The Quilt Top Takes a Bath

The Churn Dash top is assembled and has had a bath. I soaked it in Retro Clean for a few hours, then followed up with a wash on the delicate cycle using Retro Wash. I hung it to dry rather than tumbling it in the dryer. It looks (and smells) much better. Here it is just after I sewed on the last border:

When a quilt gets to a certain size, it’s too heavy to stay up the design wall, so I photographed it on the floor. It will finish at about 75” x 75”, which is a nice size.

I’m happy with it. I am happy that it will soon become a quilt instead of a collection of abandoned blocks. I’m happy that this part is done and I can cross it off the list. I need to find a backing for it.

I also basted the comforters that Pat made from my bin of 5” blocks:

These will be tied on Saturday at our comforter-tying party. If you’re in Kalispell, you are welcome to join us at the Mennonite Church in Creston from 2-5 pm. We will meet in the fellowship hall with dinner afterward (baked potato bar). All you need to know is how to tie a simple knot.

I had the brilliant idea to baste these using the basting function on my Q20, but it didn’t work as well as I thought it would. I did one comforter that way, then pin basted the rest of them. I can pin baste as quickly as I could wrangle these through the machine. We’re using polyester batting and I don’t quilt with that, so I wasn’t used to how much it slides around. It’s also a bit like quilting air.

My YouTube playlist this week has been filled with videos of free motion quilting, mostly swirl quilting patterns. I’ve gone back and watched the Angela Walters ones—which are excellent—but I’ve also become a fan of Adria Good’s longarm quilting videos. They aren’t so much teaching videos as they are videos of her working on quilts, with the most wonderful background piano music. I’ve learned a few things along the way, too, one of which is that I should not be so critical of my own quilting. It’s better than a lot of what I’ve seen out there.

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The husband found a truck at the Dodge dealer in Tacoma, Washington and put a deposit on it to hold it. This one has everything he needs on it, including racks and toolboxes. It’s a standard cab, which wasn’t his preference, but at this point, it’s the best option. He was mostly using the backseat of the gray truck for extra storage anyway, although it was handy when he needed to transport our employees around.

Presidents’ Day threw a wrench into the works as the banks and insurance offices were closed. I have our banker’s cell phone number, though, and he told me to use it when needed. (One of the advantages of living in a small town.) I texted him yesterday and made an appointment for 9 am this morning. I have no idea how long it is going to take for this mess to work its way through the insurance companies and the various lawyers, so we need to arrange for a loan for the new truck. Our banker will make that happen ASAP. As soon as the paperwork is in place, the husband will fly over to Seattle, DD#2 will pick him up, and he’ll go get the truck.

We didn’t take the brunt of the winter storm—that seems to have hit further north Sunday night—but we’ve had heavy wind gusts all day yesterday and overnight. It’s also very cold. The wind is supposed to die down this morning. There are few things I hate more than wind. I don’t like these storms. They really set my teeth on edge.

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Barring any other emergencies, the rest of my week is clear except for a massage appointment on Wednesday afternoon. I used to have a fabulous massage therapist here who did craniosacral therapy; an hour with her made me feel like I got hit by a truck, but it was worth it to have my body put back together properly. Unfortunately, she moved to Colorado. The massage therapist I had at Christmas, when we had our girls’ spa day, is almost as good. My back has been bothering me ever since I stayed at that Airbnb in Spokane, and while I could go to the chiropractor, a massage is more appealing. I wouldn’t have waited so long, but this was the first open appointment.

We’ll see what I can get done this week. I am trying to stick to one project and see it through to completion, so I’ll probably finish quilting the red Candy Coated quilt.