Acufactum fabrics, April Rose sneak peek & Life lately

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Hortensientraum

Dear blog friends,
just wanted to check in and say hello. We're halfway into 2020 and what an absolutely challenging year it has turned out to be. The pandemic is raging on and most of us are still self-isolating. Especially people who are naturally sociable have a hard time dealing with this. Do reach out to people whom you might feel to be suffering at home alone. Luckily we live in the digital age where it's easy to engage in "face-time" via phone. While I haven't seen any of my friends in person since March, I'm grateful they are all healthy. Same goes for my family members who live in different parts of the world. I try not to dwell on the fact that I might not see them in a very long time.

On top of everything else, we had to rush my sweet little cat to emergency surgery ten days ago. Right up to the moment she was her normal active self, the next moment she was obviously in deep pain and I discovered blood was coming out of her left eye. Turns out a tumor had been growing inside it, which couldn't be seen from the outside. Sadly, her eye had to be removed. What a traumatic experience for all of us, but especially Sumi. She is eighteen years old now, that's eighty-eight in human years, and recovery is taking longer than usual. The first few days I had to feed her by hand. I liquified some chicken with broth, but she would only eat a teaspoon. Thankfully, over the last few days she's been eating more. Also, I had to administer antibiotics. Catmoms will know how difficult this is. I tried every trick in the book. What finally worked was placing the pills in a small container with her usual dry food. Leave them in for at least 72 hours. They will take on the smell of the food.
I then cut them in half and stuck them in the tiniest piece of cooked chicken. This didn't always work on the first try, though. She's doing better today. She's walking around slowly, getting used to navigating with just one eye. My poor baby :( Needless to say I haven't slept well and I'm a bit frazzled from watching her 24/7.

Needless to say all my sewing projects are on the back burner and I'm done sewing face masks, but I couldn't resist this special request for a kid-sized mask with a Hello Kitty patch. I'm (still) a big fan myself. This really is the last one though!

I am grateful that I am able to work from home. The only times I leave the house with my mask on and keeping the required distance from other people is when I go to the post office or grocery shopping. Thankfully, the personnel and other shoppers are sticking to the guidelines. Also, for those who are wondering - I pack my products with disposable gloves on.
For those who have been waiting for newsletters/fabric updates - production has been moving slowly or even halted. At this point I can't say whether I will receive my orders this year or not.
Please bear with me!

Luckily a few fabrics from German company acufactum arrived here last week. These fabrics are all 145 cm wide (58 inches) and are certified oekotex R standard 100% cotton. These fabrics feature the most adorable, whimsical details illustrated by Daniela Drescher. You have seen the popular Pippa & Pelle summer fabric in my previous post. I know it is still early, but check out the winter version. The snow-covered cottage is so cute. And can you spot the little mouse?

Coming from acufactum later this year is the new Winter Collection featuring fluffy sheep, winter grass, cut-out ovals framing sweet children plus dots in a subtle cream, light grey and taupe colorway. I sell these fabrics in units of 25 cm (10 inches), but if you buy more I will obviously leave the fabric in one continuous piece. Btw, regular postal service to USA and Australia is still suspended, unfortunately. However, I have had success with shipments to USA using an international courier service, if you are willing to pay the increased shipping fee. Email me, if you are interested.

And last but not least, I have been collaborating with my dear friend Siobhan of April Rose Illustrations on a new post card series! After final touches have been made the designs are now off to the printers. The cards feature the inimitable style unique to April Rose products. So excited for these and can't wait to share soon! I will reveal this much...it's a Keep Calm series. Here is a sneak peak.

Thank you for reading along and I hope you enjoyed this post. And I truly hope you are taking good care of yourselves, your families and communities. Take care, until next time!