long walks, long nights
an all well summer update!
Hi friends!
It’s been a while since we’ve sent a newsletter. Since we last wrote, our book came out! We did some celebrating, and then some resting! It’s been incredible to hear from folks who’ve been enjoying reading the book and sewing the projects — thank you to all who have bought, gifted, and read the book! We’re still just so thrilled that it’s out in the world and on library shelves and in home sewing studios and on coffee tables next to treats and at book stores!
We wanted to share a short update from each of us as summer sets in. We (Amy + Amelia) are having a bit of an ~offline summer~, each for different reasons. Amelia and her husband are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and Amy is due with her second baby in just a few short weeks! Lots of life, lots of journeying, lots of not-sewing. Long walks and long nights! Here’s a short update from each of us!
AMELIA:
Amelia + Adam (photo by Nick Tierney)
hello from the a California desert section of the Pacific Crest Trail! My husband Adam and I are about 400 miles into our hike so far, and pretty much all I've taken pictures of are all the desert wild flowers. Such beauty! Here are a few for you!
AMY:
As I write, I am exactly 37 weeks pregnant, and creeping into any-day-now territory with my second baby! My first was born the day after his due date, so if this little one sticks to second baby code he’ll be a little earlier! But you really never know. The end of a pregnancy is such a strange and overwhelming time — physically, mentally, emotionally. I find myself overcome for one reason or another at least once an hour, if not more often. Lots of big feelings in our household, mostly from me + the toddler, and lots of big changes and long nights coming!
I’ve been working steadily on a few special all well sewing patterns specifically for new babies! I think it’s unlikely that I will have any of them ready to release before baby’s arrival, but that’s somewhat by design because I want to be able to test them out with my real newborn! And I’m trying to remind myself to move very slowly, not rushing any good things, and following whatever flows. I’ve been finding a lot of creative energy in other places right now, mainly making zines! You may be familiar with some of All Well’s zines (Modern Patchwork, and Patchwork Alphabet!). Zines are another common interest and creative practice Amelia and I share (Amelia has an incredible risograph publishing project called Anemone!), and I’ve been using this time of rest after the All Well book release to slowly start the (very) small press I’ve been dreaming of for years! In addition to running All Well and designing sewing patterns, I’m also a writer, with a book of poetry out and another on the way, and I write lots of essays for my newsletter. Writing is the thing I would do if I couldn’t do anything else, even if no one ever read it. It’s my most essential and innate creative practice.
The tiny press is called Imaginary Lake. I’m thinking of it as a place to slowly build a little body of work like a little body of water, publishing projects like plants and animals forming a calm and verdant ecosystem, supporting quiet life. Most of the works I will publish for Imaginary Lake in this season will center around my experience with motherhood because that’s the thing looming largest in my own environment right now. It is the water around me, so to speak. Basically, I finally bought myself a nice laser printer that can print two-sided and a big guillotine paper cutter, so now I’m in business making whatever zines I set my heart to! And the zines are flowing!
I’ve just published Imaginary Lake’s first zine from my home studio. It’s called I’m Learning Waiting Like It’s a Skill. The 36-page zine is a short essay collection comprised of essays written while I was pregnant the first time and edited while I’ve been pregnant the second time. If you’re interested in pregnancy, birth, matrescence, and caregiving, and how these things intersect with art-making, running a small business, and existing as a sensitive person, I think this zine will resonate with you! It’s available in print (currently u.s. addresses only, sorry!) and and as a digital/printable zine. It has meant a lot to me to work on editing and designing this zine during this second pregnancy, and I’m really thrilled to share it!
I’m also excited to share about another upcoming Imaginary Lake project that, though somewhat ambitious, feels exactly right for this season of life. I’m introducing a zine subscription called A Year Postpartum! This subscription will include six brand new print zines written and published over the course of my first year postpartum with this second baby! The first zine for the project will be a birth story, whatever that birth story turns out to be. You can buy the subscription here, and I’ll send each zine to you as they are published throughout the year. (They’ll also be available individually in the Imaginary Lake shop as they’re published). More to come about this project, but subscribing is an incredible way to help make it happen!
I’m planning to take a loose maternity leave once baby arrives, but all of All Well’s patterns with still be available and I’ll still be reachable for customer service needs! I’m really looking forward to slowly regaining energy to design new sewing patterns and release new All Well treats! All in good time.
Happy summer to you, wherever you are! If you’re enjoying warm weather like we are, we hope you’re soaking up flowers, slowness, and new winds and waters! Maybe you could sew a new box top in a delicious fabric for romping in the sun! Your sewing machine will still be there when you come back inside. :)
xoxo!
Amy (+ Amelia)