It Looks Like a Cushion

I had to run into town again yesterday morning for chicken feed—I had tires in my car on Tuesday and no room for anything else—so I took the opportunity to drop some tomato plants off at Cathy’s on the way. We only had a short time to chat because she was on her way to the dentist, but it was good to see her (and her cows). After a stop to get food for both chickens and humans, I came home and tackled DD#2’s patio furniture cushion project. We got rain again yesterday, so this was a good inside project.

The first one, for one of the chairs, turned out okay. (That left front corner is a little wonky.)

Now I have a pattern—sort of—to follow. I also know how this fabric behaves, although it was obvious from the start that the edges would have to be finished to prevent fraying. All of the pieces went through the serger before I assembled them on the Necchi industrial. I followed the design of the cushions that came with the furniture. They did not have piping and I wasn’t going to offer that as a design option. The top and bottom pieces wrap over the front with a gusset only on three sides. If I were doing this again, I might change that, but I’ll stick to the same design for this batch. We’ll see how the covers hold up. I can always make another set, although this fabric is sold out and I only have enough for the cushions I need to make.

The foam I ordered is nice and thick, too. These cushions will be way more comfortable than the cheap ones that came with the furniture.

*********************************

I got a call at the beginning of last week from one of the quilt stores. They had a customer who wanted to hem a dress on her coverstitch machine—would I be willing to call her and see what she needed? (I very much appreciated that they did not just give out my number, but checked with me first.) I called the customer, we talked about the project, and she asked if I had some time to meet her at the store to look at the project. I said that yes, I could meet her on Tuesday (two days ago) at 10 am. I said that if she brought the extra fabric that was left over after shortening the dress, we could use that to test out the settings on her machine. She has the same serger/coverstitch machine that Tera does. She has been in several of the same classes that I’ve taken, although I have never had her as a student.

Somewhere along the line, I think there was a breakdown in communication, or else the customer had different expectations than I did. When I got there, I saw that she had her machine set up and the dress with her, but she hadn’t cut off any extra material. All she had done was pin it to the desired length. I said that I couldn’t tell her what settings would be appropriate without testing it on the dress material, first, especially because I have a different brand of coverstitch machine. I got the distinct impression that she was hoping that I would either offer to hem the dress for her or walk her through the process step by step.

I don’t mind giving a few minutes of my time. If she had cut off the extra fabric ahead of time, I would have been happy to run a few test hems through the machine to give her some suggestions on appropriate settings. I did not have time to stay and wait while she cut the extra fabric off, first. This time of year, when I’ve got a short window of opportunity to get the garden planted, my time is at a premium. I’ve got two tops sitting next to my coverstitch machine waiting to be hemmed. I also don’t give classes for free, and me walking her through the entire process of hemming the dress would have amounted to a class by the time we were done.

She probably wasn’t happy when I left, but I emphasized that all of us who have coverstitch machines have to go through the same process of testing, testing, and testing again to dial in the settings for different fabrics. There is no shortcut for that process. And the best way to learn the ins and outs of your machine is to practice with it.

I’m also trying to maintain boundaries, both for myself and the store. It isn’t fair for someone to expect a free class from me, nor is it fair to expect the store to make its classroom space available.

Boundaries with students/customers is something I learned from teaching knitting classes. It’s why I won’t accept social media friend requests from people who have taken classes from me or who are friends of other knitting designers. I don’t post much on Facebook, but I have lots of friends and family who do, and everyone in the world does not need to have access to that content. If I am friends with you on social media, it’s because you and I have a relationship that extends beyond knitting or sewing.

I’ll check in with the store owner and see what she thinks. I suspect she will back me 100% in not having given a free class on hemming a dress. I will put a coverstitch class on the schedule for the future, though.

*********************************

Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary. We might try to have date night this weekend. The husband has a customer who always sends along a restaurant gift card as an extra thank-you, and we got one from him last week. I look at that number, though, and it boggles my mind. Apparently, we’ve been having so much fun that time has flown by.

Back in Sport Mode

I got the snow tires taken off and the summer tires put back on the car yesterday. Now I can drive in sport mode again. That should make a certain young man happy.

A vineyard manager is a member of one of the homesteading groups I belong to. I asked her to explain grape pruning to me in a way that a six year-old could understand. She pointed me to some great resources and I spent two hours yesterday afternoon pruning grapes. It makes such a difference to be able to visualize what needs to come off and what needs to stay. My grapes will never look like they live in Tuscany, but hopefully I will be able to get them to be healthy and produce well.

Today looks like it will be cool and showery, so I might be working on some inside projects. This arrived yesterday:

It’s the foam for DD#2’s new patio furniture cushions. I found a place online called Foam Factory where I could order exactly the size and thickness of foam I needed, and it wasn’t much more expensive than what I would have bought at Joanns. I have the fabric and a roll of zipper tape and I am all ready to go.

***************************

We’ve had a tom turkey hanging out in the yard for the past couple of days. He has been trying—unsuccessfully—to woo some hens. I would love to get a video of him when he’s got his feathers up. He makes a fascinating thrumming noise in his chest, too. (He’s so single-minded about his pursuit that he has been coming close enough to the porch that I can hear him.) The hens, of course, are indifferent. Watching him strut around the yard has been very entertaining. And the little flying roosters—the two male hummingbirds—are back in town and strafing anyone who happens to be outside.

The husband saw a bear yesterday. He was at a jobsite about 20 minutes south of here, standing in the yard talking to the homeowner, when a black bear casually wandered through about 30’ feet from them and climbed a tree.

It’s not wilderness unless there is something out there that can kill you and eat you.

***************************

I ordered a yard of this fabric from an Etsy seller last week:

It is even prettier in real life. This is UPF 50+ fabric, often used to make swimsuits, rash guards, and yoga clothing. Some companies are also using it to make gardening sleeves, which are basically gloves for your arms. I thought I might try making a few pair to see if they are something I might make for market or to incorporate into one of our gardening fundraisers for the community center. They’d be almost ridiculously simple to run up on the serger and coverstitch machines.

Just Add Water and Sunshine

I went out to the garden yesterday as soon as the husband left for work and started in on the list of tasks.

I transplanted the corn, cauliflower, red cabbage, and something called Purple Peacock, which Susan tells me is a cross between kale and broccoli (she grows it):

Those grapes are going to get a haircut today. They are out of control.

The tomato cages are in place, although I am reluctant to put the tomatoes out just yet. Maybe in another couple of days.

I have a problem with tomato math. I vowed that I would not plant 45 tomato plants again this year because last year, I was giving tomatoes away to the entire neighborhood. I did cut the number down—I thought—but I still have 39 plants. I only have room in this spot for 30, so I need to downsize a bit more.

I try to move things around every year and not plant in the same place. Some years that works better than others. The squash, cucumbers, and melons will be planted where the tomatoes were last year. The snakes like that spot, too. I haven’t seen any yet this year.

I assembled my new soaker hose system over the potatoes, lettuce, collards, and Swiss chard:

Watering this far section of the garden has been a problem in the past. The potatoes usually do really well in this spot, though. I am planning to put this system on a timer and water early in the morning.

When all that was done, I spent another hour in the greenhouse planting beans. The problem with beans is that if I wait until the soil truly is warm enough to plant them outside, they don’t have a long enough growing season. They sprout and grow so quickly in the greenhouse that I am going to start them in pots and move them outside in early June.

The garden is getting there. By the time the garden tour rolls around in mid-July, the raspberries will be ripe and the lavender will be blooming.

*****************************************

Our total take for the plant sale was about $1800. I am very happy with that. At our Financial Planning Committee meeting last night, we talked a bit about the changes we want to make for next year’s sale. And hopefully next spring won’t be so cold.

The next event coming up is the garden tour. I am in charge of laying out and printing the booklet that will be given to attendees and will contain information about the gardens and the gardeners. I’ve got the basic layout done and just need to drop in the information and make it pretty.

*****************************************

Sewing projects will be relegated to rainy days for the next month or two. I do have to schedule a few more serger classes, but those will be months out yet as the class schedules at both stores are pretty full.

We Sold Plants and Had Fun

Our Plant Sale volunteers met at my greenhouse on Friday afternoon at 3 pm to move plants up to the community center.

We got everything into five vehicles and headed up the road a few miles. After unloading there, we went to the elementary school to pick up their unsold plants. They have a sale on the Thursday and Friday before our sale and donate what’s left to us.

Our community center looked like a jungle:

I had been watching the weather forecast nervously all week. Saturday’s forecast was for cloudy skies and a high of 56 degrees. We got the cloudy skies. I don’t think the high made it to 56, but intrepid shoppers, clad in parkas, showed up right at 9 am:

I confess that I did not dress properly for the weather—having been far too optimistic—and had to run home mid-morning for warmer clothes. We might have hit 50 by the afternoon, but there was a chill wind. At least it didn’t snow.

Sunnie’s table was at the entrance to the community center, where we had the raffle quilt on display. She greeted shoppers, answered questions, and encouraged people to buy raffle tickets and join the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation.

This was the second year of the plant sale. Elysian came up with the idea and headed it up last year, although I missed that sale because I was in Alaska. I went into this one flying blind. I now have a much better idea of how it runs. I think we had a very successful sale yesterday. We surpassed last year’s total raised, although I won’t know by how much until our Financial Planning Committee meeting tomorrow night. We had very few hiccups. We now know that we need to grow more zucchini and cucumbers, because they sold out right away. We had many varieties of tomatoes, which was fabulous, but we need to organize them better. I think our group will meet in January and decide who is going to grow what and how much, and that will help us manage our inventory better. And we had a dedicated group of volunteers who pitched in and made it all happen.

Our leftover plants will be in the community center for a few days for additional sales, and then the Food Bank will come and get what’s left.

My greenhouse looks empty now. The weather forecast for this week, while not tropical, at least looks warm enough that I can get the corn put out and the grass cut. I am glad to have the sale behind me. And I am getting better about recognizing how much energy I can devote to some of these things, worthwhile as they are. Our fire department has a fundraiser happening this week. I didn’t sign up to help because I was focused on the plant sale, and I am glad I didn’t commit. There is only so much of me to go around. We have a potluck after church today, too, and I said to the husband that other people are going to have to feed me today. I didn’t have time to make anything yesterday, obviously. This morning, I have an 8 am breakfast meeting regarding our pastor search process and then I have to play piano for the service. I have a lot of energy, yes, but it’s not limitless.

Sharks and Table Runners and Hot Pink Pants

I miss my medical transcription job for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it gave some structure to my day. I knew that I would be working from 4 am to noon, Monday through Friday, no matter what. Every day was different, but every day was the same. I lost that structure when that job went away. And while I am disciplined enough to impose structure on my days in the absence of any outside force, it takes a fair bit of effort.

[The husband sometimes helps by rattling off a to-do list as he is leaving in the morning.]

This time of year is especially frustrating as I cannot settle into a routine. I got all excited about working in the garden and planting stuff, AND THEN IT SNOWED. But if I get all excited about starting a new sewing project, I’ll have to set it aside because the weather will improve and I’ll need to attend to outdoor tasks. I hate being jerked around like this.

It snowed again yesterday—not kidding—so I decided to go through the sewing to-do list and knock off as much stuff as I could. I finished the pink Lori Holt apron and the black-and-white vegetable apron. That one was gifted to Elysian, because she commented on how much she liked it and also because she asked if she could borrow an apron to wear at the plant sale. Done and done. I have more of that fabric to make myself an apron.

I made a Last Minute Table Runner.

I have been wanting to audition this pattern for possible inclusion for a future class as it can be made entirely on the serger. The center fabric is from Joanns and the border fabric is from Hobby Lobby. They just happened to coordinate. The colors are hard to see in the photo, but they are a combination of golds, rusts, and a dark turquoise blue. I also added two narrow piping strips of some gold metallic Grunge.

It’s a fast, easy pattern. I want to make another one with the fabrics reversed. Some gold tassels at each end would be a nice touch, too.

My friend Robin asked me what I was planning to have in the co-op sale in September. At this point, I think what I may have is whatever I can make on the serger.

I made a T-shirt for Ali’s little guy—it’s waiting for me to sew on the neckband and hem it:

He picked out the fabric at Joanns and they brought it over to me a few days ago.

I traced the Renee pants pattern—whew. There are 28 sizes (!) on that pattern, so finding the lines I needed to trace took some doing. That one is ready to go, though, and I just need to cut the fabric and put it together.

************************

The Plant Sale Committee is meeting at our greenhouse this afternoon to load up vehicles and transport all the plants for the sale to the community center. They will be put inside the building on tarps overnight. We’ll be there bright and early tomorrow morning to set up tables and popups and put all the plants out. Right now, the forecast is for partly cloudy skies and a high of 56 degrees. I’ll be happy if it doesn’t snow.

Apron Order of Operations

I need to write down my apron pattern steps and not assume that I will be able to remember the order. On the first one, I forgot to put the pocket on before I sewed the front and back together. I added it afterward, but I like it better when the pocket stitching does not show on the reverse side.

On the second one, I forgot that I have to bind the top of both apron pieces together. And that, boys and girls, is why we have seam rippers.

By the sixth one, I might know what I am doing. Oh well, they are aprons and not heirloom sewing.

This is the second apron:

The fabric is a Lori Holt home dec canvas that I bought at the small quilt store in Spokane. I had enough that I was able to indulge my OCD tendencies and match the pattern on the pocket perfectly to the pattern on the front. And for this one, I did make bias binding. The difference is subtle, but I’ll do it that way from now on. Making bias binding is a matter of folding an 18” by width of fabric piece on the bias and cutting it with my Accuquilt strip cutter. Easy-peasy.

*****************************

We got rain yesterday, as anticipated. I am glad I got the peas and collard greens planted on Tuesday. And I was able to get some grass seed spread on a few bare spots in the front yard yesterday afternoon before the deluge started.

Mother Nature is dogging us all the way to this plant sale. The forecast low for the next several nights is close to freezing. We’ve never kept the heaters going this late into the season.

This weather has caused a peculiar sort of disorientation—the calendar says it is May, but I have gotten used to calibrating my schedule by the seasons, so part of me thinks it’s still March or April, because this is the kind of weather we have in March and April. Every so often, I realize that we’re actually two months further into the year and it makes me a bit dizzy.

*****************************

I picked up the Renee pants pattern at the quilt store yesterday. I need to make a muslin—test version—of the pattern, but I’d rather not use $20 a yard ponte for that because the pants require two yards. I remembered that Joanns had some hot pink ponte in the clearance bin, so I stopped in and got it for $5 a yard. With my luck, the pants will fit perfectly and then I’ll have to find some place to wear hot pink pants, LOL.

The Garden is Inching Along

I got the peas planted yesterday and a row of collard greens put in. I briefly considered putting the corn out—my corn is already over a foot tall in pots in the greenhouse—but with the forecast for snow tomorrow morning, I think I will wait until next week.

Susan, Elysian, and I are getting everything in place for the plant sale this weekend. I’m kind of a jaded gardener at this point, so it’s fun to be around Elysian and be infected by her enthusiasm for growing stuff. We’re going to have a good time on Saturday visiting with hopeful gardeners. I’m planning to buy a few new varieties of plants at the sale, too, to add to my garden this year. And once this plant sale is behind us, I can concentrate on getting everything put in and prettied up for the garden tour in July.

In the meantime, I am making aprons:

I am as particular about my aprons as I am about the rest of my clothing. I like full-length aprons with pockets. I settled on this design for myself after I realized I was reaching for the same apron over and over again. This is based on an apron my MIL gave me many years ago—so long ago that whatever was printed on the front of it has washed off. That apron is made of a beefy twill fabric. I like the fact that the ties come down from the neckband. My waist is in a weird place, so anything that ties horizontally around my waist usually doesn’t sit where it is supposed to and requires me to be tugging at it constantly. I don’t have to do that with this style of apron.

I’m still refining the design. On the next one, I think I may make a pocket that spans the whole width of the front. I made double-fold binding from black Kona, although I cut it on the crossgrain of the fabric thinking it would be stretchy enough. Eh. I should probably make bias binding for the next one. That’s easy enough to do on my Accuquilt cutter. This apron still needs the ties, and those will be made from 1” wide double-fold binding, also out of black Kona. I bought a special 50mm wide bias tape maker from Sailrite to make that. Some 2” wide twill tape folded over would work, too, but that is hard to find in colors other than black and white.

This apron is also reversible. The front is a home dec canvas and the backs will be whatever coordinating remnant I can find in the stash that is large enough. I’ve got another one of these that I made using some coated cotton for the front. I like that it’s water resistant.

I have half a dozen of these cut out, and once they are all put together, I should have plenty of aprons to keep me covered this summer.

****************************************

I talked to the class coordinator at the quilt store south of town yesterday. This was the store that hosted the Bernina Mystery Make, and several of the students who were in that class want to make the Jalie Renee pants pattern:

Sandra, the Mystery Make instructor, wore a pair of these to class She had made them from some sparkly Robert Kaufman ponte knit. When I was at the store last week, the owner was meeting with the fabric rep and she put a bolt of that same fabric on the order. I have the pattern and some ponte and will need to make up a pair of these soon so that we know whether the class needs to be three hours, six hours, or two sessions. (I may change mine to a boot-cut style, but we’ll see.)

I see a lot of rain in the forecast for the next week—which is great, because we need it—so I should have plenty of sewing time when I am not out in the garden. My Wonderfil teacher thread order came the other day. I am itching to make up samples with those threads to see how they look.

We Are Weeks Behind

I think spring may finally be on the way. I am trying not to obsess about how far behind I am and how much work needs to be done before the garden tour in July. I will just do the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.

I found the first potato plant:

The morels are popping up (two weeks late!):

At this rate, summer should arrive around the end of July or so. Winter, of course, will arrive right on schedule.

Yesterday was overcast, but in the 60s. I repaired the pea trellis and got that row ready for planting. I put in the rest of the lettuce starts and labelled more plants for the sale. I trimmed up my lavender hedges. I checked on the spot where I want to put the new herb garden, although that will have to wait until everything else is planted.

The weather forecast has improved for Saturday. I am hoping people feel the urge to get out and shop for plants.

I’ll have to cut the grass soon. The husband had the tractor out a couple of weekends ago and was running it around the yard with the wagon, so it should be all ready to go.

**************************

My sewing area has shelves:

I could use three times this much shelf space, honestly, but this is good. I may have to move the bed out of this room. In order for that to happen, though, A Series of Other Things has to happen, some of which I need the husband’s help with. Ideally, I’d like to have both the serger and coverstitch machines in here.

I took out a stack of aprons I cut a few months ago. I desperately need new ones for myself, so I am going to finish them before I work on any other sewing projects.

**************************

We’ve received an offer from the insurance company for the loss of the truck and trailer. We are still waiting to hear about the tools. We’re dealing with Safeco/Liberty Mutual on the other end and there have been some hiccups with agents losing paperwork and getting fired. I think we will come out okay in the end, though, and it will be good to have that all settled.

Date Night Disappointment

I spent a couple of pleasant hours in the greenhouse yesterday morning, organizing and labelling plants for the sale. It was a chilly day outside; I don’t think we broke 50 degrees. The husband and I walked out and looked at the potato patch. Nothing is up yet, although the lettuce I planted out there doesn’t seem to mind being snowed on. It’s doing fine. I have another tray of starts to plant this week. We’ll be eating plenty of salads if nothing else.

After lunch, I knocked out the second Cookin’ in Color Apron:

I can make one in about an hour and a half, start to finish. That’s important to know for pacing the class. Because I now have my piping feet (for both sergers), I was able to put the zipper in using the L860. Eh. I stand by my assertion that just because you can do something using a serger, that doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for the job. This pattern, however, does do a great job of teaching and reinforcing serger skills.

**********************************

The husband and I had date night last night. We struggle to find good places to eat. The little restaurant closest to us has a long history of boom and bust. It seemed to be doing really well for the past couple of years under new ownership, but their chef—who was only in his late 30s or early 40s—died unexpectedly in January. The owners announced about a month ago that they were closing permanently. Workers have been putting a new roof on the building this week, though. Perhaps someone else bought it and will open another restaurant.

We decided to go to Backslope Brewing, up toward Glacier Park. The husband loves their Foreman Stout and usually brings home a couple of growlers to enjoy during the week.

I wonder if Backslope has new owners. We walked in and were offered two seats at the bar—which we didn’t want—so the hostess showed us to a table. This used to be a very cute place, but no longer. For some reason, they’ve cut the number of tables by two-thirds, and each table is separated by a large, clear plastic divider. No other restaurants in the Flathead are doing this. The husband commented that the dividers were fairly useless, especially because they initially offered to seat us at the bar where there are no dividers and a lot more people milling around. The waitress, a woman about my age, seemed to be more interested in flirting with the husband than she was in doing her job. (He was clueless, so her efforts—although annoying—were entertaining.) The whole atmosphere was really depressing. They also scaled back their menu and removed the husband’s favorite burger. I had the Sesame Almond Salad from the specials menu, which was so good I practically licked the plate, but that was the only positive. I’m not sure we’ll be going back there. I don’t know how they can stay in business operating in such a manner. Tourist season will tell, I suppose.

No date night would be complete without a trip to Tool World, so that’s where we headed after dinner. The husband had a Lowes birthday gift card from my mother burning a hole in his pocket. We also got the shelving for DD#2’s room and he’s going to install it for me today. I’ll be able to get more of my sewing stuff organized.

**********************************

I’ll be focusing on plant sale prep this week. I also have to get my snow tires taken off and the summer tires put on, although I think I need to buy a new set of summer tires. I know a certain little boy who prefers the BMW to be driving in Sport mode if he goes anywhere with me, and I can’t do that unless I have the summer tires on it.

Please Stop Snowing

I know we need the moisture, but there is a big difference, crop-wise, between moisture that comes in the form of rain and that which comes in a form like this:

That was yesterday morning as I was getting ready to leave for town.

May and June are typically the rainy months in Montana. I’d be happy for rain, because rain would mean that the ground had warmed up. I hope the potatoes are not freezing and rotting in the ground. I haven’t planted peas yet. I think the only way I will get beans to grow this year is to sprout them and plant them in pots in the greenhouse. They should grow quickly and then I can transplant them into the garden. Beans are going to be the first item on my list after the plant sale, when I have room in the greenhouse again.

I had to wake the husband up at 4:30 this morning—on a day when I had hoped to let him sleep in—because it was 25 degrees when I woke up. I was worried about the plants in the greenhouse. In addition to the propane heater, we have a backup diesel heater in there because the propane heater sometimes shuts itself off in the middle of the night. The diesel heater is supposed to go on if the temperature drops below 70 degrees inside, but we can’t take any chances, not with so much of the plant sale inventory out there. He got dressed and the two of us hiked over to make sure everything was okay.

[Why didn’t I go by myself? There are bears and mountain lions out there. It would be stupid of me to be wandering around in the dark alone at that hour.]

This is a discussion that pops up in the homesteading forums from time to time. A lot of people think that if there is some kind of societal collapse, all they need to do is put a few seeds in the ground and poof!—they’ll be able to feed themselves. Well, good luck with that. I’ve been gardening for most of my adult life and it’s not that easy. And we have a greenhouse and the ability to heat it.

I will breathe a sigh of relief when the plant sale is over. This has been a challenging spring.

*************************************

The husband told me over dinner last night that two of the concrete suppliers in town can’t get cement. (Cement is an ingredient in concrete—the two terms are not synonymous, but I try not to be pedantic about it.) That is going to bring some jobs to a grinding halt. Fortunately, the concrete company the husband uses has a contract with the cement supplier who can still get it. His jobs aren’t in danger, although his concrete supplier will be helping to bolster the supply to the other companies.

*************************************

If I had to have a cold, this was a good week to have one. I didn’t feel (as) guilty about the downtime and about not being outside working in the garden. The cold didn’t hang around long, thankfully. I felt close to normal yesterday, although I still have a cough. I’m working hard to stay on top of that so it doesn’t turn into something else.

I delivered the first sample apron to the store for display and e-mailed the class information to the store owner to put on the website. The other store got a shipment from Bernina this week and I was able to pick up the extra feet for my serger.

I also made myself another top on Thursday:

This is Burda 6315. I made this one just after Christmas, using some leftover sweatshirt fleece, to see how I liked the pattern. I liked it well enough to want to make it again, but with some modifications. I lengthened it by about 8”. I also narrowed the sleeves and made them fit more closely at the wrists. I am particular about how my sleeves fit. I hate things that are floppy, but I don’t like tight ribbed cuffs, either. My preference is for closely-fitting hemmed cuffs. These are perfect. The fabric is a cozy French terry but I can’t remember where I got it.

I wore this all day yesterday. The husband was laughing at me yesterday morning because I was dancing around the kitchen exclaiming with joy about having clothing that fits me perfectly. Of course, he hasn’t spent years suffering through pants that don’t come up high enough, tops that don’t come down far enough, and clothing in colors that make him look like death warmed over.

An Apron and a Top

The husband and I both have colds—I went from the fall of 2019 all the way until January 2022 without so much as a sniffle, but both he and I have been plagued by upper respiratory gunk since the first of this year. I think this is cold #3. He’s just about back to normal. I’m going to hang out here for one more day before I venture out again. This hasn’t been the most productive week and I am tired of the downtime.

I finished the first of two class aprons yesterday. This is the Cookin’ in Color Apron by Sue O’Very.

I wish now that I had chosen a red zipper instead of the aqua one. I was trying to pick up the aqua in the main print. This is fine for a class sample, though. The fabric is all Bonnie and Camille—Smitten and Early Bird and maybe one other line. Honestly, this combo looked better together when the fabric was on the bolts, but this is done and off the list. I still have a second one to do for the other store, but I will wait for the piping foot to arrive.

I also finished the second iteration of the Liz Claiborne knot top based on the one I purchased in Seattle last month:

I still have to hem it but I need to move that teal thread over to the coverstitch machine, and before I do that, I have to hem something with the thread that is already in the coverstitch . . . and that’s how that goes.

This is another “tried and true” pattern. I plan to make at least two more short-sleeved versions and at least one long-sleeve version (definitely in black). One of the short-sleeved versions will be out of a bright multi-color Art Gallery print that one of the quilt stores just happened to have on hand. I was in that store recently when the owner was meeting with her fabric rep, and I got to sit in on the decision-making and ordering process. I appreciate that both quilt store owners are willing to go out on a limb a bit and order knit fabric for my classes. It’s a risk for them to carry specialty fabrics but they are willing to have knits on hand if they have someone teaching serger classes.

I put in my first Wonderfil order as a teacher. It was a small order—a thread pack and half a dozen sample spools—and the rep asked me if I was sure I didn’t want to order anything else. I told her that this was good for now as I am still trying to get my feet under me with these classes. I’ve also got to figure out a better storage/organization system for all these threads. I have large cones, small cones, 40wt, 30wt, 12wt, and 8wt threads, some plain and some metallic. Sergers eat a lot of thread.

I am discovering even more things to like about the Bernina L860—thoughtful features like a presser foot that swings to the left to facilitate needle changes, the onboard manual with built-in videos, a “Creative Consultant” that makes suggestions for stitches based on various fabrics, integrated tool storage in the door, etc.

**********************************

Spring is coming along, slowly. It didn’t snow yesterday, so that was a plus. The grass is finally starting to grow. I may be toodling around on the tractor by this time next week. The baby velociraptors (the chicks) are getting bigger every day. The hummingbirds finally arrived and have been gorging themselves at the feeders. I need to walk out today and take a look at the lettuce and strawberries I planted two weeks ago to see if they survived the snowfall.

A Review of the L860

I got in some quality time with the new serger yesterday. I really like it. When Bernina designs something, they don’t just assume what their end-users want and then shove it down their throats. Instead, they gather together a group of sewists and ask them what they would like. This machine reflects that level of consideration.

The new serger is quiet. It is almost as quiet as my industrial serger.

It has a knee lift for the presser foot (not shown in the picture). I have a knee lift for my Janome 6600P, although I’ve never used it because it feels awkward to me. We were told in the Mystery Make class to get used to “driving” the foot pedal with our left foot and operating the knee lift with our right leg. I could make myself do that—it would be akin to driving a car with a manual transmission—but this serger is currently sitting on a sewing machine cabinet and the knee lift doesn’t have enough room to move back and forth due to the drawers on the right. I will try the machine on the table that I use for my Accuquilt cutter (a plastic folding one from Costco) and see if that’s comfortable. I suspect that if I could get used to it, the knee lift would be a game changer.

The extension table came standard and it’s wonderful. I like not having to prop up the work at the left side to keep it from dragging. The only thing better would be to have this machine in a cabinet where the extension table sits flush with the surface and forms a flatbed.

I didn’t think I would care about the air-threading capability but it’s very nice. Literally all you have to do is press down the foot pedal, hold the thread over the vacuum port and whoosh!—it sucks the thread through the machine and spits it out by the presser foot. Brilliant.

The nicest feature, though, is that Bernina didn’t make these sergers so idiot-proof that they aren’t adjustable. I’ve seen that with a few of the other brands. In an attempt to make their machines more user friendly, other manufacturers took away the ability to make any adjustments. If anything, Bernina made these machines easier to adjust in small increments and I appreciate that. Like the Q20, this machine has a touch screen and electronic controls. The first thing I did was to slow the speed down from 1500 stitches per minute to 1000 spm, LOL. I’m good, but 1500 spm is a bit high even for me.

I bought the set of presser feet that go with this serger, but they are on backorder. That was a bit of a problem yesterday while making the apron. The first step is to put the zipper into the front pocket.

[The husband asked why an apron needed a front zipper pocket and I said that this was a pattern intended to teach serging skills, but a front zipper pocket is also a good place for a phone.]

The best way to insert a zipper with a serger is using a piping foot. The piping foot has a groove underneath:

The teeth of the zipper ride in that groove. I tried with the regular presser foot and the foot kept bumping up against the teeth of the zipper.

I don’t have the piping foot for the Bernina. I don’t have a piping foot for my Juki domestic serger, either, but I ordered one yesterday. The Juki is the machine that is going to go back and forth with me to class. If I have students in class who don’t have piping feet for their machines, I want to have mine available for them to use.

I cheated a bit and put in the zipper with my sewing machine. It’s literally the first step and I want to get these aprons done and off my list.

My comment to the husband was that this is one of those instances when just because everything can be done on a serger, that doesn’t mean that a serger is the best—or only—tool for the job. The intent of this pattern is that everything be done on the serger. That works, but I found half a dozen places on the apron where I would have liked to have added topstitching with the sewing machine. If I were making the apron for myself, I would have done that.

I still have to attach the waistband to the apron. I ran out of time yesterday. This part of the pattern suggests using a decorative thread in the upper looper, so I’m going to try the 8wt Razzle rayon thread from Wonderfil.

Winter in May

It snowed again yesterday. All day. I’m starting to wonder if we will have a gardening season at all this year. We’ve had cool springs before, but nothing like this in recent memory. We had one year when it snowed 3” on June 10, but that was rather a freak event. I’d estimate that we’re a good month behind right now. My grapes should be leafing out and I haven’t even had a chance to prune them yet.

The long-range forecast for the rest of the month isn’t awful, but it isn’t warm, either.

Every year is different, but this year seems really different.

**************************

I received a phone call yesterday that I’ve been looking forward to getting. Before I left for Seattle, I applied to join the Wonderfil Teacher Program. The quilt store south of town carries Wonderfil threads. I think they are some of the best on the market. I still love Aurifil for piecing on my Necchi—Italian thread for an Italian machine—but the Wonderfil Konfetti may be my new favorite quilting thread for the Q20. And their decorative threads for serging are amazing. The SoftLoc wooly polyester makes the most beautiful rolled hem edgings.

The coordinator for the teacher program called yesterday afternoon to tell me they had approved my application. She and I visited for about 20 minutes. Wonderfil provides all kinds of support for teachers who use their threads, including free class handouts and custom thread kits. They see this program as being an adjunct to their retailers, not a replacement, and I had already let the owner of the quilt store know that I had applied. I am currently the only teacher in Montana.

**************************

I am prepping a pattern for an upcoming serger class—I have to make two of these, one for each store:

This is the Cookin’ in Color pattern, designed by Sue O’Very. It happened to work out that both stores suggested this as a class. The pattern is designed to teach several serger techniques and I think it will be a fun make. And you know how much I love aprons.

Socializing with Pie

I spent most of Saturday morning making six pies to take to the pie social. I wanted to do some that were a bit out of the ordinary, so I chose oatmeal, cherry macaroon, fudge, German chocolate, butterscotch, and chocolate shoofly. I made them early enough in the day to let them cool, then loaded them into the car and headed to the school, which is up the road about four miles.

There are two buildings on this campus: the 1927 schoolhouse which is undergoing renovations, and the 1950s-era “library,” which has a kitchen, two bathrooms, the smaller room used by our sewing group, and a larger room for the current community library. We had set up card tables in the library portion so people could eat in there and enjoy the music provided by the Swan Jammers. The pie, chili, and quesadilla serving stations were set up in the sewing room:

That is my friend Sarah. She read my blog even before she and her husband moved here from Washington state last year. She has become a beloved member of our Thursday sewing group. I joked with her that she read a blog and the next thing she knew, she was serving pie at the pie social (and did a great job).

[Some people move to Montana and never fit in. Some people, like Sarah, move to Montana and it’s like they’ve always lived here.]

We haven’t had a pie social for two years because of the pandemic and weren’t sure what to expect. This one was a rousing success despite the rain and cold weather. We’ll have another one in early September. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going.

*************************************

I have not had time to try out the new serger, although I should have some time this week to do so. Both quilt stores have decided on specific classes (yay). I need to get those class samples and handouts made and knock out a few more tops.

I really ought to be out in the garden working by now, but it snowed again yesterday. This is getting old.

Knot Top Success

I had great plans for yesterday, all of which went out the window once the day got rolling. The day wasn’t a complete loss, though.

The husband left for work and I set about seeing if I could assemble the front of the knot top. Amazingly, I put it together correctly on the first attempt. (If you knew just how spatially challenged I am, you would understand what an achievement that is.)

The only thing left to do on this piece is some topstitching around the knot opening, where those red clips are. The function of topstitching in that spot is to keep the facing from rolling up into the knot area, although the facing is secured in the center front seam as well.

I still have to trace the back and sleeve pieces onto pattern paper, cut them out of the fabric, and assemble the rest of the top, but the hard part is done. I’m delighted that I will be able to make additional tops like this one, both long and short sleeved. And maybe a tunic or dress after I modify the pattern a bit.

After that big win, I headed into town to get a few things to make pies for the Mountain Brook Pie Social this afternoon. I was going to pick up what I needed on Thursday, because I was in town then, but I spent more time at the DMV than I planned to and had to get home in time to do a phone interview for the interim pastor position at our church. (Our pastor is retiring this year.) I thought I’d make a quick run to the grocery store, come home, and bake pies.

[Baking is not one of my talents, although I am capable enough to be able to knock out a few pies when the occasion calls for it. I asked around to see what kinds of pies other people are baking and chose some unusual ones for my contribution.]

Just after I got home with the pie supplies, the phone rang. It was the owner of the quilt store where I purchased my new serger. When I stopped in on Thursday to pay for it, she said she thought the shipment would arrive some time next week. It showed up yesterday morning. Did I want to come in and get my machine?

I hate to make multiple trips to town in a day. I even hate to go more than a couple of times a week. I didn’t want to wait another three or four days, though, as I have a stack of projects ready to serge. I put the groceries away and got back on the road.

[But wait, there’s more.]

I brought the machine home and started to unbox it, only to discover that the store owner had sold me the wrong machine. Bernina has three L-series serger models. Tera has the L890, which is the combination serger/coverstitch machine with electronic controls. The L860 is similar to the L890, also with electronic controls but without the coverstitch feature. The L850 has manual controls. I had decided on the L860 because I already have a coverstitch machine. The machine in the box was the L890.

I called the store. The owner was very apologetic. It was a simple mistake, easily remedied, but I had to take the machine back to exchange it. I loaded up the car for my third trip to town.

By the time I got home, I had enough time to feed chickens, check on plants, make dinner, and unbox the machine before heading out to help set up for the pie social.

I have not had a chance to sew anything on it. Perhaps I will today, after the pies are baked and cooling.

****************************

It’s pouring rain at the moment, which may put a wrench in the pie social plans and force everyone to do their socializing inside our community center. We desperately need the moisture, though. I’d also prefer rain over snow at this point. Apparently, Kalispell had the coldest April on record this year. While I don’t want the excessive heat we have had the past couple of years, some warmth would be welcome, especially for the garden.

A Convoluted Mess

I did not pick up my new serger yesterday after all. So many people wanted to buy one after the Mystery Make class last weekend that the store sold out. The store owner made an appropriate judgment call and sold the in-stock machines to people who didn’t yet have sergers. She did not think I would mind waiting until she got the next shipment because I have multiple machines. And it’s not like I don’t have plenty of other projects to work on.

I’ll describe to you what I did instead, as it’s a perfect example of the idiocy of bureaucracy and what happens when the government gets so unwieldy that it’s at risk of toppling over from its own bloat:

The husband bought his new work truck on February 25. The bank had given us the loan paperwork as well as a check made out to Flathead County for the dealer to send in with the title paperwork. We expected that the dealer would file the paperwork, the county would send us a postcard saying it was in Kalispell, and I would go in and finish the filing and pick up plates for the truck.

Nope.

A few weeks after we bought the truck, we heard from the dealer that they tried to do that and and were told that they now have to go through a company called MVD Express, located in Billings, to complete the filing. They could no longer deal directly with the county.

More weeks pass. We hear nothing. The husband is now driving around on expired temporary tags.

The other day, we got a FedEx envelope from MVD Express in Billings. The envelope contained all the paperwork from the dealer and a hand-scribbled note at the bottom of the dealer letterhead saying that we have to fill out the “MVI” form and send it back to complete the filing. That’s it. There was no indication to whom the hand-scribbled note was addressed, and because it was on the dealer letterhead, I couldn’t figure out if it was written by the dealer or this outfit in Billings.

I tried calling the county. They won’t even answer the phone, and in fact, the call disconnects if you press anything other than the numbers in the automated menu.

I called MVD Express. I got some woman who snippily informed me that it wasn’t form “MVI” but form “MV1” that I needed to fill out and send back. I snippily informed her back that perhaps next time, they could write a proper cover letter instead of hand scribbling a note. She then said that either I could fill out the form and send it back to Billings for processing, or I could take a chance and take all the paperwork to the county and see if they would complete it.

By this time, the husband was beside himself. We still haven’t heard from the insurance company on the settlement and he is running out of patience. He talked to a friend of his who also bought a work truck recently and went through the same thing. Apparently, because Montana has no sales tax, the state has been overrun with people who form an LLC here to buy equipment so they don’t have to pay the sales tax. As a result, the state hired this company in Billings to process all LLC equipment purchases requiring titles. The husband’s friend did say that he was able to take his paperwork in to the county and they completed the filing for him. He suggested I go there, talk to the person at the information desk, and see what they advised.

So many people have moved to Montana in the past couple of years that the county outgrew its old vehicle department. A few weeks ago, they moved the office to a new location. The new location is nice, but past experience indicated that I’d probably have to take a number and wait in a long line to actually file the paperwork.

I got to the office at 9:30 am and took a number, just in case. My number was D45. They were on C67. I overheard the young man standing in front of me ask how long the wait was, and the woman at the information desk told him it would be at least 2-3 hours.

[This young man reeked so strongly of marijuana that I thought I’d probably walk out of there high myself, and I was standing 6 feet away from him. I don’t care what you do on your own time as long as you don’t force me to participate.]

Fortunately (I guess), the county has now instituted a notification system. I was able to scan a QR code with my phone which linked to the county DMV website where they kept a running list of the numbers currently being served. The woman at the information desk looked at my paperwork and said she thought they could finish the filing there because we were locals. She also noted that they had just received the paperwork for the two trailers the husband bought last week to replace the dump trailer that was destroyed in the accident. I asked her if I could take care of all three simultaneously, and she said, “No, we have a limit of two transactions per window, so you’ll have to wait and take another number at least 10 numbers after the one you currently have and do them as two separate transactions.”

Oh, the absurdity.

I went and ran my errands while keeping one eye on the DMV website to make sure I didn’t miss my number. There is no way to determine how quickly your number will come up. I got back to the DMV office a little after 1 pm and went to the lobby to wait.

About 20 minutes later, they called my number. I went to the window, explained the situation, and handed all the paperwork to the woman behind the glass. She started to go through it, looked something up on her computer, and then said to me, “I can’t process this because your company is not listed with the Montana Secretary of State.” I responded that it had to be, because I paid the $20 fee to update the listing last month, as I do every April. She insisted we weren’t a legitimate company. I insisted we were. When she asked, “When did you move from Whitefish to your current location?” I said, “Are you sure you have the correct company? We’ve been at our current address since 1994.” She turned the monitor around and I saw that she had pulled up a company with a similar name. I asked her to search on our full company name and lo and behold—the listing popped up.

[She was very apologetic and I attempted to be gracious about it.]

After another ten minutes—now four hours after I first took a number—and more apologies, I left with the plates. I was told that they would e-mail me the information for the trailer titles and that I could process those transactions online so I don’t have to go through this again.

Your laugh for the day:

And because I need to have a thumbnail pic for my Facebook link, here is the next pattern I plan to cut out and make:

This will be done in the black rayon blend sweatshirt fabric that Joanns started carrying this spring.

A New and Improved Knot Top Pattern

One of the Liz Claiborne pieces I bought in Seattle was a knot-front top made from a rayon/spandex knit. As soon as I tried it on, I was reminded how much I like this style. I would have bought one in every color except that it only came in black and an orange-y coral. DD#2 nixed the coral.

[I took the girls with me one time to shop for a bathing suit. I think DD#2 was about 4 at the time, but she’s had definite clothing opinions from a young age. I tried on a bathing suit and she looked at it and gave me the thumbs down sign. At least I can trust her to tell me the truth.]

I should have bought two of these tops in Seattle, but I didn’t, so I came home an ordered another one. I took the second one apart to determine how it was constructed and to make myself a pattern from it. This is the second time I’ve reverse engineered one of these tops. I made this one last summer using a pattern I copied from another Liz top in my collection that had seen better days:

The fabric was a linen/rayon knit I snagged from the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby for $3 a yard. I expected this one to be a prototype, but I wear it quite a bit. I wore it last weekend for the serger class. I had every intention of making a few more like it this summer, but then I found the black top in Seattle. The construction of the black one is similar but with a few improvements. I’ll talk about the differences in a moment.

Burda has this pattern, 6911, which I made the muslin for:

I don’t like this one as much as the Liz version. For one thing, the construction is much more complicated—so complicated that spatially-challenged Janet had to watch a YouTube video of someone else making it in order to understand how it went together. The pattern has facings to finish the top bodice edges, but the facing extends down and becomes part of the bust darts. That doubles the amount of fabric in the front bodice. I don’t need the extra padding there, believe me.

The issue with the Liz Knot Top 1.0 (Hobby Lobby version) was that the top edges of the front and back piece were hemmed with a narrow hem. Hemming knits that way is do-able, but tricky. The fabric stretched as I was hemming it. The neckline has sprung back into shape after a few trips through the laundry, but I am not a fan of that technique.

The Liz top I bought in Seattle features facings on the front bodice pieces to get around that problem. (The back piece still has to be hemmed.) A facing also hides the wrong side of the fabric, which otherwise would be exposed in the knot. Unlike the Burda top, though, the facings in the Liz top don’t extend all the way down the front, nor is there a bust dart. I’ll take some pictures as I make this new version and hopefully, that will help illustrate what is going on.

I made a pattern from the deconstructed top. These are the front bodice pieces of the Liz Knot top 2.0:

The facings are included in the bodice pieces; they fold down from the top, which is at the right side of the photo.

[This is another rayon/spandex knit from the clearance bin at Joann Fabrics. I’ve already made myself one top from it.]

The tricky part, now, is going to be finishing edges and putting these bodice pieces together in the proper order, because there are a number of steps to take to make the knot. Fortunately, I have the other top to use as a guide. If this works, I expect I’ll be making several summer tops from this pattern, in colors of which DD#2 approves. These will be done on the new serger, which I am picking up from the quilt store today.

***************************************

The influx of rodents into the greenhouse seems to have slowed; we’ve only caught one in the past couple of days. Maybe the other mice got the memo.

We’re full to bursting with plants in there. I dug up two dozen lavender seedlings from the garden yesterday and potted them up for the sale, along with some salvias. I still have to do lemon balm and bee balm and echinacea.

Come Join Us in Mountain Brook!

When we bought our property in 1994, we had no idea that we were settling into a part of the Flathead Valley with a thriving local community. Our area, which runs along the base of the Swan Range, is known as Mountain Brook. Logging families moved into this area in the early 1900s. Back then, a 17-mile trip to Kalispell took much longer than half an hour and involved a ferry ride across the Flathead River. The people living here had to rely on each other to survive. For several years, I belonged to the Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club—still in existence—which has a long history of providing food and entertainment to residents, by hosting activities like Pinochle Parties and an annual Harvest Supper.

The original Mountain Brook School campus is situated in the middle of our community, at 2353 Foothill Rd. The land was donated in 1927 by a local family and the school built with volunteer labor. (That is how many projects get done around here.) That school was still in use for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades into the late 1990s. After all the grades were moved to the main elementary school campus, the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation was created in 2002 to help preserve the historic campus, although it was still managed by the school district. The campus was recently donated to the Foundation, which continues to work to restore it and make it a hub of our community activities.

Some of the events that are held at the Community Center or sponsored by the Homestead Foundation include:

• Holiday craft parties for kids, such as the recent Easter Egg dyeing event.

• Spring Clean-Up Day

• A pie social in the spring and fall

• The plant sale coming up on May 21st

• New this year—a yard sale at the campus where participants can purchase a 20’ x 20’ spot to sell items, June 25th

• The 2nd Annual Garden Tour on July 16th

• Presentations and classes given by local community members

• Thursday meetings of the Mountain Brook Craft Co-Op

• Monthly meetings of the Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club

You don’t have to live in Mountain Brook to participate! We welcome involvement from people across the Flathead Valley. This Saturday is our spring Pie Social from 4-7 pm. We will offer chili, quesadillas, homemade pies, and ice cream. The Swan Jammers will be there to provide toe-tapping music. The Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club has donated this 75” x 75” Flower Glass quilt to be raffled off at our September pie social. The quilt will be on display and raffle tickets will be for sale at the pie social.

Please visit the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation’s Facebook page or the website for additional information.

****************************************

I spent four hours out in the greenhouse and garden yesterday morning. I planted lettuce starts, half of the strawberries, and re-potted seedlings for the upcoming plant sale on May 21. We are going to have lots of plants for sale! The weather is supposed to be nice through tomorrow, so I’ll be out digging up even more plants for the sale from the herb garden this week.

I also finished up some class samples for upcoming serger classes and pulled out patterns for the clothes I’d like to make. One of the older ladies at church asked me if I’d bind a quilt for her—I love to bind quilts—so I made the binding and attached it yesterday and now I have handwork for a few evenings this week.

Invasion of the Forest Animals, Spring 2022 Edition

We caught five mice in the greenhouse over the weekend and one in the house. The one in the house ran across my office floor yesterday morning and then disappeared. As I walked into the living room to collect my music from the piano so I could leave for church, I saw it dash along the edge of the baseboard, right into the trap sitting next to the piano.

RIP, mouse.

I don’t have a lot of tolerance for rodents. I won’t put up with ground squirrels in the garden. Most of the mice we’ve caught have been in the basement, and even those have been rare lately. When our dog, Rusty, was old and senile, he would take mouthfuls of food out of his bowl and drop them all over the house—in places I didn’t know about—and we had a big mouse problem; hence, the network of traps.

I’ve also got ants in the kitchen. I’ve been wiping things down with a borax solution, but I may have to go hunt for the nest. We had this problem one year and there was a huge nest under the front porch. The husband eradicated it with the pressure washer. Unorthodox, but it worked.

The robins have begun nest-building in earnest:

I couldn’t figure out what they were doing by starting a nest in every single one of the rafter bays, so I watched them for a few minutes. I think they just get confused about where they started. Every rafter bay probably looks the same to them. Eventually, they will get a whole nest built in one bay and have some babies.

I like animals, I really do. I just don’t want them living in my house or eating my food.

*************************************

The husband planted potatoes yesterday. I went across the road to my friend Anna’s house after church and got some strawberry starts from her. I’m moving and replanting my entire strawberry bed this year and that’s on my schedule for today I also want to plant the lettuce seedlings that were in the indoor growing system and dig up and pot more herbs from the herb garden to sell at the plant sale.

[This plant sale is either going to be a bust or an overwhelming success. It brought in a little over a thousand dollars last year and my goal is to double that amount this year.]

We’re traveling around the neighborhood in style now. The husband bought us a golf cart at a recent estate sale:

I drove it over to Anna’s yesterday and he took it to have dinner with our friends Tom and Marcie last night. They graciously fed him because I had a dinner meeting to attend. I think the cart goes a whopping 3 miles per hour, but it’s going to be useful.

*************************************

We were asked not to show pictures of the mystery make from the serger class this weekend, which I why I don’t have any. I enjoyed the class very much and I hope Marianne, the store owner, invites the teacher back again next year to do another mystery make class.

I pick up my new serger from her on Thursday. I’m trying to arrange my schedule this month so that I get some sewing done early in the day, work in the garden for a few hours after it warms up, then sew a bit more. My calendar is much less crowded than it was in April. I don’t know how April got to be such a mess.

In any case, I’d like to finish the quilt projects I’ve started and get all my serger classes prepped and scheduled. I’ve also got some clothing projects planned.

The Bernina Academy Mystery Make Class

I went to the store a bit early yesterday morning to help the owner set up for the serger class. Eleven students were enrolled, including several from my Serger 101 and T-shirt classes. The teacher’s name is Sandra Swick and she lives in Coeur d’Alene. She’s a Bernina Educator and travels all over the country. I asked her how often she teaches and she told me that she is gone every weekend from about September to May, except for holidays. She doesn’t teach over the summer. That’s a grueling schedule. She must enjoy it, though. And she’s an excellent teacher.

This store has a great classroom facility, added on a few years ago:

A few students brought their own machines. The store provided some and borrowed some from customers. I got to use Tera’s machine. She has the serger/coverstitch combo model.

I was hoping Tera would be able to take the class, too, but she had already signed up for a longarm quilting workshop this weekend. I had the pleasure of sitting next to and getting to know another friend of hers, though. It’s a small world here.

This class is billed as a “mystery make,” so students don’t know the project ahead of time. Everything was provided, down to the tiniest notions. Lunch was catered. We got chocolate delivered at 3 pm when our energy started to flag.

[The husband wondered if it was possible to have a sewing class without snacks and I said I had never heard of such a thing. Do men not take classes? Do they not eat while they work?]

These classes are designed to sell machines as well as teach. I don’t begrudge the store owner that one bit. She needs to make money and I also have a vested interest in having her be successful. April is National Serger Month (who knew?) and Bernina is offering some special deals on machines. I am tempted, but I haven’t decided. I am starting to push the limits of my current Juki domestic sergers. I don’t need the combo machine, though, as I am quite happy with my Janome coverstitch.

I’m very impressed with these Berninas—more so than any other brand I’ve seen, and I’ve had a lot of different sergers come through my classes in the past year. They command a premium, but not without reason. The difference between serging on my $300 Juki and serging on a Bernina is the difference between driving a Ford Escort and a BMW 7-series. And I love my Bernina Q20 for quilting.

The husband is no help either—this is the man who never met a tool he didn’t like. He said if I want one, I should get one. I would keep my Juki sergers to take to classes with me for demos.

We’ll see. I am not an impulse buyer. I also hadn’t anticipated becoming the local serging teacher. I thought I might do a couple of basic classes and that would be the end of it. Every time the teacher showed a new technique or pattern, the other students looked at me and said, “Can you do a class on that?” I will have my hands full keeping up with all the requests, and I am teaching at both stores now.

We go back today to finish our projects. Tomorrow is May Day and my May calendar is much less crowded than April’s. The focus really needs to turn to gardening.