Elbow room
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months AGO
Country Fabrics owner Casey McDowall cuts the ribbon at her new building with the help of grandchildren Ellie, 7 left, and Chad, 5.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Amanda Miller stands behind the counter at Country Fabrics’ new location. Miller, who has worked at the store for five years, says her favorite thing is helping customers figure out what they want to make and how to do it.
Among the craft possibilities at Country Fabrics are freestanding lace holiday decorations.
In the back of County Fabrics’ new building, there’s a space that will be used for sewing and quilting classes once owner Casey McDowall finishes organizing the rest of the store.
A row of quilting machines at Country Fabrics. The store sells and services the machines as well as offering materials and patterns.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 12, 2026 1:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — Quilting and sewing enthusiasts can look forward to working in a little more open space at Country Fabrics’ new location on East Third Avenue.
“We have room to grow,” said owner Casey McDowall. “We have room for more shelves. We can’t keep in stock what we have, but we have room.”
McDowall bought the building in December, she said, and opened the doors in March. The inside is still a work in progress; McDowall is finding ways to make good use of the 6,500-square-foot space. There’s a row of quilting machines, shelves of fabric and examples of things customers can make around the walls. There’s also a classroom in the back where McDowall will hold sewing classes, probably in September when everything else is settled in, she said. Country Fabrics also sells and services sewing machines, she said.
“When we moved over from the other store, we didn’t open any (boxes of product) because we knew we weren’t staying, but 35 boxes of fabric came in,” McDowell said. “I think we’ve gone through at least all of them.”
Country Fabrics has been in Moses Lake for 25 years, and in fact will celebrate its silver anniversary with a re-grand opening on Saturday, McDowall said. She first opened the store at a location on Broadway next to the unused railroad tracks, she said, and then moved to a space next to what is now Planet Fitness. There Country Fabrics stayed for 17 years before circumstances forced McDowall to find another location. She tried another building on Broadway, this one downtown, but it wasn’t ideal, she said.
“I thought, ‘I’m not doing this again,’” she said. ‘Doug (Robins) helped me find this building, It had barely popped up on Facebook and my daughter-in-law said, ‘What about this building?’”
Robins showed them the building, and McDowall put a bid on it the next day, she said.
It’s been a good move, she said.
“The customers love this place, absolutely love it,” she said. “They come in and say ‘Oh, it’s so happy in here, and it’s calming.’ We decided to leave a table out and they’ll come in and sit down and visit for a while.”
There’s even a “husband corner,” where people who aren’t actually shopping or taking a class can hang out.
“We offer you coffee and things like that,” said employee Amanda Miller. “The only thing we don’t do is bring in sports.”
Miller said she didn’t know a whole lot about sewing when she applied to work at Country Fabrics five years ago, but she’s learned.
“I made a table runner in high school, and I brought that as an example to show (McDowall) that I knew how to sew,” Miller said. “And then I thought quilting can’t be too hard. So I made one, and then I made a baby quilt for my sister, and now I’m working on one for my mom and for my fiance. They’re a lot of fun. It’s addicting.”
Miller is especially fond of the freestanding lace creations on display, representing the holidays with turkeys, pumpkins and a Christmas village, she said. The patterns for those, as well as for the astonishing variety of quilts hung up on the walls, are all available for customers to try, she said.
“We love hanging up examples, so people know what they’re going for,” Miller said. “We love inspiring people. That’s our most favorite thing … My favorite part is when somebody comes in and says, ‘I want to make something; can you help me?’ We figure it out together, and it’s always so beautiful.”
Country Fabrics
Re-Grand Opening Sale
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
720 E. Third Ave.
Moses Lake
509-764-4706
mycountryfabricsml.com
Amanda Miller stands behind the counter at Country Fabrics’ new location. Miller, who has worked at the store for five years, says her favorite thing is helping customers figure out what they want to make and how to do it.
Among the craft possibilities at Country Fabrics are freestanding lace holiday decorations.
In the back of County Fabrics’ new building, there’s a space that will be used for sewing and quilting classes once owner Casey McDowall finishes organizing the rest of the store.
A row of quilting machines at Country Fabrics. The store sells and services the machines as well as offering materials and patterns.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”