A Great Day for a Road Trip

An over-and-back trip to Spokane is very doable in the summer when it gets light at 5 am and doesn’t get dark until 10 pm. Deana and I left here at 6:30 am and pulled into The Other Janet’s driveway at 7 am. The three of us hit the road and made it to Spokane about 15 minutes before The Quilting Bee opened. The Other Janet checked her serger in to the service department and we were off again.

Coeur d’Alene, ID and Spokane, WA are only about 25 minutes apart, so we headed back toward CdA to visit a couple of stores there. Between the two cities is Post Falls, ID, which is home to Shabby Fabrics. You may have seen their YouTube channel. Last year, they opened a retail showroom in the front of their warehouse. They specialize in kits, but their showroom also has individual items for sale, and the merchandising is top-notch. The showroom is a fun place to wander around. I bought five half-yard cuts of 1930s reproduction fabric to add to the stash, because I want to make a 1930s-style quilt one of these days.

The Pink Thread opened last fall in CdA and carries garment fabric as well as quilting fabric. The Other Janet quilts small pieces but is more interested in making garments. I was pleased to see that the store had expanded its selection of garment fabrics. The Other Janet bought some white knit fabric for a T-shirt and I got two cuts of lightweight wovens for tops, as well as some Pellon interfacing that is destined for my Sew Expo 2027 interfacing class and a skirt pattern.

By then, it was time for lunch, so we went to a nearby Panera for sandwiches and salads. On our way back to Spokane, we stopped at Becky’s Sewing Center, which is the local Bernina dealer. I got two more cuts of woven fabric—Tilda chambray—for two more tops.

We got back to Spokane around 1 pm. I took the Jeep through the car wash and we popped over to Value Village to see if they had any machines or fabric. That was the store where I found a BabyLock serger for $13.99 a couple of years ago. They didn’t have any sergers, but I got three yards of a very nice black-and-white knit fabric for $3.99. It’s perfect for a Burda knit dress pattern I have in the stash.

While we were poking around Value Village, The Other Janet got a text that her machine was ready. We did a bit of shopping at The Quilting Bee, but I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without.

Getting home took longer than getting there. Summer road construction is in full swing and we got held up in a few places. We delivered The Other Janet to her house around 7:30 pm and took a quick peek at her sewing room. Deana and I were back here around 8 pm. It was a long day but a productive and fun one.

This was my haul—most of it, anyway.

I am staying home today to do paperwork and housework this morning and some sewing this afternoon. Tomorrow morning, I give the condensed version of my thread presentation to the Teakettle Quilt Guild in Columbia Falls.