Real Life of an MSW

At the beginning of the pandemic, when commercial masks were unavailable to many essential workers, my daughter and I got out our sewing machines, aiming to help. Using nothing but scraps and leftover fabrics from prior projects (some pieces were as old as 30 years!), we made 525 masks (most were donated to UW custodians as well as to a local nursing/rehab facility). As we were making them, the pile of newly created scraps and threads became problematic, so we started collecting them in a bin as a part of our daily ritual. On my way to empty the bin into the garbage, I spotted several small pieces that reminded me of our project, and thought they perhaps deserved more. My sewing machine ended up in the sick bay as a result of overuse, but my hands still worked, so I created a small quilt (24 inches by 24 inches) by hand, as a memento for my daughter, of the hours we spent creating them. — Patti Mincemoyer