Members of the Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild have joined the fight to protect and serve health care workers in the Lehigh Valley.

Starting March 21 members began cutting, sewing and finishing pleated cloth mask covers to fit N95 masks, described by manufacturer Honeywell as “filtering facepiece respirators” on the corporation’s website.

A physician friend of Bethanne Nemesh, a quilting teacher and quilt book author who is a member of Crazy Quilters, responded positively when Nemesh asked if mask covers were need.

The Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild now makes covers to help medical professionals at Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly depleted supplies of the masks, which has meant careful use of existing masks. Covers can help extend mask life.

Kathie Laposata, of Lower Macungie Township, community service chairperson of Crazy Quilters, makes 10 masks at a time, creating an assembly line by cutting, pinning, sewing, ironing, pleating and finishing the masks in about one hour.

“It’s easier to do several at once rather than go back and do steps one at a time,” Laposata said in a telephone interview April 12.

In an explanation of specifications on its website, 3M™, another manufacturer of the masks, provides the following details about the mask. N is shorthand for non-oil. The masks offer “95 percent filtration efficiency against certain non-oil based particles” such as those produced by sanding, grinding, sawing and sweeping. “This respirator can also help reduce inhalation exposures to certain airborne biological particles and also offer protection,” according to 3M™.

The masks are designed to be disposable, however.

That’s where the covers come in.

Members of the Crazy Quilters make masks following a design featuring two layers of cotton. Lightweight fabric with a tight weave such as that used for shirts or sheets is best suited for the mask covers, Nemesh said.

“We’re renowned for having stashes of fabric,” Laposata said of her quilting colleagues.

Covers must be washed after each use with hot water and laundry detergent. Covers made by the Crazy Quilters are cotton and can be washed in the same manner as an item of cotton clothing.

Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild members use a design provided by medical professionals and distilled into a tutorial video created by Nemesh and available on YouTube and through various social media. The tutorial is just under three minutes long.

“It needed to be short and sweet,” Nemesh said.

By her last count, the tutorial had been viewed more than 100,000 times, Nemesh said by telephone April 12.

A novice sewer can master the process.

“How awesome is it for everyone with the most basic skills to legitimately contribute to society?” Nemesh added.

Quilt guilds throughout the Valley also are making masks, Laposata and Nemesh agreed. Guilds, hobbyists, crafters and others are donating masks to a variety of organizations in need including nursing facilities, fire departments and other first responders. Some guild members are making masks for their families and neighbors.

“I didn’t expect to be told sewing was my superpower,” Nemesh said. “It’s a legitimate superpower.”

In a survey of members taken overnight April 12, Laposata calculated more than 2,600 mask covers have been made by the guild, she wrote in an email dated April 13.

Nemesh likened the effort to being an ant in a large ant army.

“We can be a really powerful force working toward a common goal.”

Members of the Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild often use their skills to help others. The list of projects includes creating quilts for premature babies, place mats for Meals on Wheels recipients and pillows for breast cancer patients. The mask covers are an addition to a legacy of community service.

‘We’re kind of a stop gap until manufacturers can ramp up and get enough to meet the need out there,” Laposata said.

The Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild meets monthly at The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, 3461 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. Emmaus. Due to COVID-19, meetings are currently suspended.