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When I first came up with the idea of creating a group quilt to illustrate the quilt community experience during social distancing, I don’t think I would have ever imagined that 4 months later the country would basically still be in quarantine.

I put out a call for quilt blocks the first day that our local schools were closed. I had spent the night before making some sample blocks and received the school cancellation notice late that night. This really solidified the reality of the pandemic for me. You can read about the inspiration for the blocks in the original call.

I was pleased with the excitement and interest people had for participating in the quilt. I was even interviewed for an article in the Winnipeg Free Press. Blocks started to slowly trickle in. I took precautions with my mail and “quarantined” everything in a ziplock bag for several days before opening.

This quilt was not the only group quilt inspired by COVID-19 and quarantine. I was also a contributor to two other quilts. In order to remember the blocks I made and sent away for those quilts I decided to make more Petri Dish blocks for this quilt in the likeness of those blocks. One quilt is by @stephskardal and @southbaybella, the other quilt is by @jenbroemel.

As the months went on and we were still staying at home, I kept collecting blocks and adding them to my design wall. I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to assemble and finish the quilt but for some reason my mind kept coming back to the idea of a fence.

To me, the fence symbolizes the invisible force that is keeping us apart. So many barriers have come up during the quarantine starting with mundane things like toilet paper shortages and then more serious shortages of milk or meat or eggs, and the still developing things like economic downturn and human rights protests. Not to forget the lives taken or impacted by the virus.

Ultimately, I landed on creating a chain link fence using 1/4″ bias tape. This is also partly a tribute to the miles of bias tape ties that I made for masks during quarantine. [I’ve made just over 100 masks; read about my mask making here.] The fabrics I chose for making the fence links are an ombre effect of blenders; black to light gray. I did not use solid fabrics because one of the pandemic shortages happens to be solid black fabric. Yet another accolade to using what I had on hand or what I could source during quarantine.

Once I basted the bias tape fence to the quilt I kept the quilting simple and performed dual duty by stitching down the bias tape and using that as quilting also. The only other quilting is what I’m calling a “ghost block,” white stitches on white background fabric. This block symbolizes the unreliability of the international post and also any blocks that were started or designed by people with intentions of participating but did not finish or submit them. I knew I was expecting a couple blocks from overseas but because of the pandemic there was no way to know when exactly they would arrive. I had set a personal deadline so that I could finish this quilt in time to submit to a specific show, so I needed to make design decisions that would include any late arrival blocks but not affect the quilt top construction.

On the back of the quilt, which features Latifah Saffir chain link fence print fabric, I stitched a second “ghost block”. This time I used dark thread to make it like a portal where the late arrival blocks are trying to break through to the front of the quilt. I was able to applique just the Petri Dish portion of the overseas blocks to the back of the quilt. I love this little design element and it turned out better than I imagined it would.

I am so grateful for everyone who participated and made a block(s). I received blocks from 47 people in 21 different states, 2 Canadian provinces, and one European country. The youngest contributor was just 7 years old. And the furthest away blocks traveled here all the way from Paris, France. See the full list of contributors.

This quilt has been selected for a 2021 book curated by Sandra Sider, Quarantine Quilts: Creativity in the Midst of Chaos.

Read about my approach on improv quilting HERE

I recently participated in a tiny art show contest. Which I had to turn into a quilt show. My original idea was to have a barn quilt show at the barn where I take all my finished photos. I stayed up way too late one night and sketched out and painted 1.5″ quilt blocks. I used watercolor paper and watercolor pencils.

The next morning I decided that they needed “frames.” I used black construction paper for the frames and I even used plain white paper to add mats to several of the tiny paintings. Now that I was off the track of pure barn quilts, I decided that my show needed some actual quilts. Or, actual mini pretend quilts. However you look at it, the show needed some stitches.

I used cuts of fabric in the 2″-3″ range that looked like quilts so that I would not have to do any piecing. I determined my sizes based on the viewers (robots) who would later be attending the art and quilt show. Some of the quilts are modern and some are more traditional. I backed my single cut of fabric with wool felt and quilted using straight lines. I did get a bit carried away and changed my thread colors about a million times more than necessary for quilting 5 miniature quilts.

Once the quilts were done, I needed some signage for my show. I went with “Quaranteeny” the name provided by @tinyartshow for the competition that inspired my tiny show.

And just for the fun of it, I added a pennant banner at the last minute to bring a little more color and cheer to the entire show.

First, I set up the show at the barn to take photos. This proved challenging because the sun was fully overhead and my assistants are under the age of 8. But we managed to get some photos of what I’m calling the “country fair” show.

When we came back to the house (from the public barn across the street – we did not break any social distancing protocols) I decided to set up the show on our front steps. We get quite a bit of foot traffic these days as people go on walks in the neighborhood.

I’m calling this version the “urban” setting. I even made a sign from sidewalk chalk to draw attention to my tiny show. It was fun to listen to people stop and talk about it while they were passing by on walks.

Here are some detailed photos of the pieces that hung in the show. There were 5 quilts and 9 paintings, plus the signs. This was probably the most enjoyable activity I have worked on since starting this stay home stuff over a month ago. Hopefully the photos can bring a little joy to you too.

UPDATE : THIS CALL IS NOW CLOSED.

This is really happening. We are really smack in the middle of a serious world pandemic. This is not something we can ignore or just quasi-sympathize with because we are watching it on the news from across the world. It is here. It is in our own communities. In ALL of our communities. Schools are closing. Gatherings are being cancelled. Lives are changing. Who knows how this whole thing will play out?

What I do know is that as we are practicing “social distancing” from our actual neighbors, we as modern quilters, will turn to our community online. Our family of like-minded, sew until 2am because we’re trying to process what all this means, Quilters. We have always been a strong community, always been able to lean on each other in times of need, joy, celebration, and now in this time of anxiety and uncertainty.

I am putting out this call to help create a quilt that will embody the good and the bad of this entire situation. Make a block to express your emotion or just to distract yourself from reality. Each block is made from a 6.5″ background square and an embellished 4″ applique circle. Take inspiration for your block from Petri dishes.

If you would like to be part of this project, please follow the instructions below.

1. Cut 6.5″ background square from Kona Snow, Kona White, or Kona Dove (other white or almost white solid fabrics will also work).
2. Create a 4″ diameter circle template from cardstock or template paper.
3. Piece, hand dye, embroider, and/or embellish a 4.75″ square. Use thread, fabric scraps, stitches, fabric dyes, and be creative. Hand or machine stitch your embellishments. Try to add more than just a simple single cut of fabric. Find inspiration on my Petri dish Pinterest board. Nothing too dimensional, please – I need to be able to press blocks flat.
4. Use 4″ circle template and cut out circle of fabric from embellished 4.75″ square. Add 3/8″ seam allowance
5. Center the circle on 6.5″ background square
6. Hand applique a 4″ [finished] circle to the background. Use needle turned applique technique or use paper template to baste around and then applique – see my “Applique Circle Basting” story highlight on Instagram @loewensewen
7. Message me @loewensewen on Instagram to get my address so you can mail your block
8. Share on social media with #socialdistancingquilt and tag me @loewensewen

If you want to participate but don’t want to hand applique a circle, you are welcome to mail me your 4.75″ embellished square + 6.5″ background square and I’ll do the applique.

I hope that this can be a way to take your mind off the serious situation our world is facing right now, even for just a few minutes. I hope that this brings our strong quilting community together even closer than we already are. And I hope that your personal social distancing practices do not leave you feeling alone. We are all right here, and we are in this together.

Read about QuiltCon HERE