Best Sewing Vacation Ever, Part 4

All of my Monday BU classes were lectures. I started with a Gail Yellen class in the morning. Gail is fantastic. She has pushed the limits of the Bernina L-series sergers—I have an L860—and has designed some very creative projects with them. I already had been introduced to most of what she talked about in her lecture, but seeing her video setup was worth the price of admission. Marci and Becky were in that class with me.

Marci and I then went to a presentation by Christy Burcham, one of the Bernina execs, on the new line of 300- and 700-series machines. I am not an employee of the store and don’t do sales, per se, but I am called upon in my classes to provide information about Bernina machines so this presentation was very helpful.

After lunch, Ashlee and I went to another garment class. The presenter was Fabian Renteria, one of the Bernina educators. That class was full to bursting—more proof that garment sewing is on the minds of a lot of store owners.

My last class was Embroidery Stabilizer Bootcamp, presented by one of the staff at OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design). OESD is a heavyweight in the world of embroidery and this presentation went through the various fabric stabilizers and how to use them. I really needed this class. Unfortunately, I had to duck out 30 minutes early to get to the airport, but I am sure I’ll be referring to the handout frequently.

Two of my very good friends are visiting Montana from Tennessee. They were here last fall and decided to come back for another visit. I’ve been friends with Robert since I was 14 and he was 16 and we sat next to each other in the trombone section in high school. His girlfriend, Deana, sews and embroiders. Robert has been consulting for the Sacramento Mandarins drum corps this summer. When he found out the corps would be in Everett, WA, for a show, he and Deana decided to drive there (they flew into Spokane) before coming to Montana. When I found out they were going to Everett, I decided to change my travel plans to meet them there.

I flew into Sea-Tac, rented a car, and got a hotel room. Everett is far enough from the airport that I didn’t feel like driving up there after a long day. I met them early Tuesday morning and whisked Deana away for a day of fabric shopping. 😇 (Tuesday also happened to be DD#2’s birthday, so I stopped at her apartment in Seattle to give her a hug before she left on her vacation.)

Deana and I got on the ferry and went across Puget Sound to Kingston. There is a fabric store called the Quilted Strait in Port Gamble. I haven’t been there in a few years, mostly because it usually is closed when I’m driving past that area. I bought a yard of Kaffe Fassett wideback for another woven top, a fat quarter bundle of some sewing-themed fabric, and Amanda Murphy’s new book:

This is intended to be something of a doodling book, with patterns to follow to become comfortable with free-motion quilting designs, but I’m going to photocopy the pages and “quilt” them on the Q20. I think they’ll get into my brain faster that way.

After leaving that store, we drove to Bainbridge Island to visit Esther’s Fabrics:

Deana was busy collecting quilting cottons and fat quarters at each store. I bought a kids’ dress pattern to make for the store and a possible class. We also stopped for lunch in Bainbridge and had the most amazing turkey sandwiches ever.

We left Bainbridge on another ferry headed for downtown Seattle and

I love this sign. They also had a new sign warmly welcoming Joann Fabrics customers, which I thought was a lovely gesture.

I confined myself to a length of lightweight linen for my Remy Raglan, once I get that pattern sorted. Deana needed a little cart:

Satisfied that we had seen all there was to see, the two of us headed back up to Everett to meet Robert for dinner.

More fabric shopping tomorrow!

Best Sewing Vacation Ever, Part 3

Sunday at BU was a light day. I had only two classes. The morning session was another make-and-take-teach-this-at-your-store class where we made a zipper pouch with a vinyl window. We were using the 770 PRO and 790 PRO machines.

Ashlee and I were in that session together. Our teacher was exceptionally good. Becky was next door in the same session with a different teacher who was not so good. ☹️

I am no stranger to making buttonholes. I did them on my Janome 6600P. I had not yet made buttonholes on a Bernina, however, and that was a life-changing experience. I now want to make buttonholes on All The Things:

I may teach this zipper pouch project at the store at some point.

My afternoon class was called, “Guiding the Garment Customer Journey: From First Impression to Your Bottom Line,” and it was taught by Maggie Smith, who owns a store called Pintuck and Purl in North Hampton, NH. I said to Ashlee afterward that it was gratifying to see that our store is ahead of the curve. The Quilt Gallery has been carrying apparel fabric and offering garment classes for the past couple of years. Most stores are frantically playing catch-up as they try to attract former Joanns customers.

The class discussion was lively and informative, with an emphasis on how to be welcoming to customers who might belong to a different demographic than the store’s regulars. In other words—“Don’t be a snob.” I think our store does a good job at being welcoming.

[In related news, I have eight people registered for my “Learn to Sew” pillowcase class at the end of the month.]

I appreciated having a lighter class day in the middle of the weekend. Four days of intensive learning is a lot.

*******

I’ve been catching up on paperwork now that I’m home, but I’ve also been sewing. I had a pile of flying geese units left over from making the quilted jacket, so I assembled them into Sawtooth Star blocks. I ended up with nine 9-1/2" blocks and seven 3-1/2" blocks. They went into the orphan blocks bin until I decide what to do with them.

It began raining Friday night and rained for much of yesterday, so I spent the day tracing patterns. I’m going to make the Icaria pants from Itch to Stitch:

I’ve had this pattern for a while. These pants are dead simple—three pattern pieces and a length of elastic—but I have some great fabrics in the stash that would be perfect. I lengthened the rise by an inch after watching Karina’s video at the Lifting Pins and Needles YouTube channel. She is about the same height as me, so if she has to lengthen a pattern, I make the same adjustment.

I need to get the Remy Raglan pattern printed while I am in town tomorrow so I can make a muslin of that top. I’m going to use worn-out linen sheets. Target was carrying linen sheets a few years ago and I bought some for our bed. They have developed holes, so now they will be repurposed as muslin fabric for the Icaria pants and the Remy top. After I check the fit with the muslin, I’ll make a top out of some linen I bought at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle.

Best Sewing Vacation Ever, Part 2

Saturday was my big machine embroidery day at BU. I deliberately chose these classes because this is an area where I don’t have a lot of experience.

The first class was called “Go for the PRO!” and focused on embroidery using the 700 and 790 machines. The 700 is actually an embroidery-only machine—no feed dogs—and that was the machine I ended up using. The teacher was Mary Beck, who had taught Friday’s serger class. She really is an excellent teacher. I learned as much watching the teacher as I did taking the class.

Most of these BU classes are intended for dealers (and staff) to take back and teach at their stores. This normally would be a three-hour class, but Mary taught it in 1-1/2 hours. We learned about the different kinds of embroidery files and how to expand and compress designs. I think machine embroidery is very cool:

At the end of the class, each student had made a very cute tea caddy:

The other side has pockets for holding tea bags. I have to hand sew the top opening closed, which is why the clips are there.

Just before lunch, I had two short classes (30 minutes), one on the new stabilizers from Wonderfil and one on threads from Superior Threads. I am a Wonderfil educator, so I am a bit partial to their products.

My afternoon class was called “Embroider on Everything.” We were using the top-of-the-line Bernina 990 machines. That model retails for $23,000. The class was in one of the ballrooms where about 40 machines had been set up. However, the class had twice as many students as machines, so we had to partner with someone. I understand why Bernina structures it that way, but it’s not ideal, as you will see in a moment. 🫤

My partner was a staff member from a store in New York. She had more embroidery experience than me, which was not surprising considering I was starting from ground zero. We had to choose whether we wanted to be an Elk or a Bee. I chose Elk. Each of us had a kit with a tote bag, a hat, and a towel. The Bees got to use the machines first. While they embroidered a design on the tote bag, the Elks went to the back of the room to learn how to put the hat in the hoop. By the time we had accomplished that task, the Bees were done embroidering their tote bags and were supposed to relinquish the machines to the Elks.

I successfully embroidered my hat:

Once a hat and a tote bag were done, each student got to embroider a small towel. We used the magnetic hoops, which are very cool but also very dangerous to fingers. (One of the class aides pinched his finger in the hoop and had to put a band-aid on it because it was bleeding.) My machine partner embroidered her towel first. By the time I got my towel onto the machine, it was getting close to the end of class and the teacher and aides were hurrying the students along. I had just started embroidering “BERNINA” on my towel when my partner said, “Here, you need to take this spool of thread,” and reached up and snipped the thread.

Snipped.The.Thread. In the middle of the embroidery design. Fortunately, there is a way to tell the machine to go back and start at a previous stitching line. I think my partner was feeling bad about what she did, so she re-threaded the machine for me and got it going again. Unfortunately, she hadn’t rethreaded it properly and the needle broke. We had to call over a class aide, who deftly fixed the whole mess, but I wanted to say, “It wasn’t my fault!” I had to hurry, but I was able to finish embroidering my towel.

As unfortunate as my situation was, my friend Becky, also from our store, was paired with someone who wouldn’t relinquish the machine and insisted on doing all the embroidery herself. She also wanted Becky to take the embroidered pieces in trade for Becky’s (unused) kit. Some people are just rude. I think Becky and I need to sit down together and have our own class.

[Even if money were no object, I have no desire to purchase the Bernina 990. It truly is an amazing machine, but I don’t feel the affinity with it that I do with my 880. That’s just how it is with some machines. I’m already dreading the day when my 880 is no longer useable because I can’t get parts for it.]

After those two classes, I am feeling much more confident about attempting some machine embroidery on my own. I have also gotten some great advice from my friend Deana, who is visiting us with my other friend, Robert. They live in Tennessee but came out here for a few weeks to escape the heat. Deana has a 15-needle embroidery machine and does beautiful work.

I missed Saturday evening’s karaoke session because our financial advisor lives in Salt Lake City and I had made arrangements to have dinner with him. I heard that karaoke was quite entertaining, though.

Best Sewing Vacation Ever, Part 1

I am back from Bernina University—with a post-BU detour to Seattle for a few days—and now it’s time to share everything I saw and did.

Our flight left Kalispell last Friday morning at 5:30 am. We were in Salt Lake City by 7:00 am. After a short van ride to the Hyatt Regency, we checked in, registered with Bernina, got our swag bags, and headed to the ballroom for the opening session. All six of us were wearing our quilted jackets/vests:

Sammy, in the middle, had entered her jacket in the fashion show, so she went backstage to get ready. The rest of us went and snagged our seats in the front row. Nick Verreos—Project Runway contestant and fashion designer—joined Bernina Exec Christy Burcham to host the fashion show:

Sammy and her jacket were a huge hit. People stopped our group many times throughout the weekend to compliment her on it. She used Tula Pink’s new line of fabric—Full Moon Forest—and included some really creative embroidery techniques.

After the fashion show, more Bernina execs came out to talk about the company, hand out awards, and give updates on new products. The 990 Pro, released last year, was a hard act to follow. This year’s new releases included updates to the 700-series line and a special Maker’s Edition of one of the Bernette serger/coverstitch machines.

We broke for lunch. After lunch, I had a class with Amanda Murphy, which was more of a product launch than an actual class, but at least I got to meet her in person.

My second afternoon session was a hands-on class on the new Maker’s Edition Bernette serger:

My only complaint about this class was that the machines had not been set up and tested beforehand. We were using the hemmer and binding attachments in coverstitch mode and they were quite fiddly and required several adjustments before they would work properly. That’s not unusual, but I don’t think it’s fair to the students to make them spend their class time doing a task that should have been done ahead of time. We also had to double up and move from machine to machine, round-robin style. I was able to make four of the five samples and called it good. Mary Beck was the teacher and she was excellent.

One of the nicest perks—and there were many—that Bernina provides to BU attendees is to give them a USB drive with every single handout from every single class, even the ones we weren’t enrolled in. That little thumb drive has a wealth of information on it, including the files on it to create sample cards for every technique on the Bernette and Bernina lines of sergers. I love that kind of stuff, so I am going to print out the cards and make those samples as a reference for my serger mastery classes.

There was no shopping at this event, per se, although dealers could place orders with vendors and see upcoming products before they are released. Bernina did have a BU Store, though, and I bought myself some fun Bernina-branded clothing, including a T-shirt and some socks. I also got a set of quilting rulers:

It’s hard to see, but the one on the left makes a Christmas tree and the one on the right makes a teardrop shape.

I have to say that Bernina fed us extremely well throughout the weekend. The evening reception featured so many great appetizers that we didn’t have to go out for dinner. Most of us were wiped out after a long day and made an early evening of it. And that was the end of Day 1. Day 2 was even more exciting, so stay tuned.

The Garden Waits for No One

The garden loved the rain we got over the weekend. It is starting to look like a jungle out there. The strawberries are still producing, although the berries are a bit waterlogged. I have to get out there today or tomorrow to mow the grass, or I’ll have to whack my way through with a machete by the time I get back from BU.

I sewed the zipper into the quilted jacket yesterday, so that’s all done and ready to wear. Have I mentioned how much I love double-sided 1/4" tape? It makes inserting zippers so quick and easy.

And I cut out another woven top. I am using one of the Kaffe Fassett widebacks—one yard is plenty because the widebacks are 108" wide. This is the print:

I made the neck facing and sewed the darts yesterday afternoon. Sewing the rest of the top together shouldn’t take too long. I’m not quite sure why I am favoring woven tops over knit ones this summer but I’m going with it. I don’t mind having to iron them. I love to iron.

Of course, now that I told you that I am making more wovens than knits right now, I have to show you some of the Marcia Derse cotton/lycra jersey that Ashlee ordered for the store:

This is from Marcia’s Art History line for Windham Fabrics. I bought a couple of yards of this, too. I was hoping to get this made into something before BU—a Harper Cardigan?—but unless I figure out how to cram 24 more hours into the day, that’s not going to happen.

No sedate prints or boring neutrals for me. 😇

******

There has not been any evidence of grizzly bear activity. I’ve seen a few does with new fawns and, of course, the resident turkey posse, but that’s been it. Even the garter snakes have been in hiding.

We have a couple of broody hens sitting on eggs. If any of the eggs were fertile, we should know in another week or so. I don’t need any more rooster chicks, but a few more pullets would be welcome.

In Search of a the Perfect V-Neck

Yesterday was a sewing day. I made a top:

This is my frankenpatterned woven tee with the V-neck from Burda 6146. This is a modest V-neck that doesn’t flash my bra at everyone. I am going to hack this V-neck onto the Déclic top pattern. That was last summer’s sleeper pattern. I love that pattern except for the fact that I am constantly pulling up the front of the tops I made from it. 😑

The fabric is a rayon batik from The Quilt Gallery, our local store. I bought everything they had in bright jewel tones and am slowly working my way through the pile.

This one is going to Bernina University with me. I am hoping to knock out one more of these this week, probably in a Kaffe Fassett cotton sateen. I can make one in about four hours, start to finish.

I’d still like to lengthen this pattern into a dress. That’s on the list of things to do in July. Sunnie gave me a chunk of rayon fabric last summer in black, blue, and teal. She bought it at a thrift store. I’ve been saving it because a) it’s gorgeous and b) I think it’s three yards long, which should be plenty for a dress.

Speaking of Kaffe Fassett, Operations Manager Ashlee asked for a class on sewing a top using some of his fabric lines. We are doing this in anticipation of his visit to the store in September. I gave her three options and we decided on the Sew House Seven Remy Raglan:

I haven’t decided if I will stick with the cropped version or lengthen it for myself. I’ll measure the pattern once I have it printed to see what I think. I suspect I am really going to like this pattern—I love raglans—so I may look for a nice chunk of lightweight linen for a version for me when I’m at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle.

*******

I popped out to the garden yesterday afternoon to take a look at everything. The plants do not appear to have suffered because of the cold snap, and they certainly appreciated the rain. The temps are warming up again. Except for a bit of weeding and watering, I can coast for a few weeks until things begin to ripen. The husband is usually good about harvesting raspberries for me, because he likes to go out there and eat them.

*******

One of the husband’s cousins is coming to visit today. We attended this cousin’s wedding 33 years ago—DD#1 was eight months old—and haven’t seen him since. He is bringing his nephew and his nephew’s girlfriend with him. Summer is for visitors!

A Bit of a Breather Now

Our church conference this past weekend was wonderful. We were at the Lutheran camp on Flathead Lake. I realized this morning that I spent two days staring out at the amazing scenery and never took a picture. I live here, so sometimes I forget to stop and appreciate it.

I finished knitting a prayer shawl while I was in delegate sessions and seminars and began putting the fringe on it last night. The yarn is Fleece Lite, from Hobby Lobby. I like it.

My supply of Lion Brand Homespun ran out with the previous prayer shawl. I would have bought more but Joanns seemed to be out of it for most of the past year. This Fleece Lite makes a reasonable substitute.

We keep a quilt stand with prayer shawls on it in the foyer of our church. Anyone is welcome to take one, either for themselves or to give away.

I also played piano and sang with the group. The singing was amazing. Our closing song during our worship service Friday night was The Canticle of the Turning, set to a familiar folk tune, and it’s a favorite among our congregations. I was on piano, our song leader was on guitar, our retired pastor was on guitar, and another woman played the flute. And, of course, we had 75 very talented singers in the room. There is a synergy that happens when a group of musicians is in sync and communicates almost without speaking. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s a beautiful thing.

Megan Ramer, pastor of Seattle Mennonite Church, was in charge of planning the hymn sing and worship services and I thought she did a stellar job. I found out that there is an organization in their neighborhood called Refugee Artisan Initiative that teaches language and sewing skills to refugee and immigrant women to help them to integrate into the community, to work and provide for their families. I am hoping to interview someone from RAI for the podcast.

Another attendee was the director of Camp CAMREC, near Leavenworth, WA, and when she found out I teach sewing classes, she asked if I would be willing to come teach at one of their quilting retreats in the spring and fall. Of course!

******

The husband told me last night that he heard from our next-door neighbor yesterday that a grizzly bear broke into their chicken coop and killed 27 chickens. I saw a photo of some of the carnage. I know there has been a bear (or two) wandering around, but we haven’t seen any. The husband said he would take the shotgun with him when he makes his rounds at night. I will carry bear spray and look around very carefully before I head out to the garden. It might be time to put up a game camera.

******

I’m staying home today. It is still raining and a bit chilly—Missoula was under a frost warning last night!—so I plan to stay inside and cut out three woven tops. I will assembly-line the production.

Make It Modern

I worked on my Place for Everything Tote yesterday afternoon. I am reasonably good at binding, but binding these byAnnie bags is not easy. The Bernina 880 has zero trouble handling the extra bulk. It’s just tricky to make the binding look nice. I ended up making my binding 2-1/2" wide instead of the 2-1/4" wide called for in the pattern. Part of that was because I cut bias strips on my Accuquilt cutter and part of it was because that extra 1/4" makes a difference.

[I am not a fan of machine-sewn binding. I prefer sewing down binding by hand. On this project, though, there is no good way to hand sew binding to clear vinyl. Interestingly, all of us who made jackets for BU sewed down the binding by hand, so I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way.]

The pages are done:

I am hoping the rest of the bag comes together quickly.

I’ve got a few free days next week (finally) and my plan is to cut out three woven tops and sew them together. I want to wear me-mades at Bernina University.

[On Wednesday, I wore one of my woven tops and a pair of denim wide-leg crop pants that I bought at Kohls. Several people asked me if I had made my pants. I just had to laugh. I wanted to say, “No, I made my top! Ask me about my top!”]

During class on Wednesday, Ashlee and I talked about marketing my learn-to-sew pillowcase class that is scheduled for the end of July. She asked me to make some store samples and gave me fabric from a new line called Groove, by Emily Van Hoff for Moda. Modern is not really my vibe, but every so often, it’s fun to sew with something I wouldn’t choose. We did a positive/negative with the pillowcases and I love how they turned out:

That pop of yellow in the flange is fun.

******

Today is payday for the employees. I am now on my third pay period without a functioning payroll module in QuickBooks. Heads need to begin rolling.

Our church conference kicked off last night with an Anabaptism At 500 hymn sing. I wish I had recorded it. We had 75 people in a room together, all of whom know how to and love to sing, and the sound was amazing. I accompanied some of the songs, we had additional instruments on some of the songs, and some of the songs we sang a capella. (So I also got to sing a bit.) I expect to be a bit sleep deprived this weekend, but it will be worth it.

When I got to the Lutheran camp last night, I noticed all the ground squirrels running around. Tons of them. It was a target-rich environment. 😛

Making Pants

I had two students in my Free Range Slacks class yesterday and we had a lot of fun. One student was my friend, Jenny, who is also on the board of the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation. She has taken several classes from me. The other was the store owner’s daughter, Ashlee—now the operations manager of the store—who is about the same age as DD#2 and a lot of fun. Two students was plenty for the first time teaching that class. Ashlee says we should offer it again in the fall. She is working very hard to attract younger sewists as well as garment sewists, but it’s a process. Most people don’t associate quilt stores with garment fabrics.

Here is Ashlee cutting out her pattern:

She’s very interested in setting up a projector in her personal sewing space to avoid having to deal with paper/tissue patterns. I am old school and need to be able to hold a pattern piece in my hand. I doubt I will ever set up a projector, but I know some sewists love them.

Jenny finished her pants just before the end of class. I suggested both students use muslin rather than fashion fabric in case we needed to make any adjustments. Jenny is about the same height as me, so she’ll need to lengthen her next pair, but her first draft fit perfectly. Ashlee had no previous garment-sewing experience, but she gamely kept up and had assembled her pants by the end of class. She just needed to sew down the casing for the elastic and insert it, which she said she would do at home. She will need to lengthen her next pair as well.

That pattern was a good choice for first-time pants. The elastic waist let us concentrate on construction techniques rather than worrying excessively about fitting.

I need to run up a quick project for the quilt store this morning before getting ready to head to the Lutheran camp. The weather forecast is now calling for a possible 4" of snow as low as 4000' Saturday night. We’re at 3250'. That’s a bit too close for comfort. The husband and I may have to put row cover or tarps out on the plants after all. I don’t want to lose everything.

******

I am watching this Michael’s/Joanns “merger”—I don’t know what else to call it—with interest. I suspected that either Hobby Lobby or Michael’s would up its game after Joanns went out of business, if only because some of those larger yarn and fabric producers would be looking for a new national outlet through which to sell their products. I stopped at our Michael’s store a few days ago but the sewing section is still limited to one aisle in the back corner of the store. I think that Deana and I will stop at one of the larger Michael’s stores on our fabric shopping trip in Seattle because I know some of them are carrying fabric.

Hobby Lobby completely skipped the spring/summer fabric season. I see that they are now starting to stock some fall and Christmas fabric but no apparel fabric.

Baby Birds, New Fabric, and Some Turkeys

It feels like May and June have been one big event after another after another. Our congregation is hosting the annual meeting for our denomination’s regional conference this weekend. I was only tangentially involved in the planning; however, I am the pianist for the whole weekend—a hymn sing Thursday night, services Friday and Saturday evening, and a service Sunday morning. I enjoy playing, but some of the songs are new to me and have required practice. I spent time yesterday organizing music into folders so I know what I am playing when.

“How to Be a Church Pianist” was not one of the skills I learned when I took piano lessons as a kid at the Koch School of Music in Rocky River, Ohio.

I had hoped to do some sewing yesterday but it didn’t happen. Now that the jacket is done, the Place for Everything Tote is back at the top of the queue. I’m at the stage where I need to make a few miles of bias binding. I haven’t decided if I am going to take sewing or knitting with me to the conference this weekend. I am a delegate and will be sitting through several delegate sessions. At last year’s conference, the pastor from Menno Mennonite, in Ritzville, WA, brought her English paper piecing project—carried in her Place for Everything Tote—and we compared notes.

We have had such absolutely gorgeous weather since the first of May, but it is going to be cold and rainy this weekend. The high on Saturday may struggle to reach 50F. I sincerely hope we don’t get a frost, because I don’t have time to cover everything. Our conference is being held at the Lutheran camp on the west shore of Flathead Lake. 😩

My shipment of teal fabric from Tim Holtz’s Palette line arrived on Monday:

I’ve avoided teal for a few years because I was sick of it. Teal is one of the few jewel tones I can reliably find in the sea of muddy earth-toned ready-to-wear and I got tired of having so much teal (and black) in my closet. Obviously, I am coming back to it—the BU jacket has a teal background and I think this teal collection is my favorite so far of the new Tim Holtz line. (The photo doesn’t do it justice.)

The new appliances for the rental house were delivered yesterday so that’s been crossed off the list. And the zipper for my jacket is on the way, so I am reasonably certain I can get it sewn in before we leave for SLC.

I am teaching the Free Range Slacks pattern today. This should be a fun class. When I get back from BU/Seattle, I absolutely have to work on class submissions for Sew Expo and for the stores this fall.

We’ve had three older male turkeys hanging around the house. When a group of hens wanders through, it’s funny to see them puff up their chests, hoist their tail feathers, and start gobbling. They seem to have added up a couple of juvenile toms to their posse. Yesterday, the whole group was chilling in the front yard:

The baby robins have flown the nest. Three of the four left Monday afternoon. One baby didn’t want to leave and spent Monday night alone in the nest cheeping pitifully. I wondered if I was going to have to get up there and help it, but mama came back early yesterday morning and convinced it to fly.

Crisis Averted

Assembling the jacket was accomplished easily yesterday afternoon. Making the bias binding and attaching it took a bit longer, but I sat outside on the porch and watched mama robin feed the babies while I sewed it down. And I am thrilled with how it turned out:

Truly, what saved this project from disaster was the fact that I was able to cut the correct front pieces out of the back pieces. The shape of the armscye wasn’t quite the same as the original, but the sleeve cap fit into it without issues. This is a quilted jacket, not a tailored one, so no one will know. The front jacket pieces are narrower than planned because each one was half the width of the back, but that just means they won’t overlap. I kicked around a couple of ideas for closures, including large hooks and eyes or frog closures, but it occurred to me that a zipper might be the best option. I found and ordered a teal parka zipper from Zipper Shipper on Etsy. Hopefully, it arrives before we leave, even if I have to sew the zipper in by hand on the flight down to SLC. If it doesn’t, I’ll use the large hooks and eyes as a temporary fix.

I am glad I went with the teal binding. I think it lets the piecing shine. And I am glad I used the McCall’s 8560 pattern because the length is perfect.

Now I can move on to something else. I’d like to make a couple of tops to wear at BU.

*******

I did more planting and weeding yesterday morning before it got hot. I still have a few things to put in the herb garden, but the big garden is well underway. The nope ropes were out in full force. The big snake was in its usual spot, along with a second one:

And a third one was a few feet away:

I was telling the husband about them and he said to me, “You are a rare woman,” and I said, “Sarah likes snakes, too,” and he said, “Sarah is also a rare woman.” LOL. The snakes in the garden have never bothered me. I take them as a sign of a healthy ecosystem and as long as they are out there, I won’t have issues with some of the common insect pests.

The husband was getting supplies ready for a new job yesterday, so the rental house work will happen this afternoon.

Not Quite There Yet

I have not yet sewn the jacket together to determine if I have been able to avoid disaster. I spent yesterday morning weeding potatoes and laying out soaker hose, after which I made a pass through the strawberry bed and brought in another two gallons. A pair of opinionated robins—how dare I take their berries!—kept me company. (These were not the nesting robins, who do not have time to heckle the gardener because they are busy feeding babies.) The rest of the morning was spent making phone calls. I am working on something for the husband which requires calling people, but most of that time is spent navigating stupid phone menus trying to get connected to a human being with the answer to my question. It is absolutely maddening.

The weather has been showery all week. I am grateful for the rain and happy I don’t have to start the supplemental watering just yet. The hoses are all laid out, though, and ready to go. And I thought we had a lot of strawberries until I looked at the raspberry canes. We are going to have a tsunami of raspberries this year. (Deana, bring all your best recipes for using them.) I suspected that might happen after I ruthlessly pruned them the year before last.

Anyway . . . after lunch, while it rained, I finished all the edges of the jacket pieces on the serger in anticipation of assembling the jacket. I used a teal thread in the upper looper to match the teal background:

And a black thread in the lower looper to match the charcoal background.

Anything worth doing is worth doing in excess. No one is going to see the inside of the jacket, but this makes me happy.

I also spent some time cleaning up my sewing room. I had been dumping all of my stock-up-before-Joanns-goes-under purchases from last month on every empty horizontal surface and they needed to be put away. I can only work in clutter for so long.

The husband and I are going to work over in the rental house today, although I’d like to spend another couple of hours in the garden, first. The weeds don’t wait for anyone. If I have time this afternoon—or if it rains—I’ll see about sewing the jacket together.

Summer is so vastly different from winter, and not just because of the weather. The daily routine is different, the flow of the weeks is different—even what I cook for dinner is different. (No soups and stews again until the fall.) It’s almost like being set down on a different planet for a few months.

I Made a Mistake

All of the pieces of the BU jacket have been quilted and cut out. I am ready to begin the assembly. However, I made a mistake. I do not want to confess it until I know if the fix I came up with works. I was talking about it with the husband last night and his first question was, “Do you have more fabric?” I do, but what I don’t have right now is time.

The truth is that sometimes creativity—like weeds—flourishes in those places where it’s up against a rock and a hard place. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a disaster. I am fairly sure it’s fixable. Also, mistakes will be the subject of next week’s podcast episode because it’s important to make lemonade when handed a bag full of lemons.

Today is National Sewing Machine Day, for those of you who track those important dates. I love my sewing machines. I wish I could find time to go out to the garage and tinker with some of my vintage ones. Maybe next month. The garage is a lovely cool place when it’s 90F+ outside.

This morning, though, I absolutely have to get out and work in the garden. I need to bring in the rest of the strawberries. The potatoes desperately need weeding. The hemp mulch works nicely, but lamb's quarter still manages to spring up right next to the potato plants. Fortunately, lamb’s quarter is one of the easiest weeds to pull, especially after it rains.

[I am sure that the more enlightened gardeners out there will point out that lamb’s quarter makes a fine salad green, but I’m having enough trouble harvesting the stuff I planted deliberately without also having to worry about harvesting weeds.]

Those four baby robins are so demanding that papa robin has been drafted to help feed them. The photo isn’t great, but both mama and papa robin have been bringing bugs and worms to the babies:

I think this same mama robin has been building a nest in this spot for several years. She doesn’t get startled and fly away if I walk past the nest—or worse, strafe me for getting too close. (Papa robin, however, is still skittish.) I talk to all the animals. Even Bunny has stopped hopping away when it sees me. Now it just sits there, calmly munching on dandelion stems, while I tell it my plans for the day.

The husband found the little lame chick dead in the coop a few nights ago. That made me sad, but sick and lame animals get culled on farms—either naturally or deliberately—for a reason. I’ve had lame chickens before and they rarely do well. I was already starting to obsess about what I was going to do if that chick got outside, because I knew it wouldn’t be able to get back up the ramp into the coop.

I See the Finish Line

I knew that once the piecing was done, the quilting and assembly of the Bernina University jacket wouldn’t take long. Thankfully, I remembered—just in time—that I needed to reverse the piecing of the sleeves to make them mirror images of each other. It wouldn’t have been a catastrophe if I hadn’t, but better not to have to punt.

The silk batting was a good choice. I like the weight and drape it gives to the jacket. The quilting is allover loops, because I am at the “get it done” stage of this project and because I like loops. This is the back:

The fronts also have been quilted and cut out. I still need to quilt the sleeve pieces but ran out of time yesterday afternoon. Once those are done, I will serge the edges of each piece before assembling the jacket. I don’t intend for this to be a reversible jacket, so I am not going to take the time to bind the inside seams.

I am dithering about what color binding to use on the front edges. My choices are black, the charcoal that I used for the lining fabric, or the teal. I am leaning toward the teal. I’d like to finish this by early next week.

*******

I rearranged my travel plans for BU. I’ll fly down to Salt Lake City with the group from the store, but I fly to Seattle after BU instead of coming home. We’re on Delta from Kalispell. I could have stayed on Delta and just changed the flight from SLC to Seattle instead of Kalispell, but I didn’t like the timing of the flights. Either I would have to miss my last BU class to get the airport on time or I’d be flying into Seattle at 11:00 pm (ugh). Alaska Airlines had a flight at a better time and I had enough airline miles to pay for that ticket. I had had the foresight to get a refundable ticket on Delta, so I was able to cancel the original reservation and re-book as a one-way flight. I am all set. Robert and Deana are working on lodging.

*******

I was in the garden again at 6:30 am yesterday. This will be my routine for the rest of the summer unless it’s raining. I moved a piece of black plastic from one side of the garden to the other and surprised a nope rope:

I suggested it visit its cousin on the other side of the garden, the big snake that lives under the sage bush.

The strawberries are producing like crazy. I picked almost two gallons yesterday and that was only half the bed. I cleaned them and put them in the freezer on trays. It’s raining this morning so I may not get the rest of them until this afternoon.

Four Hungry Babies

I am attempting to establish some kind of routine for the summer. Yesterday morning, I cut the grass in the garden—at 6:30 am, while it was still cool out there—then did a podcast interview. That took a couple of hours to record and edit, and then I made a bunch of phone calls, including one to the person who ghosted us on Friday afternoon. She had left the office early without checking her calendar. After apologizing profusely, she helped me take care of what needed to be done.

And then, after lunch, I sewed! (Cue angels singing.) I finished putting together the second front of the jacket, then moved on to the sleeves. These are two-part sleeves. I assembled the front part of both sleeves and made the last Sawtooth Star for the back portion of one of them. Putting together the back sleeves is on the schedule for this afternoon. They have an elbow dart, so the piecing is going to be a bit trickier because I don’t want to be making a dart in a spot that has a star in it. I also dug into the stash and found the silk batting, so once all of these sections are assembled, I can make quilt sandwiches out of them and quilt them.

I can see the finish line. Yay. After the jacket is done, I’ll get back to working on the Place for Everything Tote.

******

I am working on adjusting my trip to Bernina University. My friends, Robert and Deana, are coming out here in July to spend a couple of weeks. They were here last September and liked it so much they decided to escape the July heat of Tennessee and come back. Robert is a very accomplished musician. He and I have been friends since I was 14 and he was 16—that’s 45 years if anyone is counting—because we sat next to each other in the trombone section of our high school band. He is doing some consulting this summer with the San Francisco Mandarins drum corps. The drum corps is touring, and one of their stops is just north of Seattle. That date happens to coincide nicely with their arrival out here. They are flying into Spokane and will drive to Seattle on the same day that I am supposed to fly back from Salt Lake City, so I am going to try to change my flight to go to Seattle, instead. I’ll meet them there, Deana and I will do some fabric shopping (she sews), and we’ll attend the drum corps performance before driving back here.

******

The poor husband is pouring a slab at 6 am today and the jobsite is an hour away. He left at 3:45 am. Early morning is not his best time of day. I, on the other hand, do my best work between 4 and 6 am.

The baby robins spend most of their time like this:

I feel for the mama robin. She is constantly flying back and forth with food for them.

Etiquette Classes Should Make a Comeback

One of my fervent wishes is that we would return to a time when people behaved out of basic consideration for their fellow human beings. I am tired of being walked into by people who are so busy looking down at their cell phones that they aren’t watching where they are going—and no, I don’t think I should be the one to move out of their way. I can’t even begin to tell you the kind of stupid driving I’m seeing, especially now that tourist season has started. And the husband and I were supposed to have a phone meeting with someone Friday afternoon—a meeting that required the husband to rearrange his work schedule—and were ghosted by the other party with no explanation.

I don’t think common courtesy is too much to ask, but apparently, it is. Get off my lawn.

And still nothing from QuickBooks.

We had a congregational meeting at church yesterday, a workshop for which we brought in an outside consultant. That was the last big item on my schedule and now things should ease up a bit. I’d really like to finish the BU quilted jacket this week. At this rate, summer will be over before I can get make any warm-weather tops. Mostly, though, I would like to get into some kind of routine. I don’t do well being pulled hither and yon for weeks at a time.

The rental house needs some attention, too, but at this point, we’re just making lists. The husband isn’t going to have time to work on anything until the fall and winter. Our tenants kept the place very clean. The repairs are to address normal wear and tear that happens over time.

*******

The mama robin hatched out four babies this week. I haven’t had a chance to get a photo, but I’ve been watching their hungry little mouths peeking over the edge of the nest. I have a great view of the nest from the kitchen window.

The chicks we got a few months ago are now teenagers. They can go in and out of the coop but they are still separated from the big chickens. One of the chicks from WS is lame—she had curled toes when I got her but I didn’t realize she also had a splayed leg. She is a bit smaller than the other chicks. She doesn’t move around much, preferring to find a spot and sit there and watch the other chicks run in and out, but she is able to get food and water and the other chicks leave her alone. I said to the husband that she may end up being a pet chicken because I pick her up every day and stroke her head for a few minutes.

It is strawberry season and we have another bumper crop.

They make for great snacking in the garden.

More Upheaval in the Sewing World

Two pieces of news caught my eye yesterday. The first is that Michaels, the craft chain, purchased some of Joann’s intellectual property:

Joann’s future a mystery as Michaels snaps up IP, private labels

The article states:

The spokesperson declined to disclose the purchase price and didn’t address questions about how it might use Joann’s logo or other trademarks, except to say it will be developing Joann private brands Big Twist Value Plus, Big Twist Twinkle, Big Twist Posh and Big Twist Baby Bear.

This article on the Craft Industry Alliance website has some additional information. I have no idea if any of this is related to the teaser that has been posted on Joann’s website.

The second piece of news is a bit more troubling, although not entirely a surprise:

Parent Company of the Big 4 Sewing Pattern Brands Sold to a Liquidator

From the article:

The brands were owned by IG Design Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of stationery, crafts, party, and gift products based in the UK. On Friday, the company announced it had sold its US division, IG Design Group Americas (DGA), which owns the sewing pattern brands, to Hilco Capital, a liquidation firm. DGA also owns other craft brands, including Boye needles, Wrights trim, and Perler fusible beads, among others. Hilco has also been involved with liquidating Joann’s assets after it filed for bankruptcy in January.

IG Design Group cited the impact of tariffs imposed by the US as a factor. Over 50% of DGA’s products are manufactured in China, although the sewing patterns are made in the US. The company also mentioned a softening market over the last several years, as well as the bankruptcy of Joann, as factors in the sale.

I say it’s not a surprise because the Big 4/Big 7 (add in New Look, KnowMe, and Burda) have faced a lot of pressure from indie designers in the past several years. Indie designers have been much more inclusive in their sizing and offered options like copyshop and projector versions of their patterns. The Big4/Big 7 only began offering PDF options in the last year or so for patterns purchased from their website.

Several YouTube content creators have complained recently that the new-season pattern releases are rehashes of existing patterns.

Some of you may also remember that the McCall’s tissue-printing facility in Manhattan Kansas, was down for a few months in the fall of 2020. This is the only tissue-printing facility in the United States. It is owned by IG Design Group and (presumably) part of the liquidation. A few indie designers may be impacted by this as they contracted with this facility to print their patterns.

I’ve had a number of people say to me that, “No one sews anymore,” although I find that comment difficult to reconcile with the billion-dollar quilting industry. I might be willing to admit that fewer people sew their own garments anymore. There seem to be enough garment sewists to keep indie designers in business, however.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the market adjusts to these changes. I don’t know, either, how this will affect Burda, KnowMe, and New Look patterns, as it’s unclear to me whether they are part of the sale.

******

I planted squash and tomatoes yesterday morning.

The pigs and the garter snake kept me company. I asked the snake if it has relatives, but it declined to comment.

I only planted 29 tomato plants this year. (“Only,” LOL). I went heavy on the paste tomatoes because we’re almost out of sauce.

After some consideration, I think I’m only going to start tomatoes for me next spring and concentrate on starting more squash and cucumbers. Sarah does a stellar job with tomatoes for the plant sale but we always run out of cucurbits. I’ll also start more flowers and herbs, because those sell well, too.

The poppies are spectacular:

After planting, I drove to town to buy a stove for the rental house. The salesman who helped me with the washer and dryer purchase on Wednesday gave me the sale price on the stove even though the sale ended on Tuesday. Everything will be delivered on the same day, and for $10, they will haul away the old stove. We buy all our appliances at Fred’s Appliance, which is a northwest chain, because we’ve had such great service from them.

More Than One Kind of Drought

I have no sewing to show you. The only sewing I’ve done this week has been to hem a shower curtain for our rental house. Our tenants moved out as of June 1 and I am working on getting things set up over there for family. Yesterday, I went shopping for a washer and dryer. Last night, I found out that the stove hasn’t been working. We decided to replace it as I am sure it is over 20 years old and the husband doesn’t have time to figure out what is wrong with it. If I order a new one today, I think the appliance store will be able to deliver all three appliances on the same day.

The husband and I both are on our respective hamster wheels at the moment. Things flow more smoothly when only one of us is on a hamster wheel at a time, but it is what it is. My schedule, at least, should loosen up a bit next week.

I met my friend Tera for coffee yesterday morning. She and her husband are leaving next week on a three-year mission trip. I wanted to see her and say good-bye. This is an exciting opportunity for them, but I will miss my sewing partner in crime.

Planting is on the schedule for this morning. I doubt we will have any more frosts, and the plants need to get into the ground. The greenhouse is very empty. The husband and the crew will put the shade cloth back on it for the summer. The grass in the garden needs to be cut again, too, but that may have to wait until next week.

I’m tackling what is most urgent right now. This is why I am not a fan of summers in Montana. 🫤 This is the time of year when everything is urgent.

*******

Tim Holtz has released his newest Palette collection. I am waiting for notification from Fat Quarter Shop that it is in stock so I can order some. I love this one:

I think it might be my favorite so far and I haven’t even seen it in person yet.

I miss my sewing machines.

Rising From the Ashes?

I am fascinated by how the demise of Joanns is reshaping the sewing and craft industry. I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday and noticed that their McCall’s patterns were $2.99 (previously $4.99). The Simplicity website is also running 75% off sales on patterns. I don’t think the market will bear $15-30 for a Big 7 pattern, not after Joanns discounted them to $1.99 each (or $5.99 for Vogue) on a regular basis, and not when many high-quality indie patterns are available in the $10-12 range.

As for Joann Fabrics, this is on their website:

It states, “We’re stitching something new behind the scenes and we can’t wait to share what’s next.”

If “what’s next” is an online-only store, I think that’s going to miss the mark. The June issue of Craft Industry Insider arrived in my e-mail box yesterday morning. This is a publication of Craft Industry Alliance and is a great way to keep up on current events in the sewing and crafting industry. The lead article noted that an industry research paper presented at the recent h+h Americas trade show in Chicago found that customers are showing a marked preference for shopping in person at brick-and-mortar stores as opposed to shopping online.

Dispatches From the Desk of the Obvious, indeed. Some things, like fabric, are best shopped for in person. Joanns corporate—in whatever form is still exists—is going to have to learn to listen to what customers want if it wants to be successful.

And, of course, this is a great opportunity for independent fabric stores to seize some of the market share if they are willing to make the effort.

Speaking of McCall’s patterns, I snagged this one at Hobby Lobby yesterday.

I found myself reaching for my half-zip and quarter-zip tops a lot last winter.

******

I haven’t gotten plants into the ground yet, mostly due to lack of time and waiting for my foot to heal a bit more, but that turned out to be a good thing. The temp this morning, as I write this, is 30F. It has been hard to plan my week because the forecast changes every time I look at it. Tomorrow may be a good day to plant. After that, it is supposed to warm up again.

******

Still no word from QuickBooks, and my mother e-mailed me yesterday that she was having issues. She was trying to do an update to her payroll module and the system crashed. The support rep told her the system crashed due to all the new subscribers.

This is my skeptical face. 🧐

QuickBooks is quickly becoming something that needs to be burned down and rebuilt. (Rather like Joann Fabrics, actually.)

On to the Next Thing

We had a successful plant sale on Saturday. I am happy with the results. Mostly, I am happy it’s over, although I don’t get to rest quite yet. June is a full month with a lot of church-related events on the schedule, beginning with a meeting yesterday afternoon. I should have a bit more time now to work on the quilted BU jacket, though, once I get the garden planted. Planting is on the schedule for this week.

My eye feels much better and the foot is healing. I need to make another batch of comfrey salve.

Still nothing from QuickBooks. I have to do payroll again this week so I hope they resolve the issue soon.

******

A forest fire broke out Saturday afternoon on the route I take to get to I-90 when I am heading west. Within a few hours, it had grown to 200 acres and officials temporarily closed that road. That is unusual fire behavior for the end of May/beginning of June, although that area of Montana is much drier than normal. It’s still a good reminder to be careful about fires this summer.

******

The Long Thread Podcast has a wonderful interview episode with Tom Knisely. I listened to it on the way down to Missoula last week. I know Tom because he used to be the weaving instructor at The Mannings, which was located in East Berlin, PA. When the husband and I lived in Pennsylvania (32 years ago), we were only about 40 minutes from East Berlin. I used to visit The Mannings frequently and taught a knitting class there just before they closed. I enjoyed hearing him talk about how he learned to spin and weave and his 37-year career at The Mannings.

******

Once I get the BU jacket done and the Place for Everything Tote finished, I’d like to make the Kandou Patterns Retro Sling Bag:

I want to sew some projects on the 1541 and this looks like a fun and challenging make. The 1541 is in the (cool) garage and it’s nice to work in there when it’s too hot to be outside.