Like most of us, Mona Baroody, owner of Artsy-Parts in Arnold, didn’t expect a mysterious and lethal virus to upend the world so completely. But she is navigating our new reality with the blunt force of her creativity.
 
Mona opened Artsy-Parts in Cameo Plaza almost exactly a year ago as a creative community center. After dedicating four years of her life to the Butte Fire recovery, she said “I wanted to do something for myself.” Someone asked her, what would you do if you could do anything? “My answer was easy. I want to create all day and get paid to do it. I’ve always been creative and happiest when I was doing it. I also wanted to help other people feel the same peacefulness.” In the time before Covid, the cozy warren of rooms provided space for the community to drop in and spread out art projects, take art and craft classes, buy hard to find art supplies and exhibit their art work. The virus changed all that.
 
If an art store seems an unlikely business to survive the shut-down orders, you’d be surprised. Not only do times of uncertainty call for creative outlet to relieve stress, precarious times require an artistic temperament. Mona believes that all the traits and skills of an artist—creativity, inventiveness, thoughtfulness, flexibility—coupled with a positive outlook and hard work will help her weather this storm. At the same time, she can help her community too.
 
“I thought, how can I make this work for all of us?” 

Then people asked if she had material for making masks. “The most effective mask material is debated,” she said, “but the general consensus is that you want 100% cotton quilting blocks. That happens to be what one of my wholesalers carries.” She bought enough for the group and enough to have in stock at her store.
 
All of this has kept Mona quite busy. Time flies as she finagles orders for craft kits, origami paper, calligraphy pens, art supplies, and mask making materials. Customers pick up their orders outside the store, which Mona sanitizes religiously. At the end of her days, often after midnight, she said “I’m so busy I haven’t had time to figure out how I’m doing.” ​

​When her doctor could not get cloth masks to protect staff and patients, quilter Nora Carracedo of Valley Springs came to the rescue. After watching several mask making YouTube videos, she sat down at one of her many sewing machines and started thinking.
 
She designed her own version of washable masks made of all cotton material, with a pocket in the middle for a piece of material that’s breathable but still acts as a filter.
 
“I use my own pattern,” she said. “I made one for Sue (her daughter) and me and they worked great. Then I made some for the doctor, and they love them.” Her masks add a bit of brightness to a stressful time. “Some of them have flowers, some of them have polka dots. They’re not plain. They’re pretty,” she said.

​She’s perfectly suited to this need. Nora’s been sewing and quilting for most of her life. When she was young and living in Argentina, she started sewing for a local store to make extra money. “I made pants, underwear, and shirts for men,” she said. “I had to learn to make patterns because there were not many patterns at that time.” She sewed on a pedal machine and finished the clothing by hand.
 
After coming to the states, she sewed clothing for her children and herself. When the grandbabies started coming, she began making quilts. Sue recollects, “I remember my mother making a little bear quilt for the first grandchild.”
 
Nora is still making quilts for the grandchildren, as well as quilts for community members in need. Nora and her sister lead a team of quilters at the San Andreas Senior Center to make quilts for foster children, children with cancer, and comfort care for hospice. “We also donate money for the senior center, and low cost lunches for kids.” It’s a tight knit group, but they welcome others. “We have fun and we enjoy being together,” she said.