New beginnings

30 November – a special day in several ways.

One year later

Today it is one year since I left safe, well paid employment to focus entirely on Patchwork Castle. One whole year!!!! Time has really flown.

The last year has been a crazy journey. I’ve fought with serious illness that made me question leaving the security of paid sick leave and health insurance behind and experienced the highs and lows of getting a new business off the ground. But mostly the last twelve months have been full of moments of joy and contentment as I sat at my sewing machine peacefully creating some beautiful quilts, met some truly brave and inspiring people, spent lots more time with my family and friends and been able to be there for every special event and occasion for my two gorgeous children.

My order book is full for the next six months(!) and every day I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do.

Moving location

Today was also the day that I moved most of my sewing kit back home.

For the last 15 months I’ve been renting a studio at Woodend Creative Workspace in Scarborough. It’s been a fabulous place to start out, with lots of supportive people and inspiration from other creative businesses. It’s also a really beautiful building in a lovely location close to the sea.

As I’ve got busier I’ve found that trying to fit everything into school hours has become very tricky, and wished I could be based at home. So, we’ve converted our garage and now I have a beautiful and well appointed home studio! More about the renovations and the new studio in future posts… The conversion was finished at the end of last week, and has already been an absolute godsend. There’s lots to do to get my Christmas orders out so I will be spending a lot of time in there over the next few weeks. (I’ll be keeping my ‘virtual’ tenancy at Woodend so it’ll still be the place to send the clothes for your quilts and cushions, and my official business address.)

Advent and elves!

Finally, tomorrow is the start of Advent. Christmas is always a very special time for us, and this year we are taking on the Elf on the Shelf tradition.

It works like this: Santa is very busy this time of year but still needs to check who is naughty and nice so he sends a elf out to your family. This magical helper passes messages back to Santa and doesn’t miss a single great thing that you do. While elves are very good messengers, they are also very cheeky themselves and love to play hide and seek with their families, so you could find your elf in the freezer, hanging from the ceiling or hiding in your wellington boot! On Christmas Eve, the elf will fly back to the North Pole with Santa before returning again next year.

Our ‘elf’ is actually a mouse (bad planning on my part – couldn’t find an elf in the time I left myself. If I really had got myself organised I would have made one!). Can’t wait to see the children’s faces in the morning!

Movember moustaches

Let’s finish with an ending! Today was the last day of Movember, and my husband is back to his (mostly) clean shaven self! At least it was in a good cause. Here’s a cut out for you in case you missed it!

Until next time…

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