It seems like most of my quilt-related activities have been cancelled due to the pandemic. I missed out on retreat last month, which I’m pretty sad about, but I’ve still managed to connect with some quilty friends thanks to the miracle of technology.

My hand quilting group had our first virtual gathering last month via videoconference. It was great, if for no other reason than that it forced me to make time for quilting … something I hadn’t been doing much of lately.

The virtual aspect of our gathering wasn’t a big deal to me, since I’m mostly looking down at my work anyways. It turns out I don’t really need the visual component for our meetings – only the audio. But the video was there for everyone to show off their project progress.

And I made a lot of progress on this block during our three-hour gathering. I did a little more a few days later, but then stalled. All that was left to do was the appliqué, and since the reality is that I virtually never enjoy appliqué, I dragged my feet on it as long as possible.

The thing that really got me going on the block again was my new Mighty Sight magnifying glasses. That’s right – while stuck at home, I was lured by an infomercial and purchased this “As Seen On TV” product. The commercial reeled me in pretty quickly, what with their promises that the glasses could be worn over regular glasses, the built-in LED lights to illuminate your work, and the fact that the glasses are rechargeable. The clincher was when they showed the hard carrying case that came with the glasses. I ordered them on the spot!

As soon as they arrived, I charged them up and popped them on my head … well, not exactly. The infomercial assured me they’d fit over my regular glasses, but I think they underestimated the size of my noggin. Luckily, I could keep my regular glasses pushed up on the bridge of my nose and rest the Mighty Sight glasses towards the end of my nose, so there was less overlap of the arms of each pair of glasses.

Moving around with these glasses on is not a good idea; just like virtual reality goggles (and first person video games), they make me pretty motion sick. Definitely don’t move your head around at all while wearing them, and for goodness’ sake, don’t try to walk around in them. It’s also not a great idea to look at anyone while you’re wearing them – apart from the head motion making you queasy, there’s the potential to blind the person with the LED lights shining from the corners of your glasses.

Once you get settled in, put them on, and keep your eyes on your project, they really do a great job of illuminating and magnifying those tiny quilting pieces. You can see exactly where you’re placing each appliqué stitch.

Even with my cool new technology, it still took a long time to finish those ridiculously small appliqué triangles; I’m glad to put them behind me and work on the next block. And I can’t wait for the next gathering of my hand quilting group – I’m so ready for another dose of virtual reality!