Sneaky peeks and fall fun!

 I am the last one to rush away summer, but have you noticed, even if the temps are still unbearable, that it's getting a little darker at night? And the crickets are getting just that little bit more loud? And here's a very certain sign of fall, even more compelling than the leaves losing their grip on the trees...

This means it's time to gear up for fall sewing! We have spent some lazy days over the summer gathering up some nuggets of fun for you. First up, we are making up a smaller Halloween advent calendar-- one that doesn't require candy-- because I think we're all struggling with our waistline days after sitting home so much. This was our big calendar from a couple of years ago--"The Creepy Crawly Countdown." Remember it?

It can hold quite a bit of candy corn-- 
even more, I bet, if you anchor it solidly to the wall!

The new one is a petite little 9" x 14"-- perfect for kids, yourself, or small enough for a loved one in a nursing home-- so many of you have written to me to tell you that's who you make these things for. 

<3

This is what the base looks like:

And here are the little pieces you will stick on each day
with Velcro dots:

I really enjoy little projects of this type-- it is absolutely no problem to think up 31 cute designs, and I'm hoping to release this shortly after Labor Day so you have time to make it for October 1st.

I have thought of doing an "advent" calendar for every holiday, but some of them are a moving target-- like Thanksgiving-- it just wouldn't work. 

Would you like one that is a perpetual calendar? Most of the pieces would be the numbers 1-31, but there could also be birthday cakes, and special pieces for Valentine's Day and all-- you would reset it the first of each month. I'm thinking of doing this as a Christmas present set. Let me know what you think.

And next up, Road Trip!

I have easily worked my way through the first three states, so I'm pretty committed to make this journey with you. 

xoxo

After much soul searching, I decided I just can't do subscriptions--

For one thing, this might take about 18 months to work our way through-- so it would be too overwhelming to take that much money upfront. 

The other problem is-- those pesky email deliveries all have a habit of disappearing, and for 18 months after that, we will have daily requests such as " I am missing North Dakota, the third email, and the one with the mockingbird on it--can you please replace them?" So I would probably have to charge more than I'd like to cover customer service.

Instead, I am going to do ten releases of five states each-- and we're going to mix it up-- like the first five are alphabetical, but the next five will have some other theme-- like Great Lakes, or largest (or smallest) land area-- that will make it more of a mixed up and madcap adventure -- much more enjoyable in my mind. 

Adventurous!

Of course, you can just buy a single.. or make your own journey-- some have mentioned just doing the states they have lived in or visited. 

The going might be a little slow through the Christmas season, but I'm convinced I can really rev it up when the Cottages of the Month and Stitches of the Sea sets are complete at the end of the year. Look for a first release also after Labor Day-- with a nod to Gordon Lightfoot, we're calling it

"Carefree Highways"! 

Finally, I've been sketching and digitizing Cottage finishing kits- I did decide to go with just ONE cornerstone design. The 20 I had in mind just looked way too overwhelming and confusing-- we're supposed to be looking at the cottages after all.

I know some of you liked the different ones, so I may release that just as an add on, or actually it could be a set unto itself.

The sashing part is being worked on, and I'm hoping we can have that in September as well. It will be sew fun to start sewing those cottages together! My set looks GREAT... September is back-to-school, so next month's theme is WISDOM. After that there are only three to go-- do you have a word you would like to see?

There's sew much to look forward to next month, but let's not wish away summer took quickly.... here's another look at my "comical stalk"--it has now rewarded me for not snipping it off with a beautiful flower!

A great week to all...

xox

Carol