I Live in Several Places

My friend Elaine told me one time that I should open a post office box in Spokane because I spend so much time there. I am beginning to feel that way about Seattle. I’m about to take my third trip to Seattle in two months and I’ll be going back at Thanksgiving. After that, the weather likely will keep me home until the end of February when I teach at Sew Expo in Puyallup.

The drive is a pleasant one, unless it’s snowing over Snoqualmie Pass. I also have a child waiting for me at the other end. I won’t see her on this visit, though, because she’s traveling, too. I think itchy feet run in the family, at least on my side. The husband calls me a migratory bird.

I feel like I have packed up half my sewing studio. The 880 has a bigger suitcase than I do. (That machine came with its own rolling tote.) I’m also taking the Juki 654 serger, which fits into a rolling milk crate. The Bernina serger doesn’t leave the house and the Juki will work nicely for simple seam finishing. The wool/cashmere fabric and lining fabric for the coat are packed along with five yards of pant-weight muslin for the trouser class. I stopped in at the blueprint shop on Monday and had them print and bind a copy of Kenneth King’s trouser book. The hardest part of getting ready was collecting all of the little tools I use every day and don’t always think about because they are right at hand—pins, needles, clips, scissors, marking tools, measuring tape, tweezers (to thread the serger), thread, specialty presser feet, etc. I also packed my EPP project. I won’t make that mistake twice.

I am taking my portable recording equipment because I think I might record next week’s podcast episode from the road. I’ll have some time in the evenings and early mornings to do recaps of class time while they are fresh in my mind. The class is full, and I am eager to meet the other students.

Speaking of the podcast, I don’t get an overwhelming amount of feedback, but I get some. The listeners who comment almost always remark that my speaking voice is very calm and soothing. I think that people get tired of the screeching and yelling that characterizes a lot of social media—”LOOK AT ME!!!”—and appreciate calmer presentations with no distractions. I know that I won’t listen to a podcast for long if the host sounds like he or she just downed a couple of energy drinks. Some podcast hosts even set their playback speeds to 1.25 or 1.5 (deliberately), and listening to them is like drinking from a firehose. Not everything needs to be consumed at warp speed.

The I Spy quilt is all bound and ready to go. I just need to finish the baby quilt and then I can send both of them off to Ohio. I am now sewing down binding on a small Christmas quilt, which could also be used as a table topper. I wanted to try a new-to-me block, so I pulled some scraps and made nine blocks and added sashing and a border. The top has been sitting for over a year. I finally quilted it a few weeks ago. I was dithering about the binding when I happened upon a remnant at Joanns that worked perfectly.

I am trying very hard to move projects through the pipeline. I’m also being intentional about making items to sell at the craft co-op sale next year.