How can it be September already?! I’m not sure I’m ready for the summer to end but already you can feel the evenings starting to draw in. There’s a chill in the air first thing in the morning.
The apples are ripening on the trees and my little plum tree is heavy with tiny purple plums. This is the first year we’ve had a decent crop of plums. Last year it produced exactly two plums and my son knocked one of them off with his football. He halved our fruit harvest with a single misaimed kick! This sudden surplus of fruit has drawn others to the garden, like this creature!
I know they are villains and disastrous for the native wild-life but there is something appealingly plucky about them! They swing off our washing line and do breath-taking acrobatics on our (squirrel-proof!) bird-feeder. This one posed beautifully for my camera. They’re so common in our garden that the Little One’s first recognisable sound was a special noise she made which meant, ‘Oh look, everybody, I’ve just spotted a squirrel in the garden!‘. We’d all come running to tell her how very clever she was!
For the Calendar Quilt, I added a native red squirrel. The squirrel’s body is made up of four main pieces so it was easy to put together. I used satin stitch to add in the Squirrel’s eye.
After all the vivid colours of the summer blocks, I enjoyed choosing some autumnal prints for the September block. I hunted out some yellow, orange and burgundy fabrics for the tumbling oak leaves.
To fit with the September theme, I added little acorns along the bottom.
When I showed it to the Little One she said, ‘Aren’t the acorns upside down?‘ I was a bit baffled and explained about how they grow, each in their own cup. Then the Middle One came in and said ‘The acorns are upside down.‘ (The Middle One never lacks certainty.)
I had to resort to Google to settle the argument about acorn orientation. I can only assume my daughters spent so much time cartwheeling over the lawn this summer, they no longer know which way is up!
The pattern for this block is available NOW in my shop.
To make sure you don’t miss October’s block, sign up to my blog below. I’d love to have you along! You can see last month’s block here.
We had a little red squirrel (still have them, actually) here and I would tell the kids stories about him over lunch. Those little reds would chase the big gray squirrels away, which I thought was a bit humorous. I like your block, a perfect nod to those plucky little critters.
That’s so lovely, Wendy! I’ve seen reds in the woods in Sligo but I don’t think there have been any in this area for a very long time. They’re such sweet little things!
Sandra your squirrel is precious and so is your little one’s excitement to see one. They can be pesky but I do love watching their acrobatics getting to my bird feeder 🐿
Fall has arrived here too, shorter days and chilling evenings. 🍁
Thanks, Abbie, it’s a little sad to see the summer end but with the schools returning and the darker evenings, it’s so much easier to fit in sewing time!!
I agree, it’s an adjustment but more inside time means more sewing 😀 I remember going back to school was a hard transition too!
Are you planning on selling you Calendar Quilt in your shop?
Yes, I intend to make the Calendar quilt pattern available. I find I’m only able to fit in a few days work on it each month, in between other projects, so it’s taking a while but it is coming!
Oh good, I was hoping you would!
That’s nice to hear! x