Woodpeckers in the Trees

Robert and Deana are on their way back to Tennessee. They both work with the local high school band and band camp starts next week. Robert helps out with the band and Deana is part of the crew that feeds everyone. I made dinner for all of us last night and we spent some time talking about plans for next summer. I will see them again at the end of August as we’re all going to our high school reunion in Ohio.

We got some rain yesterday. I ran the soaker hoses on the garden in the morning, too, before the rain started. These continued pulses of monsoon moisture would be very welcome over the next week or so. I’d be happy if we didn’t get the scorching temps that are predicted. The plants that survived the deer invasion look good, and the apple trees are leafing out again.

I was sitting outside on the porch yesterday afternoon, waiting for dinner to finish cooking, when I heard a commotion in the trees. It was two pileated woodpeckers—hopefully a mating pair? I was only able to get a blurry photo of one of them:

We’ve had them here before. I won’t let the husband cut down all the dead trees because the woodpeckers need them.

I am seeing (and hearing) some birds I haven’t seen before. Unfortunately, we can’t have bird feeders here because of the bears. Our neighbors across the road have had a black bear in their yard a couple of times this week. They have a game camera and I am thinking we just need to give in and get one, because the bear has probably been in our yard, too.

******

As it turns out, I do not need to help with the drywall at church. One of our members who is heading up the project got a (professional) friend of his to come and help. I am going to stop at Sherwin-Williams this morning and pick up the primer and the paint. We’re hoping to get a crew together to paint on Saturday, so I’ll help with that. I definitely know how to paint.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon messing around on the serger. I am playing with decorative threads and edgings on chiffon and other lightweight fabrics. Something is going to come out of this; I’m just not sure what. I haven’t forgotten about the raincoat, but this is all part of another project that has a hard deadline and I need to devote the next couple of days to finishing it.

******

I see that the debate about changing the clocks has reared its head again. I would prefer to stay on standard time but truly, I don’t care as long as we eliminate the time change altogether. You would think that a country that has accomplished so much in the past 250 years would be able to resolve this issue once and for all.

Teaching Advanced Serger Techniques

I taught an advanced serger techniques class yesterday in Missoula for six students. The class had been requested by several of the ladies who took my mastery classes over the past year. I chose Gail Yellen’s Christmas stocking pattern for the class. Although we weren’t able to complete the project in the time allotted, the students were able to try every technique—or see it demonstrated on my machine—and each of them should be able to make a stocking at home. Sometimes, class is not the best place to try to make a project. Some of these techniques require practice and it is unreasonable to expect perfection right out of the gate. Still, we all learned (even the teacher) and had a lot of fun. I wish I had remembered to take some photos.

The Montana Department of Transportation has a major construction project on Highway 93 between here and Missoula, and travelers were warned to expect up to one-hour delays. I left at 6 am yesterday morning even though class didn’t start until 10 am. Even without construction, tourist traffic sometimes adds time to the commute and I wasn’t taking any chances. I got to Missoula in time to make a quick stop at both Walmart and Hobby Lobby before I had to be at the store for class. I picked up two more pieces of fabric from the Walmart remnant rack and snagged a remnant of green Kona from Hobby Lobby. I also bought thread and a few other items at the store.

Class ended at 5 pm, so I didn’t get home until about 7:30 pm. It made for a very long day, but an enjoyable one.

I am helping out at the church this afternoon and all day tomorrow. We need to get the new basement bathrooms finished before the bike tour, so I am going to be taping and mudding drywall. With projects like this, it’s all hands on deck, even the unskilled labor.

[We have a story at church about Margaret Kauffman going on a Mennonite Disaster Service trip. Apparently, when the MDS project director heard that an 80-year-old woman was going to be helping, he said, “And what am I supposed to do with an 80-year-old woman?” Someone from our church responded, “Hand her the tools and get out of her way.” Margaret knew what she was doing. I will be channeling my inner Margaret Kauffman while I work.]

I am going to be working on my own projects on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I am going to pretend that I am away on vacation and make myself unavailable. 😇 I’ll make some huge amount of food Thursday morning so I won’t have to cook for two days.

Also, I keep forgetting to mention Deana’s blog. She has done a great recap of their time here in Montana and she is much better about taking pictures than I am. She has four entries, one for each week that they were here in Montana.

Obligatory flower picture (calendulas):

I need to get out and look at the garden this morning.

Hither and Yon Around the PNW

I had a quick appointment Friday morning and left Kalispell at 9 am to head to Spokane. There is a lot of road construction between here and Spokane, including work over both passes and in several spots in between, but I arrived just after noon local time. (I gain an hour going over.) The reason for this trip was to see DD#1, who was in Spokane with her in-laws for a church conference. We all spent the afternoon together. I had dinner with her in-laws because she had another event to attend, then we went to the evening church service where she and her MIL sang in the choir.

[I love DD#1’s in-laws. They are wonderful people and have been so good to her.]

I stopped at the Spokane Valley Walmart yesterday morning at 6 am before leaving Spokane to come home. The Kalispell Walmart just finished a big renovation project, rearranging the entire layout and moving the pharmacy to the front of the store. Crafts are now in the back of the store, and it appears that the remnant rack has been eliminated altogether. I am unhappy about this. I can’t figure out why some stores have remnant racks and some don’t. I certainly have done my share of shopping from the Kalispell store’s remnant rack. The Spokane Valley Walmart has a great remnant rack and I was able to find several two-yard cuts of fabric for my Sew Expo serger class kits.

The Missoula Walmart also has a great remnant rack and I plan to investigate it tomorrow after my serger class ends.

Because I left Spokane so early, traffic was not unreasonable and road crews don’t work on Saturday. I was home by lunchtime. The husband was putting shade cloth on the chicken yard when I arrived because it is supposed to get hot this week.

The shade gets let down during the afternoon and gives the chickens a place to get out of the hot afternoon sunlight. We had a summer five or six years ago where it was in the 90s for weeks on end and I had to rig up a misting system in the chicken yard to give them some relief.

Robert and Deana treated us to dinner last night at our favorite restaurant in Kalispell. They are leaving early Wednesday morning and I will be sorry to see them go. 🙁

*****

Obviously, there has been no action in the sewing department since Thursday. Part of this week and all of next week are going to be devoted to getting ready for the bike tour, although I might have to schedule a few hours of sewing time here and there just to maintain my sanity. I may also have to close the curtains and turn off my phone and isolate myself as much as possible.

Birthing Creative Ideas

I go through these cycles every so often where I have an idea gestating in my brain, and waiting for that idea to develop and be born is a bit uncomfortable. Even writing about it is difficult. It’s a process of researching and accumulating bits of knowledge and hoping that my brain will synthesize something coherent out of those bits. The good thing is that I have learned to recognize the process when it’s happening, and I have learned to sit with the discomfort, even if I don’t enjoy it. If I had my druthers, I would lock myself in my sewing room and do nothing but work on that idea for hours—or days—on end. Unfortunately, the realities of daily life intrude. People need to eat.

I was going to go to town first thing yesterday morning. I wanted to be home by late morning so I could spend the rest of the day working on this brain worm. Just as I was getting ready to leave, I got a shipment notification from FedEx for a delivery I needed to be here to meet. They could only give me a general idea of the time, which was anywhere from 10 am until 2:30 pm. Lovely. I rearranged the schedule and decided I would go to town after the delivery arrived.

Nothing annoys me more than to get into a big project and be interrupted, which means that if I don’t know how much time I will have to work on something, I won’t even start. I looked at the list of smaller projects that needed to be done.

I paid bills and did construction company paperwork.

I cut the lining for the Lou Raincoat:

I still haven’t decided on interfacing. Construction begins with making the pockets, so I might interface those—the pattern calls for it—and see what I think.

I was going to sandwich and baste the Kaffe Fassett quilt top from last fall’s workshop but I didn’t have batting, so that had to be postponed.

I packed for my trip.

One of our neighbors stopped by for eggs and wanted to visit for a bit.

I collected and began organizing my class supplies for my serger class on Monday. That was a good excuse to find all my decorative threads and sort them. I have thread storage bins, but thread gets taken out and used for various projects or it goes to a class and doesn’t get put back where it belongs. I also needed to re-acquaint myself with the pattern and decide how I want to structure the class.

Finally, around 1:00 pm, FedEx showed up. We got everything sorted and I headed to town. There is a reason I run my errands early in the morning, before the zombie hordes come out. The traffic was insane. The people were insane—most of them wandering around with their noses in their phones, not paying attention to what was happening around them. I know I am being uncharitable, but people need to stop behaving as though they are the only ones on the planet.

It was almost 4:30 pm by the time I got home. I passed the husband on the way; he was heading over to lay out the foundation for the new fire hall and then attend the fire department business meeting. Our fire district is building a new (much needed) station and it was very important to our trustees and chief not to have to ask for a tax levy from the residents. The supporting association has been raising money for the station over the past several years. Community members are donating when and where they can. One gentleman donated the excavation services. The husband is donating his time and labor to do the foundation, although our employees will be paid for their work.

I made dinner and sat down to research serger techniques in a few of my reference books.

The brain worm is going to have to gestate for a few more days. I won’t have time to work on it again until Tuesday.

A Pretty Herb Garden

The herb garden is so lovely right now. Many of the flowers are blooming. I also cut lettuce yesterday.

This bed is especially lovely with the purples and greens and whites. I wish I could tell you I planned this, but I just plant stuff where I can find a space for it.

The bee balms are blooming:

The echinaceas are just starting to open up. I’ll get a picture later this week.

I am drying some chocolate mint for tea:

I have a dehydrator, but the mint—and lavender, if I get to it in time—dry nicely like this. It helps that the humidity here is only about 25%.

*****

QuickBooks was down for a couple of hours yesterday morning. I couldn’t log in through the desktop app or through a browser. We also got a quick surprise thunderstorm and some rain. I spent the time working on the menu for the bike tour. I asked ChatGPT to upsize recipes for 80 people—that, to me, is an excellent use of AI. When I am all done, I will have it create a shopping list and a prep schedule.

I also edited next week’s podcast episode. I won’t have time to do it before Tuesday. I am driving to Spokane tomorrow because DD#1 and her in-laws will be there for a conference. I’ll spend the night, then come home Saturday morning. I’ll see DD#1 in the afternoon. She has a dinner to attend so I’ll have dinner with her in-laws. Sunday is church, and on Monday, I am going to Missoula to teach an advanced serger class. I have six students. I am going to have to leave early in the morning because there is roadwork along the way with delays up to an hour. There really is only one way to get from here to Missoula and I’ll have to be prepared to wait.

I was going to cut out the lining for the Lou Raincoat yesterday but realized I hadn’t traced the lining pieces yet. I did that before I had to stop and make dinner. I’ll cut out the lining first thing this morning so it’s ready to go.

In the Thick of It

Summer is in full swing here. My schedule has eased up slightly, but I don’t dare relax too much, at least not until the bike tour is over.

I’ve had to make my peace with this year’s garden issues. I was cutting the grass around the perimeter yesterday when I spotted a ground squirrel sitting about 50' away, watching me. If I have the opportunity—or the husband does—it will get dealt with. I am not putting out any more cabbage seedlings until that happens.

The husband repaired the fencing and took some other steps to keep the deer out. She has a baby and she seems very persistent, but there is plenty of foliage for her to snack on outside the garden.

So no peas, no cucumbers, fewer beans, and not as many cabbages unless the second planting survives. Hopefully, the apple trees will be okay. We will have tomatoes, potatoes, raspberries, butternut squash, buttercup squash, zucchini, possibly Hubbard and Blue Kuri squash. I have made a list of things to change/add for next year, like netting over the strawberries. And I won’t be chairing the plant sale again, which should give me a lot more time to concentrate on my own garden.

We did get some showers overnight, which was wonderful. The longer-range forecasts have noted that depending on how far north the monsoon moisture makes it, we might continue to get rain through July. Every little bit helps.

I haven’t done any further work on the Lou Raincoat. The stuff going on behind the scenes is taking up time and brainpower and I am going to have to make some decisions here soon. This is probably the worst possible time of the year for a situation like this—in the middle of summer when I have a thousand other things happening and it’s hot and I am cranky—but I didn’t make the schedule.

I did play around with my serger the other day. Some of this is related to the behind-the-scenes project but the samples will also be useful for my Sew Expo serger class next year. This is a thin jute edging attached to some muslin using the cording foot.

Robert and Deana leave in a week. I can’t believe how fast their visit has gone. They are talking about being here for two months next summer, which would be wonderful! I am hoping some of our other friends can come out and visit, too.

If the blog is a bit light on content for the next couple of weeks, just know that it’s not for lack of wanting to post. I may not have anything noteworthy to say.

Montana is Beautiful in July

Yesterday morning, Elaine’s niece, Becca, came over to see the snakes in the garden. I told her that I was delighted that someone else appreciates the snakes as much as I do. She was brave enough to pick one up so we could visit with it up close.

She said I also have Pacific Chorus frogs in my garden. We looked for one where we were hearing it but could not find it. Good to know, though. I will keep an eye out.

That deer did far more damage in the garden than I first realized. It had pulled up about half the bean plants after nibbling off the tops. I replanted them and hope they will recover. The deer also ate about half the cabbage plants. Fortunately, I still have cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse, so I can replace them. I don’t know if the peas will survive, let alone produce anything.

This has been a tough year so far. The cucumbers gave up and died—I put them in and we promptly had a cold snap, and then it rained on them for five days straight. I think they decided it just wasn’t worth it. Of course, I am teaching a pickling class in August, so I will have to get Hutterite cukes.

The potatoes, all of the summer and winter squash, and the tomatoes are doing splendidly. We’re almost out of both sauce and salsa, so a good tomato crop is crucial. I don’t think that will be a problem.

We should also have a great raspberry crop. Every year is different, but I am a bit dismayed by how difficult gardening has been this year because of the animals. I think that replacing the fence on the south side of the garden is going to have to go on the infrastraucture list for next year. It’s not in good shape and that is the side where the deer was getting in.

******

Robert and Deana and I went out to the Glacier Symphony Orchestra’s America 250 concert last evening. It was held at Rebecca Farm, which is a large equestrian venue west of town. The evening could not have been more perfect. We arrived around 5:45, which gave us plenty of time to locate good seats on the lawn and avail ourselves of some food truck fare. We all had fish and chips from The Codfather. Delicious.

The performance was excellent. Some of the pieces were familiar to me but some were not. The concert lasted until 10:00 pm and believe it or not, it was just getting dark as we were leaving. I had hoped that we might see some northern lights as we drove home, but it wasn’t dark enough yet.

We are off to the parade and the community band concert this morning in Kalispell. I am hoping to do some sewing this afternoon, or at least cut out the lining for the Lou Raincoat. I have a big sewing-related project that needs to be done some time next week. It is the kind of project where I am going to need a couple of hours—or better yet, the entire day—of uninterrupted time. That project has a deadline and I also have to be getting ready for the bike tour our church is hosting, so I want to have it completed sooner rather than later.

More Baby Robins

I heard a noise on the porch outside my office yesterday afternoon so I went to investigate. I found Yet Another Baby Robin; this one must just have fallen out of the nest because it seemed a bit disoriented.

I kept an eye on it for a while. I did not hear Mama calling, which surprised me. The baby toddled over to the corner by the wall and sat down to wait. About an hour later, I heard Mama calling it and eventually, it flew off.

I thought we might be done with baby robins, but I spotted another adult sitting in a nest in the porch rafters—on eggs, I presume. I can’t remember robins nesting so late into the summer.

******

My one goal for yesterday was to cut out the Lou Raincoat. Cutting took me about an hour and a half. I wasn’t rushing, but I also had to be a bit careful because I can’t use pins on the dry oilskin or they will leave holes. Even if I had could have used pins, the fabric is thick enough that pins would not go in easily.

I spread out the yardage on the floor of our bedroom and laid down the pattern pieces. I used large clips to stabilize the pieces before I cut them, and added smaller clips to keep the cut pieces together.

It was slow going, but it worked. The pieces for the shell are all cut and stacked.

I cut judiciously, so all I have left is a small pile of scraps and a large one-yard remnant that I can use for another project.

Assembly cannot begin until I cut the lining pieces. I am trying to decide what to do about interfacing. The pattern instructions call for interfacing the outer shell pieces. I would have to use sew-in interfacing—fusible is not going to stick—although the dry oilskin certainly doesn’t need to be beefed up. I could interface the lining pieces. I will cut the lining pieces and make a decision. I don’t want the raincoat to be too stiff to wear comfortably.

******

All that rain made the grass grow, so yard duties are on the list for this morning. Robert and I are playing several piano-trombone duets for prelude at church on Sunday and I need to practice my parts this afternoon. If I have any time left, I’ll work on cutting out the raincoat lining.

Riddle Me This

While I was at Pacific Fabrics last week, I picked up a copy of this book:

Pati Palmer, one of the authors, is also the Palmer of the Palmter-Pletsch method of tissue fitting patterns. I am not a huge fan of that method, mostly because it seems nigh on impossible to tissue fit a pattern to one’s body without assistance. I am almost always working solo. But I do know people who swear by that system.

This book contains a wealth of information. I got a giggle out of a paragraph on page 7, where it says

We learned a lot by seeing so many sizes, shapes, and ages. We even saw size trends in various parts of the country. The average size was smaller in San Diego than in Chicago, for example. Lots of high hips in Cleveland. Who knows why?!

I know why.

In his trouser drafting book, Kenneth King notes that

There are figures where the fuller part of the hip is about 3 inches below the waist. I see this in women of eastern European ancestry.

Being one of those women from Cleveland with high hips and eastern European ancestry, I can tell you that the reason there are so many high hips in Cleveland is because it is such an ethnically-rich area full of women with eastern European ancestry. Solved it for you.

This book will be a nice addition to my fitting book library.

******

I was hoping to cut out the Lou Raincoat yesterday afternoon but I ran out of time. I did do a quick fit of the pattern pieces on the dry oilskin just to make sure I had enough fabric.

I will cut out the raincoat pieces today and begin working on it. This is one of those projects where the prep work easily takes as much time as the actual sewing.

******

My friend, Robert, who is here visiting for a month, is playing trombone in the Flathead Valley Community Band this weekend. Deana and I tagged along and sat in on rehearsal last night. The director is DD#1’s band director from high school and it was nice to see him again. When we arrived, he asked why I hadn’t brought my trombone and I told him I am retired. I haven’t played in about 15 years. However, I will go to my grave not being able to hear the Stars and Stripes played without singing along to the low brass part. 🫤

******

A very persistent deer somehow managed to find its way into the garden while I was gone and nibbled on the apple trees. The husband went out last night and restrung some wire along the top of the fence line. I am hoping that will keep it out. The trees should recover, but I get tired of all these animals thinking I plant this food for them.

Fabric Shopping in Washington and Oregon

I am back from my trip as a delegate to our church’s annual denominational meeting for our region. It included a surprising amount of fabric shopping.

I left Wednesday morning and powered through to Seattle, arriving around 3 pm. I was aware that there was a soccer game scheduled at noon. Pacific Fabrics is only a short distance from the stadium. DD#2 had suggested I avoid the area altogether, but I thought the game would be over by then and I could sneak in. Unfortunately, I was behind some idiot on I-90 who thought it was a good idea to STOP in the middle of the highway in an attempt to merge into a line of traffic heading south on I-5. I was worried someone would come around the curve and smash into my car, so I had to make a quick detour to a different exit, which put me right next to the stadium just as the game was letting out. 😩 That required me to take a slightly circuitous route to Pacific Fabrics, but I did get there, eventually, at about 3:20.

DD#2 said she’d probably be home by 4:30 and I said I had no doubt I could poke around Pacific Fabrics for an hour. I didn’t buy much, but I did score a two-yard remnant of some 100% linen in black and three yards of a print from Marcia Derse’s new line called Plaid. That will become a Vernon Shirt one of these days.

I had dinner with DD#2 and got to see her new apartment. I waited until the worst of rush hour was over, then headed down to Puyallup to my hotel, not far from the fairgrounds where Sew Expo is held. I spend so much time in Washington that I almost don’t need GPS any longer.

On Thursday morning, I popped over to Tacoma and picked up my friends Mike and Kathy, who came to the conference with me. Mike was scheduled to give a presentation on Saturday evening on his work with the Tacoma Refugee Choir. The three of us drove down I-5 to Albany, Oregon, and arrived around 11 am. We had lunch, then I left them at the hotel and went to the church for the pastor’s retreat. I am not a pastor—nor do I play one on TV—but a third of the congregations in our conference are lay-led or currently without a pastor, including our congregation, so representatives from those congregations were invited to the pastor retreat. I enjoyed the session even though I felt a bit like an odd duck.

After dinner on Thursday, we had a hymn sing. Mennonites will sing, in four parts, at the drop of a hat. I know this, but it still blows me away. And because I did not have to play the piano at all this weekend, I got to sing. What a rare treat.

I was up early on Friday morning with an hour to kill before we had to be at the church, so I went to the nearby Walmart Supercenter to see if they had a remnant rack. Did they ever! It was huge. I got some sweater knit for a Harper Cardigan—I know, it’s a bunch of weird colors but I like it—some black rayon/spandex because one can never have enough of that, and the turquoise-and-black knit, which I suspect is an ITY knit. (ITY = Interlock Twist Yarn.)

I ducked out of the Friday afternoon session so I could meet JC Briar in Albany. JC was the tech editor for my books and patterns and we don’t get to see each other very often. (We are going to try to fix that.) I met her at Brigitte’s Place, which is a phenomenal little fabric store specializing in apparel fabrics. Brigitte is a lovely woman who knows her stuff when it comes to fabric and sewing. I indulged myself and came out of there with some black fabric for a pair of Style Arc Linda Pants, some royal blue cotton eyelet fabric, a bit of cotton/spandex knit for a T-shirt, and a couple of yards of a cotton Japanese fabric in a gorgeous gingham print.

After we left Brigitte’s, we went a few doors down to The Quilt Loft. I did not buy anything there as I have plenty of quilting fabric. We did pet the resident dogs, however.

Wonder of wonders, Black Sheep Gathering was happening at the fairgrounds, so we went over to check out the market. BSG used to be held further south, in Eugene, and I actually taught there back in the early 2000s. We walked around the market and visited. I don’t spin anymore but it was fun to see all the beautiful fibers available for sale.

We ended our visit with dinner at The Barn, which is a collection of food trucks. It is a very clever setup and I saw a few other people from the conference there as well.

I spent all day Saturday in delegate sessions and seminars and Mike gave his presentation Saturday evening. We left Albany on Sunday morning and headed back to Tacoma. Oh, the traffic! We didn’t get back to Tacoma until 3 pm and I still had to drive to Spokane (four hours) to spend the night. Thank goodness it stays light until about 10 pm. And it was light again at 5 am, so I hit the road early Monday morning and was home before lunch.

Now it’s back to reality. July isn’t supposed to be nearly as busy as June was, but our church is hosting the bike tour at the end of the month and there will be a good bit of prep for that. I’m not trying to rush time, but I will be glad when September gets here.

We got a lot of rain over the weekend—East Glacier flooded yesterday and the hotels and campground had to be evacuated. I need to go look at the garden this morning to see how it looks.

Scout Tee Summer

I did some garden work yesterday morning because we had thunderstorms in the forecast after lunch. I cut the grass, then used the string trimmer to clean up around the edges. I enjoy the exercise. The snakes were out for a while so I talked to them, too. The plants are taking off now that they’ve had some heat and sunshine, although it is supposed to be cool and rainy this weekend. We’ll take as much rain as we can get for as long as we can get it.

After lunch—while it rained—I finished the latest Scout Tee. I think this will be the last one for a while. I have plenty of warm-weather woven tops in my closet now. This is not a color I wear often but I do like it.

I still had some time after finishing this top before I had to start dinner, so I traced off the narrow-leg version of the Free Range Slacks. Those are on the list for later this summer, probably in some Kona Crush.

The lining fabric for the Lou Raincoat arrived yesterday. It is the dark purple. The raspberry is the dry oilskin. I would have liked a punchy, bright print for the lining but I was having trouble sourcing a good lining even in a solid color. I saw this and went with it.

The raincoat will be the first project in the queue in July. I also have a couple of projects in the works behind the scenes. Hopefully, I will have some news about those by the beginning of August.

I wish I could get the AI-generated sewing slop to stop showing up in my Facebook feed. All it does is irritate me, and there is so much of it out there. Now it’s even coming in the form of videos. A post over the weekend showed a video with a young woman wearing a strapless dress/bustier-type costume. It was both anatomically (her body) and structurally (the bustier) inaccurate. I try to scroll past these posts or mark them as “not interested” but I still want to see the good sewing content.

How stupid humans can be sometimes.

A Road Trip to Oregon

Last week was very busy. I have two days to breathe and recoup before I head to Albany, Oregon via Tacoma on Wednesday. Robert and Deana are staying here. Our church’s regional denominational meeting is in Albany and I am a delegate. My friends, Mike and Kathy, who live in Tacoma, are coming with me. Mike is giving a presentation on the last evening of conference about his work with the Tacoma Refugee Choir.

I was going to make a stop at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle on my way to Tacoma, but there is a soccer match at noon that day. Pacific Fabrics is only a few blocks from the stadium, so DD#2 suggested I avoid that area. I am bummed about that but I am having dinner with JC Briar when I am in Albany and she suggested a visit to two local fabric stores there. JC was the tech editor for my knitting patterns and books and I don’t get to see her very much anymore, so dinner with her will be a treat.

I am also looking forward to a long drive in the car by myself. I haven’t had one for a couple of months and I always get a bit twitchy without a road trip to clear my head.

******

On Saturday morning, I was a guest of the Teakettle Quilt Guild in Columbia Falls, Montana. I gave the short version of my thread talk there. Such a welcoming group of people! I only knew a few of the members but they were all very gracious and attentive.

I did have some time yesterday afternoon to start making a Scout Tee from some of the fabric I bought in Spokane on Thursday. I am using a pale lavender chambray fabric. Purple is not usually a color I gravitate to, but this is very pretty. I just have to bind the neckline and hem it and it will be done.

Cali Fabrics just got in a shipment of deadstock fabrics and it included some black lightweight 100% wool fabric. I ordered enough to make a pair of Rose Pants for winter.

******

The husband continues to work on the deck at the rental house. I helped by staining some of the trim boards on Friday afternoon. I can’t do much but I can wield a paintbrush.

After the crew poured the concrete last Tuesday to fill in the holes in the bathroom floor, the guys from church got busy framing in the new bathroom and showers. It’s looking good:

When I get back from Oregon, I have to start thinking about the bike tour that our church is hosting at the end of July. I am in charge of food for that event. We will be feeding about 75 people for four days. The new bathroom needs to be operational for that event, but it doesn’t have to be painted or completely finished.

Interfacings, Where Art Thou?

I am in danger of making myself a Flintstones wardrobe—the same patterns over and over again—but I think that’s okay. That doesn’t seem to me to be much different than a capsule wardrobe. I made another rayon batik top, one that I absolutely love.

I got the fabric at A Clean Stitch in Missoula the last time I taught there. This will work nicely with a pair of navy blue pants (the Rose Pants!) or capris.

I am not going to start the Lou Raincoat until July as I have too much going on between now and July 4. I might knock out another Scout Tee from the purple chambray I bought in Spokane but that will be it. By the time I get the raincoat done, it will be time to think about cool-weather projects.

*****

When we were at The Pink Thread in Coeur d’Alene, I checked out their selection of interfacing and found one I hadn’t seen before, Pellon 281. It is not on my master list of Pellon products. Is it a new offering? The Pellon website has this description:

Pellon 281 Woven Stretch Fusible is a lightweight, woven, two-way stretch interfacing. It is sheer and silky, offering a luxurious hand and soft support in blouses, dresses, lightweight outerwear and lightweight suit fabrics. Woven Stretch Fusible fuses easily to hard-to-fuse fabrics such as rayon and acetate. Great for both lightweight and midweight fabrics.

I think it will be awesome for facings on these rayon batik tops. I had already fused interfacing to the top I just made, so I haven’t had a chance to try the Pellon 281 yet. I bought three yards. It’s only 20" wide.

While I was on the Pellon website, I ran across two other new-to-me interfacings. One is SF568. The description says:

Pellon® SF568 Lightweight Shape-Flex® is a lightweight woven, fusible interfacing and part of our popular regular Shape-Flex® interfacing line.  It provides lightweight, yet crisp support for collars, cuffs, yokes, pockets, facings, and other detail areas of a garment. It can also add body and permanent stability when used as a backing for needlework and punch embroidery. Lightweight Shape-Flex® is intended for light woven and knit fabrics.

I am excited about trying this one if I can ever find it. Shape-Flex 101 (SF101) is great for many projects, but it is too heavy for some things.

And the last one is Pellon 460, which sounds like it would be great for activewear:

Pellon® Stretch Fuse™ is a lightweight, multi-directional, stretchy fusible interfacing perfect for fabrics of all kinds. It provides soft and supple results, while maintaining body and shape!  The protective liner aids in the fusing process with stretch fabrics.

Unfortunately, an internet search for online retailers carrying either SF568 or Pellon 460 isn’t yielding much. I tried to order some of the SF568 from one of the online retailers and got an e-mail saying they didn’t have it in stock. I have an order in for the Pellon 460—the retailer’s website claims it is in stock, so I guess we will find out.

I sent an e-mail to Pellon customer service asking them what is going on with these two products. This is not the first time I have tried to order a Pellon product only to be told by the retailer that it isn’t in stock and/or they can’t get it. I wish these companies would stop teasing sewists with unicorns that don’t exist.

If I were in charge of Pellon, I would do the following:

• Simplify the naming system so it makes sense

• Make up comprehensive data sheets for each product like Vlisilene does (the European interfacing supplier) that show usage, temperature settings for fusing, etc., and offer them as downloads on the Pellon website.

• Figure out a way to educate consumers about the products, whether that is with updated YouTube tutorials, brand ambassadors, posted information in big box stores like Hobby Lobby, or something else. (I would sign up to be a brand ambassador! 🙋🏻‍♀️)

• Replace the ubiquitous nonwoven interfacings (ick) at all big-box retailers with the higher-quality specialty products.

Let’s hope that these three interfacings are new products and that Pellon is making a step in the right direction. I think they got lazy when they were able to sell their products through Joanns and now they have to up their game.

A Great Day for a Road Trip

An over-and-back trip to Spokane is very doable in the summer when it gets light at 5 am and doesn’t get dark until 10 pm. Deana and I left here at 6:30 am and pulled into The Other Janet’s driveway at 7 am. The three of us hit the road and made it to Spokane about 15 minutes before The Quilting Bee opened. The Other Janet checked her serger in to the service department and we were off again.

Coeur d’Alene, ID and Spokane, WA are only about 25 minutes apart, so we headed back toward CdA to visit a couple of stores there. Between the two cities is Post Falls, ID, which is home to Shabby Fabrics. You may have seen their YouTube channel. Last year, they opened a retail showroom in the front of their warehouse. They specialize in kits, but their showroom also has individual items for sale, and the merchandising is top-notch. The showroom is a fun place to wander around. I bought five half-yard cuts of 1930s reproduction fabric to add to the stash, because I want to make a 1930s-style quilt one of these days.

The Pink Thread opened last fall in CdA and carries garment fabric as well as quilting fabric. The Other Janet quilts small pieces but is more interested in making garments. I was pleased to see that the store had expanded its selection of garment fabrics. The Other Janet bought some white knit fabric for a T-shirt and I got two cuts of lightweight wovens for tops, as well as some Pellon interfacing that is destined for my Sew Expo 2027 interfacing class and a skirt pattern.

By then, it was time for lunch, so we went to a nearby Panera for sandwiches and salads. On our way back to Spokane, we stopped at Becky’s Sewing Center, which is the local Bernina dealer. I got two more cuts of woven fabric—Tilda chambray—for two more tops.

We got back to Spokane around 1 pm. I took the Jeep through the car wash and we popped over to Value Village to see if they had any machines or fabric. That was the store where I found a BabyLock serger for $13.99 a couple of years ago. They didn’t have any sergers, but I got three yards of a very nice black-and-white knit fabric for $3.99. It’s perfect for a Burda knit dress pattern I have in the stash.

While we were poking around Value Village, The Other Janet got a text that her machine was ready. We did a bit of shopping at The Quilting Bee, but I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without.

Getting home took longer than getting there. Summer road construction is in full swing and we got held up in a few places. We delivered The Other Janet to her house around 7:30 pm and took a quick peek at her sewing room. Deana and I were back here around 8 pm. It was a long day but a productive and fun one.

This was my haul—most of it, anyway.

I am staying home today to do paperwork and housework this morning and some sewing this afternoon. Tomorrow morning, I give the condensed version of my thread presentation to the Teakettle Quilt Guild in Columbia Falls.

Two Words

I wrote an e-mail yesterday that I had been hoping not to have to write, but it has been almost a month since the plant sale and I have yet to hear any word of acknowledgement or appreciation from the board of our local community organization for the work I did chairing the plant sale—the plant sale that raised $6000 for the organization. (The plant sale is that organization’s biggest fundraiser.) The AI summary of the June board meeting noted that the board voted to donate money to the local elementary school’s horticulture program in thanks for the plants that they always donate to our sale—an action which I support wholeheartedly—but there was no mention of thanking the person who started plants and raised them in her greenhouse or who coordinated all the moving parts before, during, and after the sale. I made sure that my thank-you notes to the volunteers who helped with the plant sale were in the mail within two weeks of the event. Susan, who is on the board, thanked me, but Susan thanks me for everything. ☺️

So I e-mailed the president of the board and noted that I had not yet heard from the board regarding the plant sale. I also noted that failing to thank people is how organizations lose volunteers. I received a prompt and thoughtful response from him in which he personally acknowledged my efforts and said he would bring the matter up with the board.

No one likes to be taken for granted. Our fire chief—the volunteer fire chief of an all-volunteer fire department—does a fantastic job of remembering to say thank-you to everyone who helps to keep our fire district humming along. I am one of the people who will take food to responders on a structure fire or car accident and invariably, within a day or two of the incident, I will get an e-mail from him thanking me for doing so. He knows that it is important for people to be seen.

And the thank-yous don’t require grand gestures. The husband is delighted when people thank him by bringing him food. Even just saying two words—”thank you”—goes a long way toward making people feel appreciated.

It makes me wonder why thanking people is such a huge burden. Is everyone just too busy? That shouldn’t be an excuse. I sometimes think of the comment that my church pianist mentor made to me one time. Catherine and I were talking about being church pianists and she said, “It’s hard work to make this look so easy.” Perhaps people assume that because we make it look easy, it must have been easy and thus not worth acknowledging.

I am not perfect. I am sure I have missed acknowledging people when I should have, but I do make an effort to say “thank you” when I can. If our fire chief can do it, so can I.

******

I made half a top yesterday. We may get thunderstorms on Saturday so I’ll try to finish it then. I may also make a couple pairs of Free Range Slacks before starting the raincoat. I have those two lengths of Kona Crush that would work nicely for that pattern. It is wonderful to be able to go to my closet to get dressed and be able to pull out clothing I’ve made and love to wear. Everything coordinates. Everything fits. It’s not falling apart in the wash. The colors are flattering and ones I love to wear. I love it.

Relaxing with Friends

I went to the dentist early yesterday morning. I only needed a cleaning, but I am going to have to have a crown put on another molar on the other side of my mouth. Our previous dentist—now retired—had been watching this molar for the past 10 years because it has a crack in it. It also has a filling that is now over 50 years old. She told me that I would know when it needed a crown because I would either have pain or hot/cold sensitivity or both. I’ve had very mild temperature sensitivity for the past month, so it’s time to deal with it.

While I was making my followup appointments, I commented that I wouldn’t really have time for the crown until August, and the receptionist said, “Is your summer busy?” I replied that it was nuts. She said, “I’m exhausted already,” and I said, “And it’s only June.” This is what happens here. We have to cram so much summer into three short months that we all feel like we’re going 200 mph every day.

On the way home, I stopped at the church to see how the bathroom renovation was progressing, which led to a conversation with one of the guys about concrete. The plumbing was done and they were ready to fill in those areas. When I got home, I texted the husband about plans for pouring. After some back-and-forth with another guy who is working on that project, the husband got a mixer truck scheduled to deliver concrete at noon. I decided to go back up to the church and watch the proceedings. The husband and crew were only about a mile away at another job, so he sent the crew over with wheelbarrows and tools. The mixer truck showed up at 11:58 and they had the holes filled in about an hour. (The husband had to stay at the other job.)

The concrete will be cured enough today that the guys from church can start framing in the new shower and bathroom area.

When I got back, I found Robert and Deana relaxing in the glider rockers in the herb garden. I went out and joined them for a while. By that time, all my Tuesday plans had gone out the window, so I simply sat and enjoyed visiting with them. I am glad they are making themselves at home, and I was happy for the excuse to slow down and breathe for a while.

******

I am meeting Dawn this morning to hand over her completed Burnside Bibs. (We will look like we’re making a drug deal in the feed store parking lot. 😂) When I get home, I am going to make one more summer top and then start on the Lou Raincoat.

I’ve been incubating some long-range plans for the last few weeks but another opportunity presented itself yesterday so now I have to factor that into the equation. I don’t want to overcommit to the point where I don’t have time to sew.

******

Yesterday was warm and windy, especially over in eastern Washington, and there are several wildfires burning already. One is actually within the Spokane city limits and I have a friend whose house is only a few miles away from that one. She is okay for now as the fire is moving away from her, but if the wind changes, she may have to evacuate. It could be a scary summer for some areas of the inland Northwest.

Apple Mysteries

Our friends from Tennessee arrived late yesterday afternoon. They unloaded their car and we all sat down to a dinner of Salisbury steak, potatoes, green beans, and pecan pie for dessert. I did not make the pie. One of my friends at church made it for the husband as a thank-you for doing the concrete cutting in the basement for the bathroom renovation project. The four of us sat and visited for a couple of hours. They will be here for a month, so we didn’t feel the need to do all of our catching-up at once.

I’ve mentioned that my friend Susan has grafted a number of apple trees for me. She likes to hunt down unique varieties, especially local ones, and if there are extras, I am happy to put them in my orchard. I ran across this article yesterday morning:

Apple Once Thought Extinct Discovered in Pullman by WSU Student

Pullman is Pullman, WA, and WSU is Washington State University. I should note that “extinct” is a loose definition—here, it means mostly that the apple variety disappeared from commercial production and common identification. Because apple trees don’t come with built-in signage advertising their identity, DNA testing is the best way to narrow down the variety.

I mentioned the article to Susan after church yesterday morning and she was very excited to know that Walbridge—the “extinct” variety—had been found and identified. (Apparently, there are also some Walbridge trees in Colorado.) I have no doubt that Walbridge trees will show up here as soon as she can get her hands on some scion wood for grafting. In the meantime, she is considering sending off a leaf for DNA testing for an unidentified apple tree that grows here in our little community. It produces apples that look like this:

She says it is very tasty, not a good keeper, but worth having anyway. Perhaps a good pie apple? I will be curious to find out if it can be identified.

I could easily become obsessed with apples. When my sister and I were growing up, our parents took us out to a place called Henrietta Hill that I think must have been in Henrietta Township in Lorain County, Ohio. (My mother can probably fill in the details.) There was a large orchard there and we would get apple cider to bring home. I am particular about my apple cider. The cider sold here is way too sweet. Most of it comes from Honeycrisp apples, which I also think are way too sweet. I want apples that taste like the ones I grew up with, tart and tangy. The closest I’ve come is the State Fair tree in our front yard, although I also have some smaller Macintosh and Cortland trees that I suspect will produce the kinds of apples I remember once they get large enough to set fruit.

I know what I like and I like what I know, LOL.

Our lone cherry tree was loaded with blossoms this year so I am wondering if we will finally get a decent cherry harvest. I believe that one is a Montmorency.

This is what you get when I have no sewing to share. Go eat an apple.

A Third Pair of Burnside Bibs

I have some favorite pattern companies and Sew House Seven is one of them. I’ve made at least half a dozen Toaster Sweaters, I love the Free Range Slacks, and this is the third pair of Burnside Bibs to come out of my sewing room. The bibs are not difficult but there are a lot of steps.

Everything has been planted in the garden. I hustled to get the last of the plants in yesterday morning because we had rain in the forecast after lunch. Interestingly, I have not seen any snakes recently.

The afternoon rain and storms were a good reason to stay inside and sew, and because I had cut out the bibs a few days ago, I was all ready to sit down at the machine. By the time the husband came home, I had completed the body of the pattern:

All that is left is to make the straps, ties, and belt loops—the bibs have ties that extend down from the shoulder straps and feed through loops on the back waistband—and attach those to the body with the bib facing. The design is very clever. One more afternoon sewing session should be enough to finish these and then I am going to start the Lou Raincoat. I have a busy week coming up but I should be able to eke out some sewing time.

*****

We were awakened just after midnight by the fire department pager going off for a motor vehicle accident up the road. The husband got dressed and headed out and I listened to the scanner traffic. Our road has a number of 90-degree turns along its length and the corner where the accident happened is well known for catching more than a few drivers. I believe the driver and occupant will be okay, but the CenturyLink box got taken out again—for about the 93rd time—because CenturyLink put it in the worst spot possible. We have Starlink (because we got tired of the CenturyLink outages) but the rental house has CenturyLink, so I need to pop over there this morning to see if the house has internet access. The rental house can access Starlink, but the signal isn’t very strong.

*****

Our friends are scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon unless things change. They are bringing lovely weather with them—mostly sunny skies and temps in the 70s for at least a week. We have all sorts of fun stuff planned. My friend Robert is going to join the Flathead Valley Community Band for their July 4th concert after the parade. The director is DD#1’s band director from high school who retired a few years after she graduated. I e-mailed him and asked him if it was okay for Robert to sit in and he said yes, so Robert will be joining the trombone section. We also have tickets for the Glacier Orchestra concert at Rebecca Farm on July 3rd. As much as I love the husband, he has no musical background or skills beyond playing the radio, so when Robert comes to visit, I get to indulge in endless discussions in my second language.

My New Favorite Pattern

The Rose Pants are finished and hemmed. I love them so much I dreamed about them last night. 😇

I need a few more pairs of these, both long and in culotte length. A pair of black wool ones would be amazing to wear to church in the winter.

I cut out Dawn’s Burnside Bibs yesterday afternoon and marked the pattern pieces. That project is all ready to go whenever I have time to sit down at the machine.

******

For my Seattle-area peeps and podcast listeners: I will be teaching at Quilting Mayhem in Snohomish, Washington, on September 3 and 4 (Thursday/Friday). They chose two sewing classes and two knitting classes. For class descriptions and to sign up, click on the following links:

Fit Without Fear
Pattern Hacking and Frankenpatterning
Knitting Skill Builder
Basics of Lace Knitting

Quilting Mayhem is a wonderful store. I first visited it last June when my friends Robert and Deana—who are coming to visit next week—and I were in Everett for a drum corps show. Deana sews and has a thriving machine embroidery business, so we visited all the fabric stores we could find around Seattle while Robert was working with the drum corps. Quilting Mayhem takes up an entire block in the adorable town of Snohomish:

They are a Bernina dealer and carry quilting cotton, apparel fabrics, and some yarn. I have since been back a couple of times. About a month ago, they posted a call for knitting teachers on their Facebook page. I sent off my teaching package with a list of my classes—both knitting and sewing—and waited to see if they were interested. I expected them to choose knitting classes but I am delighted that they chose a couple of sewing classes, too.

******

June has gotten way overscheduled—most of it in a good way—and my desk calendar is a rainbow of highlighter colors. The Other Janet and I (and, hopefully, Deana, if she wants to come with us) are going to make a quick over-and-back trip to Spokane next week. The Other Janet’s serger needs service and the shop that services that brand here in Kalispell has a waiting list. I suggested she talk to The Quilting Bee in Spokane about their one-day service. They used to service my Janome sewing machine and their service department is very good. (They have four techs on staff.) If we get the serger to them by 10 am when they open, they should have it done by 2-3 pm. And if it happens to be a good excuse for a road trip, so much the better. The Other Janet has never been to The Quilting Bee, heh heh heh.

Another Winner

I love that Costco opens at 9 am for Executive members. I would do all my shopping as early in the day as possible if I could. Before I left for town, though, I attached the waistband to the Rose Pants and inserted the elastic in the back. I can’t tell you how much I love these pants. They are definitely going into the tried-and-true pattern library. They fit well and were not difficult to make. This is the third Made by Rae pattern I’ve used and I have been very impressed with all of them.

I still have to sew down the front waistband and hem them.

The pleats do lie flat; these will get a good press once I am done with the sewing. I did not finish them when I got back from town because I decided to clean the rental house, instead. I stripped the beds and washed the sheets, cleaned the bathroom and washed the towels, vacuumed, mopped, and made sure that everything was in order. The washing machine hoses are no longer leaking. I made a list of a last-minute items to get when I’m in town tomorrow. Our friends are leaving Tennessee today to make the long drive out here.

Outside, it was blustery and rainy. We have one more day of rain today and then it looks like we’re in for a stretch of nice weather.

I am making another pair of Burnside Bibs for another one of the staff at the quilt store. Hers will be from the same fabric as Sammy’s, but in a slightly different color. I think I’ll start working on those today after I finish the Rose Pants. Once the bibs are done, I’ll make the Lou Raincoat from the Seamwork pattern.

******

The little chipmunk that has been running around the herb garden came up on the porch yesterday and was hiding under the mini-fridge where we keep eggs. It scooted out and stood in front of the fridge and squawked at me when I was walking back from the rental house. I find it hilarious that these animals think they own the place. I warned the husband to watch for it so it doesn’t sneak into the house when he opens the door.

A group of crows—or ravens, I can’t tell—found the ground squirrel carcass and were making quite a racket in the woods yesterday. That may be why the chipmunk was up on the porch. The crows were mostly yelling at the turkeys who were walking through their cafeteria.

And another group of robins is nesting in the porch rafters. Really, I don’t think we have quite enough baby robins flying around yet. 🙄

Thank goodness, there have been no bears. At least not ones I have seen.