Stash Acquisition

I try to visit other fabric stores when I am traveling. Joann Fabrics and Hobby Lobby are relatively easy to find as they are usually near malls or other big box shopping areas. Independent quilt stores are a bit harder to search out, but worth the effort.

Cleveland, despite being a large metropolitan area, has fewer Joann Fabrics stores than Spokane does. There were two within reasonable driving distance (30 minutes) of my mother, and I visited both.

Fabric manufacturers produce a specific number of yards of fabric for each line released. It is very rare for them to reprint a line. I think Joanna Figuroa had a line reprinted, but I’m not sure it was even the full line, just the most popular prints. Some quilters will buy bolts of fabric from particularly sought-after designers, like Tula Pink, and hold onto them for a few years until they can sell the fabric at a hefty markup on eBay.

Our Joanns—and every Joanns on the west coast, it seems—sold out of a few prints that I’d dearly love to have more of. I was curious to see if I could find them in Ohio. Lucky for me, I did! I found two that I’d been searching for, and bought what was left on the bolts. I was surprised, too, to see that the remnant racks were full to bursting. I stocked up on quite a few pieces of knit fabric destined to be baby beanies or leggings for next year’s sale.

Hobby Lobby just opened a HUGE store in the town where I grew up. The east coast distributors must be having an easier time getting product than the west coast distributors, as that HL had no empty shelves.

My visits to those stores yielded a box of remnants which my mother shipped back to me. I meant to take a picture before I took the remnants out and washed them, so you’ll have to use your imaginations. Sorry about that. I was being efficient.

My mother also sent me some egg cartons:

She buys her eggs at Drug Mart (everyone who has ever lived in Cleveland can sing you their theme song), which is the official drug store of the Cleveland Browns. I am feeling better about the Browns since they trounced the Bengals last week.

[Interestingly, the other side of that Browns insert is the same thing, but with the old Cleveland Indians logo. I may hang on to these for posterity’s sake. The Indians are now called The Guardians, for those of you who don’t follow sports.]

Back here in Montana, I did my birthday shopping at the quilt store north of town, because they offer a discount in each customer’s birthday month. I picked up this book, which I have been meaning to order:

It’s full of photos and history. I can’t wait to start reading it.

I also bought this book:

I have Joanna Lindstrom’s coverstitch book, which is excellent, but because reference books about coverstitch machines are still thin on the ground, I thought I should have another one. My new Janome coverstitch machine is in at the store in Missoula. I was going to run down today and pick it up, but the weather is supposed to be crummy and I’d rather wait. Robin can go with me on Monday. I also need the husband to check out The Diva (my car) this weekend as it seems to be running fine but is throwing random error codes. I called Kevin at the BMW dealer in Spokane the other day and asked him what the possibility was that the electronic control module—the “brain” of the car—was about to have a seizure and die.

There was a slight pause and then he said, “Well, it’s not zero.”

That’s the worst-case scenario. It could be another bad sensor. The husband said it could also be a bad battery, although the dealer replaced the battery for me back in June when they fixed the transfer case. He will check it out this weekend and see what he can find.

I can drive DD#1’s Acura, which is still here, but it needs snow tires put on it. The husband can do that as well. The Acura is a little stick-shift sports car, but it does surprisingly well in snow. It’s hard to haul chicken feed in that car, however.

I am not at all interested in buying a new car right now, for a variety of reasons. I was hoping to drive The Diva for at least another couple of years, but that’s looking less and less likely.

The apron fabric is washed, pressed, and cut, so I’ll assemble the apron today. I also made and attached binding to the rooster wallhanging after I got home from lunch at craft co-op yesterday. I have one side left to sew down. And I have to get the body pieces quilted for the Little Poppins bag class next Tuesday. We have to have that step done before class and I have been dithering about what fabric I want to use. I finally settled on a chunk of Jane Sassaman fabric that has been aging in the stash.