Spring Summer Fabrics, Tilda & Life lately

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Tilda fabrics / Tilda Stoffe

Hello everyone,

high time I dusted off this little blog of mine! First and foremost I truly hope that you and your families are well and safe. This is a challenging time for all of us and I acknowledge that it is more so for some than others. Please don't despair and please let's be kind to each other.

Back in January my friends in Hong Kong alerted me to the fact that there was a deadly virus coming out of mainland China and that the original whistleblower had been detained and information suppressed. (no surprise there). So I told my close friends and a few family members - but I don't think I was taken very seriously. Regardless, I kept monitoring the situation closely and noticed that more and more cases were being reported from around the world. At some point in February I decided to order surgical face masks. They never arrived. I was able to secure a few from the local pharmacy, but they told me there was a severe shortage everywhere. By March, with the devastating news of virus-related deaths coming out of Italy and the new "hotspot" in Austria...well, by this time no one, at least in Europe, doubted that this was a pandemic. By the end of March Germany finally issued a stay-at-home order (way too late in my opinion) and obviously all big events, including the annual tradefair that I had been attending for the last 10 years, were cancelled. Followed by school and shop closures. I think April is the month when the rest of the world finally woke up that this was deadly serious and afforded a global effort to combat.

This moment in time is a test for humanity. Will we become more nationalistic? Will there be class warfare? I think it's up to each of us to maintain a standard of decency within our communities. It's also wise not to put too much faith in our respective governments. As seen in the last couple of weeks some of our so called leaders are not invested in the welfare of the citizens. Best to rely on your own common sense. I live in the state with the second highest infection cases and rising. Our MP insists on opening up the schools/shops/public spaces right now. Our MP doesn't know how to wear a face mask. He wants to become the next chancellor?! Well, not with my vote, that's for sure.

handmade face masks

While things look dire economically, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate consumerism. Perhaps focus on quality rather than quantity? How about raising wages for essential workers? When all this is over (fair warning = it's going to take longer than you think) we, as a whole, must understand that our previous way of life is no longer sustainable. There are a lot of good people out there who have been trying to implement changes for the better, but it's a slow process. Plus it's the politicians/governments that make the big decisions - that ultimately affect us all. If you are lucky to live in a country that (still) allows voting - don't waste this privilege please.

Shop News

As I already mentioned in my newsletter as well as in my Etsy shop, unfortunately due to the pandemic shipping to USA, Australia and some areas of Europe has been temporarily suspended. This is because the postal service is not working at full capacity at the moment. I am checking daily to see when it's going to open up again. Fingers crossed it will be soon. 

We can all use a bit of cheering up! Cute unicorn stationery available in my online shop. 

Stationery

Since most of us can't get ahold of face masks a lot of people (myself included) have been sewing them. Some of us have been sewing batches of fabric face masks for hospital staff, children's cancer units, care facilities etc. What an amazing joint effort. Check out Pinterest for plenty of free patterns. There are several types of fabric masks: simple rectangular ones with loops for attaching to your ears, the curved ones with either fabric ties that go around the head or elastic loops.
Good news for all those who want to sew up a batch of face masks, but don't have time to trace the pattern. Sometime in the next two weeks I will be getting in fabric panels with the masks already printed on them! The kit includes the elastic. The masks are double layer and feature funky prints including a rainbow one and a solid color lining. Simply cut and sew. Yay!

coming soon!

I've also received some new whimsical fabrics by Daniela Drescher for acufactum. They are based on her children's books and feature all sorts of sweet details.

acufactum fabrics

And here are some more new arrivals. Pretty pastels in pink, robin's egg blue and natural.

Rue 1800

And lastly, some items I made in the last month or so...

Oh, and one last thing. I think we should refer to social distancing as physical distancing. Describes it much better, don't you think? Thank you for reading along and wherever you may be in the world please take care, stay home and stay safe.
#standwithsmall