The last of the summer placemats

The Kaffe Fassett collection side.

Recently I gratefully accepted that all my ongoing projects, both in writing and quilting, aren't a burden; right now I couldn't wrap my head around sorting out something new. I preface this post with that realization because it's good to embrace one's limits and other extraneous forces wafting nearby.

Now, to the placemats. I began sewing them in a rather impromptu manner a couple of months ago, having blithely purchased some gorgeous Kaffe Fassett prints. Incorporating my love for Kawandi-style stitching, as well as wanting to use up scraps for the backs, I whipped through four or five, then made my way through three or four more, employing fewer scraps for the backs because that quickly lost its shine, lol. Then I bought a wee bit more fabric (LOL) because my husband actually said he really liked one of the prints, and I found it in three other colourways! And then I found myself with only a few of the original choices left, so I prepped one, stitched it up, then found another I had prepped (Go Past Me!), sewed it, and that left one more Kaffe Fassett print that simply required a back, turning that sudden but pleasant intrusion into my sewing realm into something DONE.

What did I choose for the back? Well, let me tell you a little story about my adoration for certain Anna Maria Parry (formerly Horner) fabrics! I am not slavishly devoted to her creations, but I do like many of them, and maybe five years ago (Where has that half-decade gone???)  I picked up a few from whatever collection she had going at the time. Hindsight was the name of the prints, in two different colours, as well as in a wideback in which the print was smaller. The yellow version was what I chose yesterday, because hording it is silly. Fabric is meant to be USED. So I did. And while these summer placemats are all of a Kaffe Fassett origin, this Anna Maria mat is truly my fave.

The Anna Maria Parry side.

I ADORE the colours. I ADMIRE the design. I am ENAMORED of the whole freaking thing, LOL! I made an apron with some of the wideback, used the other colour scheme in a quilt made during 2020, but this particular print has been waiting for me to.... What makes a quilter hold tightly to their stash? We buy these fabrics because they speak to our hearts, and yet we can't let go of them, so they sit in stacks, buried under other pretties. Yet life is short and summer is too, especially here in Humboldt County. It was time to bring out that BEAUTIFUL print, stitch it sweetly, and now I can stare at it every morning until it's too dirty and goes in the wash, replaced with an equally stunning mat that will be in the rotation until October.

(When I then pull out the autumn placemats, because of course I have autumn placemats waiting....) 

I didn't plan on finishing these mats so expediently because lately that's not how the sewing rolls. Lately projects stack up, making me feel somewhat uncomfortable for all I've started, then set aside, ahem. But as I just noted, summer only lasts what feels like a fleeting glance along the North Coast. And I do love me some Kawandi stitching. And small projects means quick finishes, which feels good when so much of my sewing calls for a long-haul approach. Like writing books for a series, another ahem. These placemats were just what I needed right now as chickens no longer rule the garage, but have landed as of yesterday into their coop, HURRAY! More room for them to putter, or do whatever chicks do, and more room again in the garage, and none of them can now fly out of the brooder into said garage, DUDE! For that I am WHOLLY thankful, about as grateful as having the summer placemats completed. And, lol, for getting three ebooks onto, wait for it....

Amazon.

Yes, I have allowed distribution of one series, That Which Can Be Remembered, onto that behemoth, and no, they are not free because Amazon doesn't play that way. They are ninety-nine cents each, the minimum cost. My take from that is twenty-nine cents, if you are curious. I put them there, after much soul searching, when a dear friend noted that despite how poorly Amazon treats writers (and the planet at large), my books proffer a different world view.

 

Chicks outside the brooder and inside the coop. Now their adventures begin!

More on that in a future post. As well as how the chicks are faring in their new home. For now I won't fret all the other EPP fun that awaits, nor Kawandi quilts aching for my attention, One project is out of the way, allowing more time for others. Nothing new. Seriously. Just taking what already exists, then enjoying it for the goodness it is.