Back to School and New Routines

My apologies for the radio silence!  Last week we went back up to the mountains for a few days of hiking and kayaking again.  It was gorgeous weather and we had a great time.  On Monday, however it was Back To School!  My daughter is a high school sophomore this year and although she was looking forward to seeing her friends and meeting the new teachers, she had all the usual first day of school anxieties.   School starts at 8am so for my "not a morning person" daughter this is always hard!  This week the mornings have started with a thick marine layer which is keeping the temperatures more comfortable.  It was strange for me, being without her, and I missed her.  This summer was very precious, we spent a lot of time doing things together.  It's going to take me a while to settle into my different routines!  

The first day of school, I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning after being away but yesterday I spent the day sewing and working on my Etsy shop.  I finished up various pumpkins.  I have been working on two styles.  One set of pumpkins is more primitive, using beautiful hand dyed wool with hand embroidered flowers and the other set is more quirky!  When I finished and photographed the quirky ones, I realized they reminded me of Wallace and Grommet, I think it's the teeth!!  

Some of these pumpkins have been added to my Etsy shop and you can see them here.  The rest I am keeping for my booth at the Quilt Show which is coming up next month.  I can't believe how much Fall stuff is in the shops.  Our local Hobby Lobby store (a big craft supply store) is full of Fall and Christmas items.  I tend not to stock a lot of seasonal things in my Etsy shop because I don't really want any left over.  I love pumpkins though so I thought I would make these and I expect I will make a few Christmas ornaments too. This will be my second Christmas on Etsy.  Last year I was new and didn't really know what to expect.  This year I will be more prepared!    

I am very happy with how these pumpkins turned out.  I enjoyed picking out combinations of wool fabric and flower colors.