October is Not a Sewing Month

It’s a good thing I am not being paid by production, because I’ve only sewn two items in October: a Toaster Sweater and the Geranium Dress. Both the husband and I feel like we’ve been running from one thing to the next to the next for the past several weeks—he is trying to get some big concrete jobs done before the snow flies and I have been buried under an avalanche of paperwork. The transition months always seem to be like this. April is usually a meat grinder and so is October. I wish I could say that things will slow down in November, but we’re going to be in the thick of the holiday schedule before too long. Hopefully, though, I should be able to sew more next month. I miss my machines.

Our insurance agent was able to find another company to underwrite coverage for the construction company. The cost of the policy has effectively doubled, but at least we have coverage.

I taught a class on Friday and one yesterday. I only had one student in each class, but I am reluctant to cancel classes because that causes more problems than it solves. My Friday student was someone I know fairly well and she and I had a good time. I had one student in yesterday’s Learn to Sew class. She was able to make several pillowcases during class time. Sammy and Ashlee were in Spokane this weekend; they set up a booth at the Washington State Quilters’s show (Spokane chapter). By all accounts, they have done well.

On my way home from class yesterday—after I went to Ulta and bought a new hair dryer—I stopped at Edie’s and dropped off the serger. I found out that she bought that serger new in 1995 and has used it extensively since then. I hope she gets many more years of use out of it.

We have church this morning and I am playing for a memorial service this afternoon. It is a cold, rainy day. I don’t think the high is supposed to be above 45F.

Quilted jackets still seem to be all the rage. The Bella Quilt Coat is a new release from byAnnie:

I like this style a lot so I will be getting this pattern. I bought some Kaffe Fassett fabric specifically for another quilted jacket and I think it will work nicely for this one.

Still a Patient

I haven’t returned Edie’s serger to her yet. I asked her if I could keep it for a few days to make sure that everything was working well. The cover over the tension disks comes off, so I removed it and vacuumed that area thoroughly with my mini hose attachments. I unthreaded and rethreaded the machine several times to make sure I understood the thread path. Unfortunately, the slider that threads the back of the lower looper is no longer reaching that area—for whatever reason—so in order to thread the back of the lower looper, I had to remove the throat plate. That’s not a huge problem, just an extra step.

During subsequent tests, I was still having an intermittent problem with the dropping left needle thread. I now suspect that the machine does need to have the timing adjusted, but Edie can use it even without having it fixed. The machine makes a three-thread wide stitch with just the left needle (top swatch). It makes a three-thread narrow stitch with just the right needle (middle swatch). Both of those stitches can be used for edge finishing and for construction. In fact, some sewists (sergists?) prefer three-thread stitches for construction because the seams are a bit less bulky without that fourth thread.

I can get it to make a four-thread stitch (bottom) with both needles installed, but it’s not reliable. It seems to be something about the interaction of both needles that is causing the problem.

I’ll return the machine to Edie this weekend and make sure to explain all of this.

*******

Yesterday was “tackle the punch list” day. October has been an insanely busy month with lots of moving parts. We sold my FIL’s house, the kids bought a house, I’ve been teaching quite a bit, and the husband has been working long days trying to get some big concrete jobs done before the snow flies. I teach today and tomorrow and am playing for a memorial service on Sunday afternoon. I could not shoehorn anything else into the schedule and I needed yesterday to deal with all the tasks that still hadn’t been crossed off the list. A couple of them have deadlines early next week.

[The day started off with a bang, literally. I was drying my hair in the downstairs bathroom when all of a sudden I heard a very loud pop and saw sparks flying out of the outlet. The power had gone out in the bathroom. I went and got the husband, who checked the panel and saw that the breaker had tripped. He asked me how old the hair dryer was. I told him I think I got it when the girls were in elementary school, and they are 33 and 28. He said it’s time to buy a new one.]

I completed all but two of the items on yesterday’s list, and they can be done this morning before class. Oh, and I have to stop somewhere after teaching today and buy a new hair dryer.

Serger Hospital

A few weeks ago, my friend Edie asked me if I would look at her serger. She had taken it to a local service place but they hadn’t gotten around to fixing it (after more than a year). She retrieved it from them and brought it to me.

[Edie is Elaine’s cousin. A few days ago, I got a text from Edie’s niece asking me if I could teach her how to bind a quilt. Margaret (their aunt/great-aunt)—will be happy to know that the quilt she wants to bind is the yellow baby quilt from reunion. Amanda finished it. All of them belong to one of the families that founded our church. I laugh because I have more members of that family in my phone contacts than I do my own family. 🤪]

Anyway . . . I had to order another foot pedal for it because the original had gone missing at the repair shop. Fortunately, electronic foot pedals are cheap and plentiful. I have a whole box of them, but of course, I did not have one with the correct plug end. I ordered a replacement and it arrived yesterday. The husband was working late on a big concrete pour, so after dinner, I sat down to tinker with the serger.

I’m not sure if Edie took the machine in for service or if something was wrong with it. Nor do I know how she came into possession of it. (I should do a better job of getting information from my customers, LOL.) The machine is a Pfaff Hobbylock 788:

For all that I love my modern serger with all the bells and whistles, I have a soft spot for these vintage models—with the exception of the White Speedylock. That machine was designed by Satan himself. I suspect that the White Speedylock is the reason that sergers got a reputation for being difficult machines. I have one—given to me by someone who abandoned it in frustration—and I refuse to pass it along to anyone else because it is so awful to thread. And that’s coming from someone who can thread sergers in her sleep.

My plan of attack:

1. Find a copy of the manual. These are all over the internet.

2. Determine if the machine works at all. The loopers were still threaded, so I left them alone. I rethreaded the needles and checked to see if the machine would make a chain. It did, sort of. It wasn’t picking up the left needle thread. In 99% of cases, when a serger isn’t picking up a needle thread, it’s because the needle isn’t seated properly. In the other 1% of cases, it’s because the machine needs to be re-timed. I fervently hoped that 1% was not the reason the machine wasn’t picking up the needle thread because re-timing a serger is above my pay grade. I have re-timed sewing machines, but a serger is a different beast altogether.

3. Change the needles. This machine uses common household sewing machine needles, so I swapped out the existing needles for a couple of new 80/12 universals. I will say that the needle bar design on this machine leaves a bit to be desired. It took me a couple of attempts to get the needles in correctly.

4. Test again. This time, when I stepped on the pedal, the machine growled a bit, which reminded me that it probably needed oil. I checked the manual for the oiling instructions and oiled generously.

5. While rethreading the needles, I noticed that it was a bit tricky to get the left needle thread seated properly in the tension disks. I need to make Edie aware of that when I return the machine because that could be contributing to the problem. However, I was able to get the machine to make a chain with all four threads. Yay me.

6. Test on a piece of fabric and refine the tension settings. The machine makes a lovely stitch:

I still want to go over the rest of it and test a few more settings and stitches, but I think this machine has many more years of life left in it.

Yawn

The National Weather Service has lost all credibility with me. I live in Montana. It snows here. Every system that comes through is not bringing the end of the world with it. From now on, I think I’ll just look out the window to see what the weather is doing.

Get off my lawn, LOL.

DD#1 and DSIL put in an offer on a house in Washington state and their offer was accepted over a competing one. We are all thrilled with the house they found. It’s on acreage and has a fenced garden, greenhouse, and chicken coop. The price was excellent.

I taught the Free Range Slacks class yesterday to three students. I was very happy with how it went. Sometimes I suffer from impostor syndrome—who am I to be teaching garment classes when I’ve never been formally trained?—but everyone went home with a muslin that fit. I always encourage students to try on my class samples, and I try to have samples in several sizes. That helps me to identify fitting issues ahead of time and gives the students a ballpark idea of what size to make. One student needed no alterations, but the other two had to shorten the rise on their patterns. I showed them how to do that.

This is one of my students tracing her pattern:

The store is closed now on Mondays, but the Monday classes that were already on the calendar are proceeding as scheduled. After next month, the store will be closed on Mondays and we won’t schedule classes on those days. While I was teaching, the owner took advantage of the peace and quiet to rearrange the displays and get some other work done on the floor.

This is a very full week. I am scheduled to teach two more classes, on Friday and Saturday, and have to organize supplies and handouts for those. I also have to prepare music for a memorial service on Sunday afternoon. We lost two elderly members of our congregation over the past few weeks. Both ladies were in their 90s and had lived long, full lives, but we still mourn their passing.

I am home today and I have a very long to-do list. Tomorrow, I have several appointments in town. I still need to put the buttonholes in the Geranium Dress but that may be the extent of my sewing this week. I also need to find some food for the spider. It re-spun its web the other night so I stood there and watched it for a while. That was fascinating.

Too Much Hype?

The National Weather Service appears to have changed how it issues some of its forecasts and warnings. Last winter, it seemed that we had several Armageddon scenarios that ended up being nothing more than typical winter storms. (Hello, this is Montana.) I’ve been watching the winter storm warnings ratchet up in severity over the past several days and I think the NWS continues to cry wolf. And you know what will happen? People are going to stop listening. One warning stated that there will be heavy snow with accumulations up to 1" (laughable) and that travel is not advised. You know what constitutes “heavy snow” in our neighborhood? Accumulations of two or three feet.

Right now, it’s 4:38 am and the temperature is 38F. It is raining. The temperature could drop and the precip could change over to snow. We’ll see. I am more concerned about the back-door cold front that is supposed to arrive this evening with gusty northeast winds. Those kinds of weather systems always bring problems for us in the form of downed trees and power lines.

No, I would not try to drive up Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass today, but I probably wouldn’t try to do that at this time of year anyway. I don’t need an advisory to suggest that I don’t. The husband says that he thinks these warnings are for people that just moved here from places that don’t get snow. Personally, I think the warnings are useless and should be saved for events that are out of the ordinary.

/sermon

******

I pulled tomato plants and stacked tomato cages Friday morning. Yesterday, the husband and I laid out the rest of the billboard tarps and black plastic. All of the growing areas are covered. If I can reserve a spot on his schedule in the spring and get him to level some areas with the track loader, gardening next year should be easier.

Yesterday afternoon, I finished—except for making the buttonholes—the Geranium Dress in the long-sleeved, collared version. I started this Friday afternoon:

The bodice is lined. That was, by far, the hardest part of making this because the sleeves were attached and had to be rolled up between the neckline and shoulder of the body and lining—a la burrito method. Were I to do it again, I might consider changing the bodice lining to a facing. Otherwise, it was a quick sew, taking approximately one day. The fabric is a lovely flannel from Riley Blake. The dress needs a good steaming.

I also went through my pattern stash and pulled this one to trace:

I am still on a quest to find a good dress pattern. I chose this one because I like raglans—I made four Toaster Sweaters, after all—and because this is a raglan with bust darts. I don’t have a raglan pattern with bust darts. I traced View A but in the longer length of View B. Above-the-knee-length dresses look funny on me. Something about the proportions is wrong. I also lowered the bust darts a bit. I think I am going to muslin this as a top, first, to see if it fits well before I make a dress out of it.

Theory is great, but actually altering and making a pattern is how I learn best. I haven’t given up on the dress pattern I worked on over the summer; I still need to make a muslin of the last pattern iteration. (I need to get more sheets from the thrift store.) This might seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it to me to be able to have clothing that fits well.

Winter on the Way

Back in the spring, when Joann Fabrics was going out of business, I loaded up on apparel fabrics. I managed to score three yards of a black rayon cable sweater knit—the same fabric I already had purchased in burgundy, navy blue, and light blue. (Hot pink, where art thou?) Those first three fabrics were made into Toaster Sweaters and I wore the heck out of them last winter. That cabled sweater knit ranks as one of the nicest fabrics ever purchased from Joanns. It wears like iron. I hadn’t ever seen it in black, which makes me think I ran across a bolt that had been unearthed in a warehouse and sent to Missoula for the liquidation.

In any case, a black turtleneck will be a great addition to the wardrobe, although I am trying not to overload my closet with black. (Hot pink . . . ) I pulled out that fabric the other day and made Yet Another Toaster Sweater. I also pulled out a length of black and gray abstract print ponte, which will become some Linda pants that will coordinate nicely with it.

No photo, because it’s a simple black turtleneck sweater.

I have other sweater knits in brighter colors. Some of those may become Toaster Sweaters, too.

Yesterday, I cut out a Geranium Dress in pink printed flannel. I am using the expansion pack to make one with long sleeves and a collar, like the one on the right:

This will be a store sample. I made the original Geranium dress as a store sample over the summer using some Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric. This second version should go together quickly.

******

My Squash Squad block is coming along nicely. The pattern specified a couching stitch around the perimeter of the squash, but I couldn’t find a combination of yarn and thread that I liked. I’ve got a ton of bits and bobs that I inherited from my mother and my MIL, so I poked around in the stash until I found some baby rick rack and used that. I love the effect:

When I get tired of working on this, I’ll switch to embroidering the chicken.

******

We are going to get weather whiplash here this weekend. It is supposed to be 71 and sunny today. I have to get out to the garden and finish cleaning up. Tomorrow, we will only be in the 50s and it is supposed to start raining later in the day. On Sunday and Monday, we are under a winter storm watch, which could include snow in the valleys. That might be hype, although the meteorologist who did the NWS Missoula weather briefing on YouTube yesterday said that every time they run the forecast models, it gets worse. And even if it doesn’t snow in the valley, our elevation is high enough that we might get some. This will be the week that everyone panics and tries to get their snow tires on their cars.

The barn spider is still hanging out in the kitchen. We have had an influx of flies—and big ones—so when I whack one with the flyswatter, I pick it up with a long pair of tweezers and deposit it in the web. I feel like I am Uber Eats for the spider. The husband has taken to calling me Morticia Addams. Perhaps I should make myself a long black dress and put on some goth makeup.

Squash and Urban Chickens

My college friend, Audra, who lives in Colorado, sent me this note after reading yesterday’s blog post:

The "glass balls and rubber balls" concept originates from a 1991 Georgia Tech commencement speech by former Coca-Cola CEO Brian Dyson, who described life as juggling five balls: work, family, health, friends, and spirit. The idea is that work is a rubber ball—it bounces back if dropped—while the other four are glass balls, which can be irreparably damaged if they fall. The analogy encourages prioritizing the glass balls (family, health, friends, spirit) to maintain balance and avoid long-term consequences, as dropping them can lead to lasting harm, whereas dropping the rubber ball (work) is less impactful.  

Thank you, Audra. I appreciate knowing the origin of that analogy.

*****

I spent yesterday cleaning and organizing the sewing room. I didn’t do a complete teardown, but I did file all the loose pieces of fabric into their respective containers, cut leftover chunks of quilt cotton into squares and strips—now the scrap bags are really overflowing—and rearranged storage bins so that the winter fabrics are within easy reach. I “shopped my stash” for upcoming projects. I have some very nice fabrics in my stash and it’s time to get them out and use them.

Once everything was cleaned up, I got out my embroidery supplies and prepped a new Squash Squad block and a new Urban Chickens block:

On the left is #4 of 9 in the Sue Spargo Squash Squad series. I am averaging one squash per winter so I should probably speed it up a bit. I’m not following the directions slavishly; I embroider until I think it’s done. The block on the right is the “Sylvia” Urban Chicken. (This pattern doesn’t seem to be available any longer.) I’ve already done the “Charm” chicken block. The pattern also has nine blocks.

I prep these blocks by adhering bits of wool felt to a piece of Steam-A-Seam, cutting the pieces, then fusing the pieces to the base. The fuse is temporary, so I have to whipstitch around each piece with a matching thread color. Once that’s done, I can start embellishing.

The husband and I sit every night after dinner and watch YouTube videos, so this gives my hands something to do.

*****

Sunday morning, before I left Spokane, I stopped at the Walmart in Spokane Valley. That store—and Missoula—have the only two decent remnant racks left, and even that isn’t saying much. Still, I went to look. As I was standing there, looking through the fabric, a mom and her young son walked through the fabric department. They were discussing his Halloween costume. I heard her say, rather wistfully, “I wish Mommy knew how to sew.” I almost went over and said something to her but I try very hard not to accost strangers in stores because I don’t want to be that person. I taught myself how to sew (mostly) by making my kids’ Halloween costumes. That bar is pretty low, so it’s a good place to start.

What a stupid society we were to take home ec and shop class out of the curriculum. I am glad to see those classes are coming back.

Letting the Rubber Balls Bounce

We finally got a hard freeze. I need to get out to the garden this week and clean up the tomato patch. I thought I might do it on Saturday, but it looks like rain that day. Nothing is worse than working in the garden in a cold rain. I need to pull out the vines, stack them, and stack the tomato cages.

I read something yesterday—I wish I could find it again so I could give credit—about juggling balls. The author said her garden fended for itself this year because she was trying to keep too many balls in the air. She decided to drop the balls that could bounce and concentrate on juggling the balls that would shatter if they fell. I thought that was a great analogy. The world will not come to an end if the garden has to fend for itself for a season.

I don’t have a podcast episode today. I still sound a bit like a rusty gate, and between getting the tomatoes out of the freezer and making them into sauce, taking a trip to Ritzville, picking up pork orders, and teaching yesterday, something had to give. The podcast was a ball that could bounce last week, so I let it.

******

I took the Suzy Furrer book with me to Spokane and spent some time looking through it. I am very glad to have it in my patternmaking library. The book is comprehensive and laid out in a logical manner. As I told Ashlee, though, it’s not really a beginner book. The information makes sense to me because I’ve made slopers before and numbers and math don’t scare me. I’d like to try some of the pattern drafts this winter.

A friend of mine asked me to look at her serger to see if I could get it up and running. It’s a 90s-era Pfaff. I had to find a foot pedal for it, which I did, so I am going to tinker with it this week. I suspect it just needs a good cleaning and oiling. I’d like to get it operational for her because I know she will use it if it runs well.

******

Yesterday’s machine mastery class was a bit challenging. Customers who purchase a machine have a year to take the mastery class every month, so I never know who is going to show up, with what machine, or where that person is in her sewing journey. Some women came with machines they bought last week. Others brought machines they have owned for a few months but are scared to use. My goal is to get everyone comfortable enough by the end of class that they go home and use their machines.

While I was at the store, Marianne asked if I would teach a class using the Accuquilt cutter. Accuquilt offers a lot of free patterns on their website, so I’ve been looking through them to find one that would make a good class. I really like this one, using the Enigma Star die:

I could use my vast stash of Kona to make up the sample. 😇 Or maybe even some Tim Holtz. Or Grunge. The possibilities are endless.

Today, though, I am going to clean and reorganize the sewing space. I need to pull out and stack patterns and fabric for upcoming projects. I also need to prep some embroidery projects so I have things to work on in the evening.

This Year's Mennonite Country Auction

Many years ago, when I was not even a teenager, our family took a day trip to Amish country in Ohio. We somehow ended up at Lehman’s Hardware on the same day that Mennonite Central Committee was holding its relief sale. All I remember from that day were the clotheslines strung with beautiful quilts, but it is a sight that has stayed with me. And because life is funny that way, now I belong to a Mennonite church and I help out at the relief sale in Ritzville, WA.

I headed over to Spokane on Friday morning. Tourist season is (mostly) over and traffic was light. I met a friend of mine at Pink Thread Fabric in Couer d’Alene, Idaho. This is a new store and both of us wanted to check it out. The store is small, with only one line of quilting fabric, but they had quite a bit of apparel fabric. I bought two yards of a very pretty hot pink rayon Swiss dot-type fabric. I want to support fledgling businesses, especially ones carrying apparel fabric. I hope the owner is able to make a go of it.

After that, I headed to the Quilting Bee in Spokane, where I did not buy fabric. I am trying to put a moratorium on fabric purchases. I need to sew up the stash, first. It is not a bad thing that Joanns is out of business and Walmart has eliminated most of its remnant racks. I did buy some machine embroidery supplies and bag hardware.

On Saturday, I drove out to Menno Mennonite church, which literally sits in the middle of acres of potato fields. Two of the members of our church own a processing company here in Kalispell that makes products under the label Redneck Sausage. (If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, many of the grocery stores like Super 1 and Albertson’s carry it.) They bring ham, bacon, and a special apple German sausage to sell at the sale to help raise money. I run one of the cash registers. People start lining up around 8:30 to be able to buy from us as well as the cheese people whose booth is right next to us. It’s very hectic for about an hour but it is great fun.

After lunch—sausage on a stick and some New Year’s cookies—I went into the tent for the auction portion of the day.

The big attraction is the quilts, of course. In between selling the quilts, the auctioneers also auction off other items. My family will be interested to know that one poppyseed kolache sold for $1800. (That is not a typo.)

Sadly, the sale is dwindling in size. I am hearing rumors that it may not continue after another couple of years. The organizers are getting older and no one is stepping up to take their place. Hand-quilted quilts are getting hard to come by, so most are machine quilted. Many of the quilts in this year’s sale were quilted in Ohio or Pennsylvania and sent out for this sale. I donated a quilt, but it got there too late to make it into this year’s sale so they will keep it for next year’s sale. I will try to donate a few more. The quilts that were in the sale were lovely:

I was back on the road to Spokane by 3 pm. Margaret and Elaine, you were remembered fondly and we wished you could have been there with us.

On Sunday, I drove back to Kalispell via the alternate route, through north Idaho, and stopped at the processor to pick up part of our pork order to deliver to customers. I was home by 3 pm. The processor is still working on the smoked items and they will drive them down here next week so we can deliver the hams and bacon. I will be glad to have that done.

I’m teaching a machine mastery class today. The quilt store is going to be closed on Mondays from now through the spring, but the Monday classes that were already scheduled in October and November will be held as usual. I think it is a good thing for the owner and the staff to have a day off. They have been working very hard. And I should have some time to sew this week. The binding I ordered from Sailrite came over the weekend, so I’ll finish that Retro Sling Bag and see what new projects float to the top of the queue.

Sauce Week is Over

I ended up with a grand total of 42 jars of tomato sauce—plenty for this year. I still have some bags of tomatoes in another freezer, so when things ease up a bit, I may make salsa.

I have gotten in the habit of checking on my pet spider when I come downstairs in the morning. Yesterday, I looked up at the web above the sink and it was empty. Oh, no! Where is my spider? I walked around the kitchen and found it above the cabinet where it had been originally. When the husband came down for breakfast, I was going to show him, but when I pointed to that spot, the spider wasn’t there. Oh, no! Where is my spider? I found it again on the other side of the kitchen door, above the hall tree. It had made a web there. That’s a good spot for it. I think it’s already snacked on some flies.

******

Ashlee ordered a book and asked me to evaluate carrying it in the store:

I haven’t done a deep dive yet, but on the surface, this looks like it’s right up my alley. This is a drafting-style manual so everything is based on math—think slopers and beyond. The author is no lightweight, either. She’s is a professional clothing designer and has done Craftsy classes.

Would this appeal to other customers in the store? I’m not sure. My sense, from my own students, is that they would prefer not to have to draft from scratch. I do have one potential quibble and it’s admittedly a very subjective one: I am always suspicious of thin clothing designers who don’t appear to have any fitting issues. It’s one thing to write patternmaking guides for “perfect” bodies; it’s another thing to write patternmaking guides for women in the real world. But I need to look more deeply into the information presented here—and test the instructions on myself—before I make that judgment.

******

No sewing got done this week. Honestly, I am not sure how much sewing will get done this month. This is not unusual for October. Between canning and traveling and getting things buttoned up before the snow flies, sewing sometimes takes a back seat. I am teaching three classes in the next 10 days, too. I’ll do what I can and let the rest go until November.

We got a letter last month that the company that underwrites the husband’s liability insurance is not going to continue in that market, so our agent has been searching for another carrier. I’m beginning to wonder how any construction is going to happen in the next couple of years because it is getting so difficult to find coverage. We’re down to two potential carriers and waiting to hear if one or the other will cover us—and how much it’s going to cost us.

I’ve been watching quite a few YouTube videos on the Washington Policy Center’s website about what’s going on in that state. I have two kids living there, after all. Washington state is not only killing the golden goose, its legislature is slaughtering it in dramatic fashion. It’s a cautionary tale about allowing people with zero economic literacy to make financial decisions. Washington’s business and occupation tax is based on gross receipts, not net revenue. Imagine a business pulling in 1.5 million a year with $500,000 in net revenue. (I’m spitballing numbers here.) They would be taxed on the 1.5 million, not $500,000. Is it any wonder that small businesses are fleeing the state in droves?

And according to the WPC, the state legislature took the pandemic stimulus money and baked it into the budget going forward rather than treating it as one-time, non-budgeted income. That’s just irresponsible management.

The minimum wage in Seattle is set to go up. Beginning on January 1, 2026, all employers in Seattle must pay a minimum wage of $21.30, regardless of business size, and cannot count tips or medical benefit payments toward minimum compensation. How many people do you know who are willing to spend $95 on a simple lunch for two people? (That number is not made up—I eat out in Seattle every time I’m there and am always prepared for a bit of sticker shock.)

If we ran our construction company the way some of these states run themselves, we’d be out of business in short order. I just shake my head.

What Came in the Mail

Today’s post is a long one. I didn’t think I had anything to say, and then I started typing . . .

I was the first customer at the tire place when it opened yesterday morning. They got the Jeep in right away and I was out of there in just under an hour. That business still has the “small town Montana” feel that we’re losing—their internet was down so they had no way to process credit cards. I didn’t have the checkbook or enough cash with me. They sent me on my way and said, “We’ll call you later to get your credit card number.”

I came home, dropped off the tires, then headed back to do a Costco run and get chicken feed. I was in the Costco parking lot when I got a text from the tire place saying their internet was back up but their phones weren’t and would I please call them with my credit card number. I did, and now that bit of winter prep is off the list.

Our new Costco is supposed to open in late November. This is the third Costco—hopefully the last?—since we moved to Montana. The problem with the current Costco isn’t the size of the store; it’s the size of the parking lot. The new Costco will be located about a mile north of the existing one.

I hit up the case sale at one of the local grocery stores. The store holds this sale every September and every March. I stock up on things like brown sugar, rice, canned pineapple, and evaporated milk. The store honors the case sale price on single cans of items, so even if you don’t need 12 cans of enchilada sauce, it’s still a good time to buy.

I also dropped off the quilt to go to Ritzville and stopped by the quilt store, where I bought a backing for the Kaffe quilt. I got a tone-on-tone print in acid green that matches several of the same shades in the front of the quilt. The front is such a riot of color that I thought the back needed to be plain and quiet.

All in all, a very productive day.

******

Two packages came in the mail Monday. The first was from Cali Fabrics. I’ve bought some beautiful deadstock fabrics from them in the past and I am on their e-mail list. For a few years now, I’ve had it in my head to make a simple long, lined coat using a herringbone fabric—I can see in my head exactly what I want, which is a rare—but I could not find the right fabric. A few weeks ago, Cali Fabrics’ weekly e-mail blast featured some wool herringbone deadstock they had just received. I saw the photo and thought, “That’s the fabric!” They had it in navy and black. I bought the black, but I am showing the navy because it’s easier to see the herringbone pattern:

It’s even more stunning in person. I’m going to have the length of fabric dry cleaned before I use it, just to factor in any possible shrinkage.

I also received my wholesale order from Wonderfil:

We sewists almost have too many choices, but some of the choices fly under the radar. Isacord is probably the most popular quilting/embroidery thread available. It is in every store I visit. Floriani may be the second most popular. Wonderfil makes a thread called Polyfast, for machine embroidery, but I have never seen it in stores. (Wonderfil is a Canadian company, so Canadian stores probably carry it.) I bought some to try on the 700 PRO. I also got a spool of the new variegated Softloc wooly polyester. I know Ashlee ordered this at Bernina University, but it hasn’t arrived yet. Softloc makes great rolled hem edges on linen napkins and I think the variegated will be very pretty. And lastly, I got some Fabulux. Fabulux is a trilobal polyester thread—just like Isacord and Floriani—but the difference is that it’s a three-ply thread, not a two-ply. You may wonder why that matters. A three-ply thread is rounder in cross-section, and that makes it sit up off the surface of the fabric. Fabulux is one of the six threads featured in my thread class, and everyone who tries it loves it. I used it to quilt my BU jacket.

[I could go on and on about the technical details of thread construction, but most of you probably don’t care.]

I also bought a sample pack of Wonderfil’s new stabilizers.

Wonderfil is going head-to-head with OESD in this area; Ashlee and I attended a presentation at BU by Andrew, the owner of Wonderfil, on these products. I am curious to see how they compare.

I have a lot of “studying” to do. Today, though, it’s back to the tomato trenches for another batch (or two) of sauce. If you read this far (Beth H and Sarah, LOL), thank you!

Sauce Production

I put 28 gallon bags of tomatoes into the freezer in September. Yesterday morning, I emptied 14 of the bags into big pots on the stove and cooked tomatoes down into sauce. Charlie kept me company while I worked. The husband said the spider needed a name. I said that Charlotte was the obvious choice, but I didn’t want to call a male spider Charlotte. Charlie is gender-neutral enough that it works either way, so Charlie it is.

[I am aware that the spider doesn’t care.]

I did paperwork and tidied up while the tomatoes cooked. Just after lunch, I ran them through the food mill and began filling jars. I had enough sauce for about 17 jars, but the canner only holds 14. The rest of the sauce will get mixed in with the next batch.

It feels good to get that done, at least partly. I need to get the rest of the sauce made this week. I’m going to Ritzville, Washington this weekend to help with the Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale and I plan to stop at the processor on the way back to pick up part of the pork order. The freezer has to be empty.

I’m meeting a friend of mine in Coeur d’Alene on the way to Ritzville. We are going to check out a new fabric store there called Pink Thread. They carry apparel fabric. The big quilt store in Spokane—the Quilting Bee—has also expanded its selection of apparel fabric. I suspected this might happen after Joanns went out of business. While I miss Joanns, I also know that the quality of apparel fabric carried by independent stores is going to be much higher than what Joanns had. (Now, if they will just carry something other than muddy earth tones . . . )

I found a photo of Kaffe and me on the store’s social media page. I think Ashlee was sneaking around taking pictures during class. Kaffe and I were shopping for the fabric to use in the 5" blocks:

Kaffe and Brandon wore shirts made from their fabrics every day. I am wearing my top made from a wideback cotton sateen in the Millefiore print. I have that same print in a lovely grass green.

Snow tires are going on this morning. The tire place doesn’t do appointments, but if you call, they put you on a list and then it’s first come, first served. I don’t usually have to wait more than an hour or two. I take a book and my knitting. The people who wait until the first snow to switch over their tires are the ones who have issues, because then everyone panics.

The husband’s concrete pour went well yesterday. He says he doesn’t feel that bad and thinks I had a worse time of it. Thankfully, whatever I had didn’t last long. I felt much better even by yesterday morning.

I don’t think there is going to be much sewing this week. I do need to organize my embroidery and English paper piecing projects, though, so I have things to work on in the evening.

The mail brought two boxes of goodies yesterday. I’ll show you in tomorrow’s blog post. One box contained thread and one box contained fabric. 🧐

Down for the Weekend

I ended up with more days of respite than I intended because I was felled by a virus Thursday evening. I woke up Friday feeling pretty punky and had to skip helping out at the craft co-op sale. I spent most of Saturday lying around doing nothing. If you know me at all, you know that “doing nothing” is almost the worst kind of torture imaginable.

And now the husband has it. He will power through because he has a big concrete pour scheduled for today. I will make sure to have a pot of soup waiting for him when he gets home.

I managed to finish my Kaffe quilt top before I started feeling really awful. I am so happy with it.

The next time I am at the store, I will get a backing for it so I can baste and quilt it.

Yesterday afternoon, while watching the coverage of the awful event at the LDS church in Michigan, I started putting together another scrap quilt. My bag of white, beige, and gray scraps is overflowing, so I decided to make a Sunday Morning quilt from the book Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkinson:

I have lost count of the number of scrap quilts I’ve made from this book. The total has to be well over a dozen. Sunday Morning, Candy Coated, and Scrapper’s Delight are my three favorite designs and the ones I make most often.

It did not escape me that I went from retina-burning yellows to calm neutrals. That may have been my subconscious looking for a safe harbor. I’ll probably set these aside until the next time I need some mindless sewing.

This week is going to be devoted to tomatoes. I have to get them out of the freezer before the pork shows up. I also need to get the snow tires put on the Jeep. As predicted, the weather pattern is changing and it looks like we will finally have a frost. I’m going to be traveling over mountain passes in October and I don’t want to wait for the rush to get the tires changed.

******

The spider that has been living above the cabinet in the kitchen moved to a spot over the sink. I am not opposed to it being there—our ceilings are 8' high, so neither of us is likely to walk into the web—but it anchored its web on the towel bar so I’ve had to put a towel in a different spot. Sarah, I tried to get a photo of it but I can’t get one that is in focus. I did determine that it is a barn spider.

The husband laughs because I talk to it while I am cooking. I also expressed concern that it wasn’t getting enough to eat and suggested that we leave the door open so bugs could fly in. We’ll see how long it stays in its present location.

A Moment of Calm

I’ve about reached my limit of social interaction this week. I think I am going to lay low today. I plan to help at the craft co-op sale tomorrow and Saturday and that will involve more people-ing. I don’t have anything in the sale because I haven’t been in production mode this year, but I enjoy being there.

I was home for a bit yesterday morning, so I nudged the sling bag project along to the point where I am about to sew the three main pieces together. I probably will sew the first two pieces together today, but I am waiting on binding to arrive from Sailrite. I can’t sew everything together until I get the binding because the seams have to be bound in a specific sequence. I am a bit surprised at how quickly the bag came together, although this is not my first bag rodeo.

The center of the Economy Block quilt from Tuesday’s class is in its final form:

I put the 11" and 8" blocks back together the same way I had done them in class—thank goodness for phone cameras—then played around with the 5" center squares. The quilt really wanted those pops of black. I ran back to the store in the middle of the afternoon to get a few more pieces of fabric so I could fussy-cut the remaining 5" blocks. I could have gone softer and less dramatic, but I love the contrast. Putting this together might be today’s project.

Matchy-matchy quilts have never been my thing—I adore scrappy—but this one pushed the envelope. Will I make another? Perhaps. I certainly learned a lot from Kaffe and Brandon about how color and fabrics play together.

While I was at the store yesterday, I was seduced by this fabric (Ammonite), designed by Phillip Jacobs. He is the third member of the Kaffe Fassett Collective, along with Kaffe and Brandon.

I bought enough to make another quilted jacket. Hot pink has always been a signature color for me and this fabric is even more spectacular in person. I won’t piece this; I’ll simply quilt the yardage together with a lining fabric, then cut out the pieces and assemble it the same way I did my BU jacket. Sometimes the fabric needs to be the star of the show.

Brandon asked me on Tuesday about my area of sewing, because I think he believed I was mostly a garment sewist. (Half a dozen pieces I made were hanging in the store.) I laughed and said I dabbled in everything. Back in my knitting days, I was very focused on stitches and texture. That was fine for that time in my life, but now I want to try it all.

*******

I need to sort potatoes today, too. That will be a good project for this afternoon when I can sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine. It looks like today will be our last warmish day; temps are dropping into the 60s and 70s from here on out. We did get down to about 32F the other morning, but I haven’t gone out to the garden to see how the tomatoes are doing.

Anna came over last night and got a few squash. I showed her what I was planning to use and told her the rest was up for grabs.

I love this cooler weather for cooking, too. I make a lot of soups and stews during the colder months. A nice batch of curried butternut squash soup sounds delicious.

The Kaffe Fassett Event

Kaffe Fassett had his first knitting pattern published in Vogue Knitting in 1986. At the time, I was a junior in college, happily knitting my way through All Sweaters in Every Gauge and Great Knitting in Vogue, the only two knitting books I owned. I made sweaters for many of my friends; in fact, one of them recently shared a photo of hers on Facebook. She has kept it for all these years. Kaffe entered the scene during those years and nothing in the knitting world has ever been the same since. And now he quilts.

If you had told me back in 1986 that some 40 years later, I would be in a quilt class taught by Kaffe Fassett—in Montana—I doubt I would have believed you, for lots of reasons. And yet here I am, because life is funny that way.

On Monday afternoon, I went to Flathead High School and helped to set up for the Kaffe lecture. The store put up a pop-up shop in the commons area outside the auditorium, so we unpacked boxes of quilts for display and bolts of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric to sell. I wore one of my Kaffe wideback tops. Marianne told us later that they had cut and sold 307 yards of fabric before and after the lecture.

And then, the big event:

(We were asked not to take photos during the actual lecture.)

Brandon Mably, who has worked with Kaffe since 1990, came out and got the audience warmed up. He and Ashlee handed out door prizes. And then Kaffe came out and walked us through the most fascinating story about learning to knit and learning to quilt. He took questions from the audience afterward. Both he and Brandon are very engaging and entertaining.

Yesterday morning, I packed up my sewing supplies and headed to the store. Twenty lucky women—including me—had been able to get into one of the two classes. I chose the Economy Quilt class. The Economy quilt block is an old block pattern.

When I arrived, Brandon asked what fabrics I had brought, which weren’t many. First, I wasn’t entirely sure what kinds of fabrics to pull. Second, my stash is a bit light on the kinds of fabrics we ended up using—big, bright florals. Brandon assigned Kaffe to go shopping with me in the store. Kaffe asked me what color I wanted to use and I said, without hesitation, “Yellow.” I love yellow and I can’t wear it because I look like death warmed over.

I think Kaffe took that as a challenge. We went through the store and he picked out about 14 bolts of fabric—both conventional prints and batiks—in yellows as well as yellows leaning to both green and orange. I had stripes. I had prints. I had a huge variety of fabrics and I had no idea what to do with them. He told me to get half a yard of each.

The store had put up individual flannel design walls for each student. We were instructed to cut 11" blocks from our fabrics and arrange them in checkerboard fashion, alternating lights and darks. I happened to be stationed closest to the door from the classroom into the store, so the store staff kept coming in and suggesting other fabrics to add. I joked that we were designing my quilt by committee. Brandon and Kaffe walked around and made comments and suggestions, some of which were conflicting. 🤪

By lunchtime, I had this:

We put 8" squares on point on top of the 11" squares, then put a 5" square in the center. I should mention that I had the only yellow quilt in the bunch. Everyone else stuck to blues, earth tones, or pinks and reds.

We were not allowed in the classroom during lunch. The day was beautiful, so we sat outside in the parking lot. At the end of lunch, Kaffe and Brandon walked around and looked at each quilt and conferred with each other before they allowed us back into the classroom.

Those 5" squares were the ones giving me trouble. Kaffe wanted those blocks to be florals. Ashlee suggested some graphic prints, some of which I liked. Kaffe wanted some pops of black florals. Brandon disagreed with him. I know what I want, which will go into the final design, LOL.

I added another column of blocks, and then we went shopping for border fabrics. I love love love the border fabrics for my quilt.

At that point in the class, everyone was being so generous and sharing fabrics. We were fussy cutting bold prints and that gets costly after a while. Some of the extra black florals that I had cut for my quilt ended up in other people’s designs, and I took a few contributions from my tablemates. During the conversation, it turned out that the husband had done concrete work for the lady sitting next to me. Life in a small town.

At the end of class, Kaffe walked around the room and stopped at each design board to critique each quilt. (This is a bad photo because I was getting so much backlighting.)

His comments were so helpful. I am excited to finish this quilt. It is so beyond anything I have ever done before.

I was invited to dinner with the store staff and Brandon and Kaffe. We sat outside and enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by Ashlee’s husband and talked for two hours about fabric and teaching and life in general.

Kaffe and Brandon are teaching another class today—a diamond quilt pattern—before heading off to Utah for their next commitment. I told the husband that I think these last few days were the high point of 2025 for me. We owe Marianne and Ashlee so many thanks for making this event happen.

And 20 year-old Janet would be very surprised to find out where she ended up in 2025. 😊

Squash, Spuds, and Apples

I’m posting today because I may not have time to get posts up this week. Yesterday, while the husband was working in the morning, I brought in the squash:

This is the wagon from my John Deere tractor. The golf cart has a hitch on the back so I can pull the wagon with it because the golf cart is easier to maneuver around the garden than the tractor. As I was coming back to the house with this haul, however, the golf cart started malfunctioning. I was barely able to get it back over to the garage. When the husband got home, he looked at it and said it needs a new choke cable. Being the wizard that he is, he was able to rig it to work again, at least for the rest of the afternoon.

The squash are now curing in the garage. Anna, our neighbor, asked for the Georgia Roasters for her catering business. She may also take some of the butternut squash. Those were the Burpee’s Butterbush that were supposed to ripen in 75 days—eh. I may go back to Waltham. The Red Kuri are a variety that Sarah likes, which did well. I am trying the buttercup this year although I am also underwhelmed with that one. Hopefully, they taste good. I got three lovely Winter Luxury pumpkins that will be perfect for pie filling.

After lunch, we went out to the garden and pulled up the black plastic where the squash had been. That was where the potatoes were last year and we had quite a few volunteer plants come up through some of the holes. (Someone doesn’t like to dig potatoes and tends to leave a few behind.) I had to relocate a confused little garter snake. We dug all of that bonus crop and put the black plastic back in place for the winter. That part of the garden cleanup is done.

We moved over to the main potato bed and started digging that one. This was a good potato year:

There are a lot of Red Pontiacs on the bottom because we dug those first. Some of these potatoes are huge. One would make a meal for the two of us. We’ll let them dry out for a few days and then I’ll sort them into burlap bags to go into the root cellar. The bucket is full of fingerlings that were another bonus crop from a volunteer elsewhere in the garden. (Elysian, I think that’s your bucket—send WS over for it some time.)

I need to cut a few cabbages and then we’ll pull a billboard tarp over that half of the garden. The only plants left are the tomatoes. I won’t pull out that patch until after a killing frost, in case anyone else still wants some.

I also cleaned off the two Honeycrisp trees. Such beautiful apples with very little insect damage. Honeycrisps aren’t my favorite variety—too sweet for me—but I ate one just because it looked so good. It was tasty.

I’m calling an end to the 2025 growing season. I’m also glad we got most of it done yesterday because rain is in the forecast for today. Some dirt work still needs to happen with the track loader, but that may be better done in the spring.

Tomorrow is the Kaffe Fassett lecture! I dug out my Glorious Knits book to have him autograph. I know he’s here to do a quilt workshop, but I’ve had that book since I was in college and I’d like him to sign that one.

Friday Afternoon at the Show

I went to the Flathead Quilters’ Guild show yesterday afternoon. So inspiring! So many quilts, so many ideas, so much visiting. I ran into Karla, Barb, Dawn, Arlene, Carol B, Carol E, Genia, Jenny, Ashlee, Marianne, Sammie, and probably a few other people I’m forgetting.

Becky, who works at the store and went to Bernina University with us, had this beautiful quilt in the show:

The pattern is Halo by Jen Kingwell. The quilt was so calm and peaceful. (Sorry about the lighting—we were in the very hot and stuffy Expo Building at the fairgrounds.) Becky has a wonderful eye for color and has helped me in the past with choosing fabrics for class samples.

Marianne did a presentation at 1 pm on rulers for cutting and how she uses them with striped fabrics to create interesting patterns. She showed us one of the the new Glow Rulers from Carolina Moore and a collective gasp went up from the audience.

These are rulers with internal lights that can be recharged using a USB-C cord. Wonderful for older eyes! Marianne said they sell out as soon as they store gets a new shipment.

After I got home and did chicken chores, I worked on the Sling Bag a bit. The back of the bag is complete and I have almost finished making the strap:

I had to move over to the Juki. I am so glad I have that machine, beast that it is.

I don’t think there will be any sewing happening for the foreseeable future. We are cleaning up the garden this weekend and next week is Kaffe Fassett’s visit to the store as well as the co-op sale. I told the husband he’ll probably be eating frozen pizzas for dinner. I have to order grosgrain binding from Sailrite for the inside of the sling bag, so I wouldn’t be able to finish it even if I had time to sew.

Hanging Out in Bagland

I finally settled on a sewing project. I can’t seem to get out of Bagland, so I have decided to make the Kandou Patterns Retro Sling Bag. This one has been on my list for a while. I’ve watched the OklaRoots YT video about five times already.

I’m making mine out of a rich red waxed canvas with a black bonded nylon lining. I have not seen bonded nylon used for a lining anywhere, but I think it will work well. Hardware will be antique gold.

Yesterday, I cut out all the pieces:

And I got as far as making the zipper opening on the back piece:

(Yes, my work area is kind of messy.)

I will sew as much as I can using the industrial Necchi, then switch to the Juki 1541. The Necchi does a good job sewing waxed canvas but it doesn’t like bulky seams. This waxed canvas is from Sailrite. I like it a lot. Sailrite has really upped its game over the past year and is carrying a wider range of tools and materials. They also have a YouTube channel with some really good tutorials.

I made another embroidery project incorporating some of Marianne’s suggestions, with definite improvements. I also subscribed to OESD’s YouTube channel. They have some good videos explaining the use of many of their stabilizers. I’m still experimenting with needle types and sizes. And the Bernina embroidery book has been helpful. I just have to remember that I cannot become an expert overnight. (Part of my brain is saying, “Why not?”)

Garment sewing has been postponed until the weather changes—which it looks like it will, soon—but I did copy and alter my StyleArc Linda pants pattern into a pair of wide-leg culottes or gauchos or whatever they are calling them these days. I have been taking a good look at my closet and what I’ve been wearing and I feel like those would be useful for the fall and winter.

********

Garden cleanup has to happen this weekend. We may get a frost Monday morning, and all the regional forecasters are predicting the arrival of a strong storm system at the end of September. Next week’s schedule is jam packed, so I want to get as much done now as possible. The husband is working Saturday morning but has promised to help me dig potatoes in the afternoon. Once the garden is put to bed and the canning is done, I can sew with abandon. Yay, winter!

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Part of what makes learning a new skill so frustrating is that sometimes, the information given is either incomplete or inaccurate. And if you don’t know what questions to ask—because why would you? you’re new to this—you bob along thinking that you’ve been told what you need to know.

[I once took a class at a quilt store (not local to me) where the instructor specified “needles” on the supply list. The class was a hand embroidery class. There are probably half a dozen different kinds of hand embroidery needles—sharps, milliners, chenille, etc.—in different sizes. I asked an employee at the store which needles I should get and she said, “The teacher will tell you in class.” The teacher did not, in fact, tell us in class. And why put that on a supply list to get ahead of class if you’re going to tell students in class? Given the choice, I would rather provide a kit of needed supplies to students when I teach. That cuts down frustration for everyone.]

I got an embroidery machine and everything I’ve seen—from the documentation to online projects—indicated that I should use an embroidery needle. The machine came with embroidery needles. The first two projects I did specified to use an embroidery needle. (Do you see where I am going with this?) I dutifully used an embroidery needle, but I wasn’t happy with the sounds I was hearing from the machine. I probably have keener ears than most when it comes to machines. I know when my machine needs oil, needs a new needle, or is about to run out of bobbin thread. What I was hearing sounded like a dull needle punching fabric.

Embroidery needles have a slightly rounded point, although it is not as rounded as a ball point or jersey needle. That makes sense, because a lot of embroidery is done on knit fabrics. Some of the stabilizers are also non-woven substrates. However, I was not embroidering on knit fabrics. I was embroidering on quilting cotton. Out of curiosity, I changed to a Microtex needle, which has a very sharp point. Hmmm. The stitch quality was better and the dull punching sound went away.

I taught a class yesterday, so while I was at the store, I asked Marianne for some advice. She had lots of it, most of which I have not yet heard. And some of it conflicted with what I have been hearing and seeing online, but she does beautiful machine embroidery. I am inclined to follow her lead. She said that yes, sometimes she uses Microtex needles. Have I seen Microtex needles recommended for embroidery? No, I have not.

[I even saw an embroidery needle recommended in an online tutorial for embroidering on waxed canvas. That makes zero sense to me—that seems to be the perfect place to use a Microtex needle.]

I came home with this:

Bernina puts out several of these books on various topics. They are comprehensive guides containing a ton of information. I like that much of the information is presented in table form, which saves me from having to hunt though several paragraphs to find what I need.

I may be in a position, eventually, to have to teach this stuff in class. The machine settings are easy—I can figure out how to edit designs, use pinpoint placement, etc. What is harder to get a handle on is the information that comes with experience, such as what stabilizers or combination of stabilizers will give the best result. I don’t mind practicing, but having a place to start is helpful.

Writing documentation, patterns, and guides is not easy. The person doing the writing often assumes or takes for granted a certain level of knowledge or expertise. As Jean Lampe. my TKGA mentor, used to tell me, “Try writing directions, without using any illustrations or photos, on how to tie your shoes.” I don’t allows follow my own rules—someone asked me in a beginning serger class what a looper was and I realized that I was guilty, in that moment, of using terminology without defining it—but as much as I can, I try to put myself in the shoes of someone encountering a new skill for the first time. I ask a lot of questions at the beginning of my classes because I need to know where students are in their journeys.

/sermon

*******

We are T-minus five days until Kaffe Fassett’s lecture on Monday evening. My Kaffe tops are ready. Sammie, one of the store staff, made Kaffe fabric hair scrunchies for all of us. (My hair is long enough to put in a ponytail, albeit a small one.) I will be helping with the setup for the lecture. Can you tell I am excited? 🤩🤩🤩

Too Much Excitement For One Afternoon

Yesterday was interesting. After Mike and Kathy left, I headed to town to run errands. About halfway there, however, I had this niggling feeling that I should turn around and go home.

I do not ever ignore my gut instinct about something. I may not have an explanation for why it’s happening, but I’ve learned to pay attention. I circled around and went home.

I was working on some sewing projects and stopped to check Facebook around 2 pm. Someone further up our road had just posted on the Kalispell 411 group that the cops were chasing someone and had deployed spike strips in front of her house. (I did not know the exact location.) A few minutes later, three sheriff’s deputies sped past our house.

Five minutes after that, one of our neighbors texted me and asked me if I knew what was happening because the helicopter was circling over our houses. I told him what I knew. A few minutes later, he called and said that he had found out that the cops had surrounded a house about a mile south of us and closed the road. The helicopter was still circling.

He and I started calling around to make sure everyone knew something was happening and to stay inside. We have a solid communication network in our neighborhood because of wildfire risk. I was listening to the police channel on the scanner. It got a bit tense because we were hearing that someone was on the loose and another neighbor came home to find a door open. That turned out not to be the problem—the suspect was still barricaded in the house. The police brought the SWAT vehicles out. The husband had to come home from work the long way around because the road was still closed.

We finally heard, around 6 pm, that the suspect had been taken into custody. Apparently, it was someone from elsewhere in Montana who had violated probation and panicked when the cops tried to stop him for a traffic violation.

Whew. I am not sure why I felt like I needed to be home while all of this was happening, but I am glad I was there.

*******

I sewed, but not on anything that required great focus. I made another star patch:

I still don’t have my color selection and placement quite right. I am using scraps and perhaps need to be more thoughtful about my choices instead of grabbing what is handy. I am learning more about the machine, though.

I also finished one of my Kaffe tops that needed hemming. I want to wear it next week.

I’m still at loose ends about the next big sewing project, which tells me I need to wait for things to settle down a bit. These are the times when I focus on finishing and organizing.