APQS Stitches for Safety

Quilters: now is our time to help our communities!

In this new era of social distancing, many of us have been using our hobbies to help bide our time while staying home.

Recommendations on whether to wear a face mask have been evolving. New guidance from the Centers for Disease and Prevention urges Americans to wear cloth face coverings in public to prevent the spread of the virus.

Let’s make sure that healthcare workers always have access to their essential gear and MAKE THEM OURSELVES for our friends, neighbors and loved ones.

The APQS community is full of creative crafters with access to lots of fabric, and the desire to do good. We can make a difference.

Let’s do this together!

Join us on social to see what others are doing.        

Mask patterns

There are lots of different patterns available for face masks and we’ve collected some below.

• The CDC has DIY Sewn Cloth Face Coverings information on this page.
• The New York Times has a simple, step-by-step tutorial on how to sew a facemask.
• JOANN Fabrics has provided lots of resources, including drop off locations, on this page.
• Michaels also has a pattern for a simple fabric mask.
• AQS (American Quilters Society) has made these mask patterns available.
• Fast Company has the 4 best mask designs that you can make yourself.

We will continue to update this page as more information becomes available.

Computerized quilters

A big thanks to Angela Clark from APQS Raleigh|Thread Waggle for her assistance in digitizing a mask pattern and providing detailed instructions on how to utilize your QuiltPath computerized quilting system to make multiple masks at a time.

⇓ Mask Patterns with Elastic

⇓ Mask Pattern with Ties

Instructions for face masks with elastic

Instructions for face masks with ties

For longarm quilters without computerized quilting system

A big thanks to APQS Dealer Cathy Thayer from Fabric Bash for her assistance in providing detailed instructions on how to utilize your longarm if you don’t have a computerized quilting system to make masks.