Quarantine made for some extra time, and some used it to start a new hobby or develop an existing one. Some Normal Township Activity and Recreation Center (ARC) members spent their time crafting a Quarantine Quilt.
Quilting group leader Mary Wuhrmann said the 4-by-5 foot quilt’s center square represents the COVID-19 virus, but the surrounding squares represent our homes.
“The white circles in the squares are the family members that sheltered-in-place with us, so that would include anyone in your home and your pets,” said Wuhrmann.
That’s on the front of the quilt. When you flip it over, you’ll see quarantine activities.
“Ones that represent cooking, reading, sewing of course, and fishing,” said Wuhrmann. “There's one for the Fourth of July because we celebrated during a pandemic, and there’s one for Easter.”
One quilter sewed a print that had olives on it, to represent all the martinis she had during the pandemic.
“There’s a New York square representing the trip some of us were going to take that was cancelled. You will also find stargazing, jigsaw puzzles and even a couple of our home states. We have done many things to keep busy during this time, and making this quilt together was a part of that,” said Wuhrmann.
Bob Chancellor, an ARC member, quilted the fabrics. This means he “fluffed it up” with layers.
“We had some quilters that don't do appliqué, and that's what the circles are. They're either sewed on by hand or by machine, and so they would just bring their fabrics and one of the other quilters would make it,” said Wuhrmann. “We've enjoyed having our time to spend together, too.”
Appliqué is a sewing technique in which fabric patches are layered on a foundation fabric, then stitched in place by hand or machine with the raw edges turned under or covered with decorative stitching.
Wuhrmann and the quilters would meet socially-distanced under the tree at ARC and collaborated on the project. It took them about three months to craft.
“All the quilters really enjoy making things to help others. As soon as I asked them, if they wanted to do this, they all said yes,” said Wuhrmann.
The quilt will be raffled off and proceeds will support the ARC Living Memorial Fund. Wuhrmann said if she won the quilt she would donate back to the ARC so it can serve as a reminder.
“I hope they realize it was made with love and feeling about the pandemic, and that it will be a representation of the time period that we went through,” said Wuhrmann.