Recalibrating: Why Jack-o-Cattern Is Moving to Spring

I have been away for a while, and I want to talk about why, because part of my brand is openness about what it's like to try to run a small business while living with debilitating chronic illness. So here's the truth about where I've been, and why the Jack-o-Cattern release is moving to next spring or early summer.

On the one hand, my health threw a wrench in the gears. The last month or two has been a rough stretch, both physically and mentally, and my energy has been even lower and even more unpredictable than usual. That unpredictability doesn't just eat into business pursuits — it eats into the basic maintenance of running a house. Dishes. Laundry. Bills. Errands. The stuff that keeps a home functioning and livable. When energy is scarce, keeping life's regular chaos under control comes before keeping the shop updated, every time.

And on the other hand: I was trying to rush a new seasonal pattern out the door in time for Halloween, while the two patterns I have already published still don't have finished samples or photos I love. I got ahead of myself. Jack-o-Cattern - and honestly, all of my patterns - deserve better than to be rammed through before they're fully ready. So even setting my health aside, slowing down was the right call. The health issues just turned it from a difficult decision into an obvious one.

Rest assured: I am not giving up on this business. I am giving myself the time to organize my thoughts and actions and the time to do things the right way. It's easy for me to look at designers releasing multiple new patterns and finished quilts every month and worry that I can never succeed at this. But comparison is the thief of joy, especially when the playing field is extremely uneven.

I'm not going to promise dates I can't keep, but I do have multiple designs in various stages of development, and the catalog is going to keep growing. I just want to grow it thoughtfully and responsibly, so that every pattern I release is consistently high-quality and a genuine joy to sew.