People, Places, and Things

I’ve gotten to talk to some really interesting people in the sewing world this week. Yesterday, I did an interview with Tricia Camacho, the guiding force behind Patterncon, which will be held August 1-2, 2026 in Atlanta. I would love to go to Patterncon, but I may not be able to make it happen this year. Kenneth King, Cornelius Quiring, and Saremy Duffy—all of whom have been guests on the podcast—are slated to teach.

Yesterday afternoon, I made a visit to The Making Place in Columbia Falls, MT.

Their board president, Justin Barry, was the guest on this week’s episode of the podcast. The Making Place is a hub for creative people to gather, borrow tools, learn, and create. I told Justin that if he has a wish list of sewing supplies they would like to have, I will be happy to raid my stash for duplicates. I think this is a wonderful program and it has a bright future ahead of it.

I also sent my résumé off to a contact at Bernina. The two Bernina educators who used to teach Bernina events here in the Pacific Northwest are no longer doing so and I have been wondering if that position might be a good fit. I wouldn’t want to travel as much as some of the educators do. Some of them are on the road every weekend to all parts of the country. But I am back and forth to Washington state so much that adding few extra teaching gigs might work. We’ll see.

The husband and I had a conversation the other night about plans for 2026. Two of our employees gave their notice in January because they want to become independent contractors. That leaves the husband with one full-time guy—who is very good—and a high school senior whose availability is hit-and-miss until graduation in June.

Personally, I suspect the two guys may come back asking for jobs again once they realize how much work is involved with being ICs. The husband told one of them that it’s basically the difference between working 40 hours a week for someone else and working 60 hours a week for yourself. And neither of them has a Janet to handle the paperwork end of things.

The husband will continue to build up his concrete-cutting business because he doesn’t need employees for that.

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I finished the McCall’s 8636 pants!

This was a very enjoyable project and I still think it would make a great class.

I made buttonholes for the twill tape tie, which I have to get.

I had 1" twill tape but I need 1/2" tape. I also could have matched the thread a bit more closely to the color of the pants, but I was using what I had on hand.

Today’s tasks include putting together a shelving unit to take the place of the blanket chest in DD#1’s room. I got it to hold all of my Accuquilt cutting supplies. Speaking of Accuquilt, I ordered a 2-1/2" strip die for my Studio cutter back in November when they were on sale. It never arrived and apparently, I forgot I ordered it. The Studio dies went on sale again at the beginning of January, and I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I really should order that 2-1/2" strip die because I need one.” I placed the order, then happened to look at my order history and saw that the November order was still open and marked “processing” so I contacted Accuquilt and asked them to cancel one of the orders.

I got a response saying that they couldn’t do that because they had started working with a new supplier in China, which was the reason the November order hasn’t been filled. So I will be receiving two 2-1/2" strip cutters (eventually). They won’t take a return, either. Their idea of a “refund” is to give me award points equal to the cost of the second die.

I’m not very happy with them right now. I never got any communication about the November order or the reason for the delay. I’ll be able to sell the second die, certainly, but having to do so is a hassle.