat sane when rain and still occasional snow makes walking impossible.

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  3. Being useful is satisfying, even in a small way. When I began reading the quote, I thought it was from Eleanor Roosevelt who said almost the same thing. Everyone be safe.

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    1. Contributing even a little in this battle feels good, like planting a tiny Victory Garden. I wonder if, many years from now, people will discover hand-sewn masks in a box or the back of a drawer and remember how people came together in a common cause.

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    2. I wonder that, too, Helen. It is satisfying to be useful.

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  4. My sister and her hubby and granddaughter are sewing masks. They sent my husband a solid red one and me a pastel plaid that a man in the post office said looked " plumb cheerful". I am crocheting some with flannel pieces to line leftover from a long ago project of making no sew throws with tied strips on the side. I couldn't bear to throw away all the scrap pieces and now they'll have new life. Thanks for a positive look and quote today!!!!

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    1. Isn't that fun, when something has new life?

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    2. The small remnants I saved from numerous quilting and sewing projects are perfect for making shaped masks which require four small pieces. Making this kind of mask is a lot like piecing a quilt, lining up seams for a smooth fit.

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  5. I love your beautiful masks. We have a few dust masks leftover from woodworking projects, but I've been drawn to the idea of using leftover quilt cotton for masks. Do you find the shaped masks fit better than the pleated scrub style?

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    1. I've only worn the one I made myself. The shaped ones look like they would fit better, but as long as there is a "shaper" in the top of the others, they work well, too. The elastic over the ears is a problem, but it's amazing how inventive people are in finding ways to "fix" it.

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    2. The shaped masks are a bit more labor-intensive, but the fit is worth the effort. I tried using various metal strips sewn into the top but wasn't happy with the result -- never seems to snug down effectively. Then I ran a simple running stitch in the seam allowance over the nose to make a gentle gather -- eureka! great fit and no steamed glasses.

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  6. Oops--I've been attributing that quote to Leo Rosten...it was the favorite quote of a professional speaker friend of mine. I love your masks. No telling how long we'll be using them, but they might as well have some style!

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    1. I was like Shirley--I thought Eleanor Roosevelt said it, but when I was looking it up, I figured Emerson had seniority. :-)

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    2. Have you ever read Leo Rosten's The Joy of Yiddish? Informative and damned funny, too.

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