So the quieter sights of home are now being enjoyed again, after the spectacle of Vegas. I am now snuggled in for four months of sewing. I am really glad I made the trip, because I have a sneaky feeling I won’t be traveling again anytime soon and I’m not sure why.

In terms of my garden– I was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat– squirrel jaws, that is! With the assiduous use of coyote pee dust, they must have been trained to look elsewhere. Once the leaves got bigger, I think the “salad” also got too tough for the discriminating rodent palate. No first frost yet, so everything is still getting more lush by the day. Every afternoon I go out and take pictures, thinking it will be the last time– and then the next afternoon, an even better picture presents itself! I hope this cycle repeats for a couple of weeks yet. I still have roses blooming, too. We live less than a mile from the ocean– so the weather is a tad more temperate than you would think of for New England.

I headed back to the sewing room before I was even unpacked. I am NUTS about fall, and always wanted to make zen acorns. The Zen designs have a select, small group of fans that buy all of them, and there are my favorites, so it’s one of my most long running styles that I do.

I would love to make this style a block of the month, but it’s not a large enough following, so my fall back is to do the four seasons. Remember the carrot set last spring?

I’d really love to make the matching acorn table runner for a set and I have started it. I’m using Lella Boutiques Folktale fabrics which I LOVE… and my next YouTube video is going to be SHORTER and discusses applique.

I can’t thank all the people enough last week who not only read to the bottom of the last SFO email, but also took the time to go in and SUBSCRIBE to my new channel. Here’s where we stand:

It’s not that I expect to make a great deal of cash from this, but I’d like to know I’m spending the time for more that two people, heehee! The artist-in-residence has graciously consented to edit. I love the music she picks– it sounds exactly like what I hear in my head!

So you notice we are over the hump to get 1,000 subscribers, and the next thing I’m gonna ask for it that 100 GOOD WOMEN go in and just run the binding video– then, you are welcome to just walk out of the room and get on with your life while it plays. 100 GOOD WOMEN x 40 minutes will get us to the 4,000 watch hours required to GROW WITH YOUTUBE. I tried to play it on my own, but I don’t think my hours are counting towards my total. I’m not above opening a fake account and obsessively playing “Easy Mug Rug Binding”, if it comes to it. Never say never to me. xoxo

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the YouTube Channel is here:

San Francisco Stitch Co. on You Tube

I’ve never actually seen a SLOWER start to fall sewing in 19 years of business. Where are you all? In addition to supply chain issues, I’m not forecasting a whole lot of handmade gifts this year– it’s alright. Maybe we need a grinchy Christmas as a reminder of what’s important. So instead of doing Christmas designs, I made the decision to spend the time finishing Stitches of the Sea. I saw a gorgeous aquarium in Vegas– my conscience got quite a tweak!

So after months of marinating ideas (no butter, lemon, or pepper needed), I finally did something I’m happy with.

We need four pieces in two methods (QAYG and ITH), so even though the hard part is over of conceiving it, the time consuming part of testing is mostly still ahead. We will finish this, this year, bottom line. Here’s a not entirely accurate Photoshop to wet your whistle.

It would be great to start a new BOM next year– what would it be? I have a couple of ideas in my head.

“FABLE”

(based on Aesop’s stories)

“FRUIT OF THE MONTH”

(you know how I love the months)

“NOSTALGIA”

(since I am hopelessly nostalgic right now for a simpler time we all know never existed– could I take past favorite designs and really “do them up” in quilt size blocks?)

So I don’t get a lot of comments on my blog posts, which is fine, because I see that I have hundred of views, and many of you write to me privately. But if ever there was a time I’d like to hear from you it is now. Let me know what resonates for 2022.

Of course I did get back to some fun piecing last week as well! The big sunflower finally got made for the center of my Bats and Boos (free Fat Quarter Shop stitch-a-long).

I kept the pattern they gave, but used my own colors– I just wanted something a bit more colorful.

I would have loved to hand applique some pumpkin leaves in the border– they are such a pretty shape. But it’s time to get real about how much time I have– I’m going to make a flying goose border. I tried to like and accept the plain fabric border the pattern called for, but I can’t– I didn’t have anything, and I promised myself no new fabric for this.

If you sense a tad of bittersweet in this post– yup, it’s that time of year! I’ve been yearning for the projects I didn’t get to this year– I had a beautiful, big reindeer quilt block to make. A peach tree to applique on a piece from 1997. I wanted to make a swan applique block from one of the Once Upon A Time winter designs. Being 60 makes me realize that time is short– we have a super time-consuming hobby, and maybe it’s just time to be more judicious about what we choose to sew.

xoxo

Carol