Teaching, Teaching Everywhere

Robin and I went to Missoula yesterday. The roads were bare and dry, the weather was clear, and each of us had a list of things we wanted to get.

We started at the store where I bought my Janome 3000 coverstitch machine. I don’t know all the details, but I am pretty sure that the current owners bought/took over the Bernina and Janome dealerships from the woman who had them previously at a store located near Joann Fabrics. That store went out of business last May and this one popped up shortly after. The last time I was there, I saw that this store had the entire line of Amanda Murphy rulers. Our quilt store in Kalispell also carries them but has a smaller selection.

I bought a few more sets to round out my collection:

While I was paying for my purchase, Robin made an offhand comment to me about teaching rulerwork. The store owner, who was ringing up my purchases, got very excited. “Do you teach?” she asked. “We’re looking for people to teach classes here—any kind of classes. What do you teach?” I told her that I am currently teaching serger classes in Kalispell and she invited me to send them some proposals.

The universe has such a sense of humor.

We made our way to the other side of town to Joann Fabrics. I was curious to see if the Missoula store was in dire straits, too. It does not appear to be. This is a well-stocked and well-staffed store with regular operating hours. The spring fabrics are starting to arrive, including the spring knits. I looked at the selection of those and then spotted a large rack of fabric that needed further investigation.

This Joanns had about 20 bolts of a rayon/poly/spandex sweatshirt fleece, definitely a new fabric for our stores. How exciting! UNFORTUNATELY, ALL THE COLORS WERE MUDDY EARTH TONES. YES, I AM YELLING. There were bolts of sage green, mustard yellow, brown, taupe, etc., none of which look good on me. Where is the royal blue? Emerald green? Hot pink?

In the end, I bought two yards of a deep purple. Purple is not a favorite color of mine, but it was the closest I could get to something wearable. I will make a hoodie out of this fabric to see what I think.

By then, it was lunchtime. We drove downtown and scored a parking spot right in front of a small BBQ restaurant, so that’s where we ate. After lunch, we walked down the block to The Confident Stitch.

I really want to like this store, but it’s so hard. The selection is wonderful. They carry both quilting fabrics and garment fabrics. I’ve ordered from them online and been there in person. The atmosphere inside the store is just weird, though. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s not an enjoyable place to shop. I did get some Robert Kaufman Essex Linen because they had it in colors I need for a project and this saves me from having to order it online.

We headed back to Kalispell mid-afternoon with a stop—of course—at the Amish store in St. Ignatius. I had a cup of coconut ice cream. Robin had Mountain Berry. I also scored a half-gallon of Wilcoxson’s Peppermint Stick ice cream there. Wilcoxson’s is a Montana company (Bozeman, I think) and I am a bit addicted to Peppermint Stick ice cream with hot fudge sauce on it. Unfortunately, that flavor is a seasonal offering and our grocery store is out.

I was back home just before 5 pm. We had a good day and I scratched my road trip itch temporarily. The Diva is running just fine despite all the dash lights, so I am fairly confident it will get me to Spokane.

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In other news, I cracked the serger problem—it was, indeed, an issue with that microfiber terrycloth. I switched to rounds cut from the washcloths I bought at the Dollar Store and they work just fine.

I’ll bust out about 50 or 60 of these in odd moments here and there in the next week and send them off. Robin also asked for a couple to try.