A Few Minor Churn Dash Block Problems

I did not get as far on the Churn Dash top yesterday as I had hoped. I made a run into town in the morning for a few supplies because we are now under a winter storm warning for the next two days. This looks like it may be one of those back door cold fronts with strong east winds off the mountains. I am hoping we don’t lose any trees, although we don’t have as many to lose since that big storm two years ago brought down the ones in our woods. In any case, I’m planning to stay put for a few days.

I’ve had to take apart and re-sew a couple of the Churn Dash blocks. This is one of the drawbacks of quilt block swaps. They usually include one or two participants who think they can eyeball a quarter-inch seam instead of using a quarter-inch foot or seam guide. I’ve run into two blocks so far that were 9-1/8” instead of 9-1/2”, and that’s too big a discrepancy to hide in the seam. Fortunately, the Churn Dash is not a complicated block. I only have to take out a few seams in each block and re-sew them. That slows down the process of putting the top together, though.

I am also going to have to wash this top once I get the outer border on, but before I baste and quilt it. A couple of the blocks came from a home where someone was a smoker. The smell isn’t quite as strong now that they’ve been airing on the design wall, but it’s noticeable. I suspect a quick wash might also brighten up some of the dinginess.

While I sew, I am thinking about how I want to quilt this one. I have this Amanda Murphy free motion quilting book which has lots of great ideas organized by specific quilt block designs, including Churn Dash:

The actual quilting is a ways down the road yet, though.

I ordered this tool a few days ago:

My favorite apron—the one I am copying for myself—is one layer of fabric with a 1” wide binding on the top and sides. The side bindings extend to form the ties. I need to make miles of this kind of binding, and the thought of cutting 4” wide strips, folding them in half and pressing, then folding the edges into the middle and pressing again was daunting. I was on the Sailrite website ordering polyester binding for the Cordura generator cover, so I threw this into the cart, too. It came yesterday and should speed up the process of making binding.

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The husband has three different dealers looking for a truck for him. He thought he had found one in Colorado Springs—which would have been great as his dad lives there and he could go visit him and pick up the truck—but when he called the dealer, it had already been sold. Part of the problem is supply chain issues. Part of the problem is that he needs a very specific kind of truck. Not all dealers sell cab-and-chassis trucks, because the dealer has to be able to service them in order to sell them. He would like one with a flatbed already on it. He also needs one with the max tow package. The dealer in Colorado has another truck in stock that ticks all the boxes, but it’s a standard cab and he would prefer an extended cab. If that’s the only one available, though, that may be the one he gets. He could order one built to his specs, but it will be 4-6 months before he gets it, and we’re heading into another busy construction season.

He spent yesterday sorting through and organizing all the stuff we took off the gray truck. That truck is currently at the tow company’s impound lot, but he is making arrangements with them to get it back so he can take the usable parts off of it.

We have really appreciated the notes and calls of concern from friends and neighbors. Our community is wonderful.