WOOL IS GOOD, CHANGE IS GOOD TOO!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

NEW DESIGNS:

Thank you Jan Mott (Crane Design) for creating this lovely ditty bag design.  Jan'scolors are wonderful and so is she.  I see nothing but fun with this one. 

Here is another cutie by Jan.  What a wonderful addition to your primitive decor....useful too. 

OLD CLASSICS:

This is the time of the year when I like to revisit my personal pattern collection and pull out the "classics"....ones that I hope to do this year....can you hear me laughing....okay, wishful thinking, BUT at least its a plan.  :-)

I love the penny ornaments.  Think of how cute these would be on a white feather tree.  Pattern is by "Under The Garden Moon."  I am currently making store models and selling this pattern in my retail shop.

An absolute must for the wall in my retail shop.  I have devised a plan to fill the walls in the store with framed pattern pieces.  At least one a month.....I will do my best.

This is beyond cool, however I suffer from punchphobia!  LOL.  Well, it not as bad as it sounds.  I have done punchneedle, but everytime I look at a pattern, I see wool applique and so I plan to tweak this one into an applique piece.  I love the colors (by pattern designer Shawn Williams of Threads that Bind) and will go with this color palette when selecting my wool fabric. 

Can you guess the designer?  I am going to make this for my home....one day.  

I love this classice design by Primitive Gatherings.  It reminds me of how I got so excited when I discovered the world of wool applique and in the beginning I was sewing a lot of pennies....good memories  :-)

I want make this piece as a store model and display behind the counter.  I like to think big so hopefully this will play out.  lol

And this classic gem sums it all up for me.  The pattern is by All Through The Night and the title is...."It a Wonderful World".

NEW VALERIE:

Yes, that right....new Valerie.  I am referring to the sometimes stubborn woman who has come to the realization of how she needs to take care of her back issues.  I have dealt with a degenerative disc (the last disc) in my lower back for the past two years.  I know how to manage the pain, but it can get out of hand at times.   Prescribed excercise is the key, but I've discovered that with my travels to Waynesville (45 min one way) that all of the sitting in the car is now adding up to some major pain.  So I've promised my loving, supportive husband that I will cut back on a few of my activities.  However, that was just completely painful to think about....where do I cut back.  I love my shop, I love the Mercantile, I love to blog, I love to run my Etsy Shop, and I love to stitch my wool applique pieces.  I held fast in remaing stubborn about change, but now the pain is speaking loud and clear and so I am being smart, changing, and following the sensible advise of my loving husband. 

MY SOLUTIONS:

1.  More of this and less sitting in the car.

I am trying not to laugh as I post this picture.....but its all real and if you suffer from any type of back pain due to past injuries or just everyday wear and tear, then I highly recommend managing your pain this way.  My pain managment doctor gave me a good list of back excercises follow and they do work, if you stick with it.

2.  Stand and Stitch: 



This may look a bit odd but it is a help for me in keeping my stitching going.  The picture above is of a rectangle basket turned upside down on my desk.  I made a soft, flannel fabric topper for it.  I then place my "camper" sized pillow on top of the basket.  This puts my sewing project at the right height for stitching so that I am not tempted to sit, and the bonus is that the pillow turns into one big pincushion as I change needles and floss along the way.  I've been stitching this way for a while and it does not bother me to stand since I am pain-free on my feet.

3.  Necessary change in store hours:

I think this will be fine as the busiest days in the little village of Waynesville is Thursday through Saturday.  Wish me luck because if I had my way, I would be open more.  But life sometimes has a way of directing what one does.  I am just grateful that I can still keep all going, but also have to be willing not to be so stubborn in accepting certain changes.    



NEW FLOSS LINE (at least for me)



Comso Multiwork 2 strand Floss

I've come across (through my distributor) a fantastic line of what I kiddingly call "TIME MANAGEMENT" threads.  Eighty percent of the time (for my applique work) I use two strands of DMC floss for stitching.  I love DMC's color assortment, but sometimes I get frustrated with splitting the floss from six strands down to two strands.

So another option (as pictured above) is Cosmo Multiwork two-strand floss which comes in beautiful colors.  A  good selection of colors are offered, but certainly not as many as DMC.  I see these little spools lasting quite awhile.  It feels fantastic to just pull out what I need and thread the  needle.  It really does save me lots of time.  As soon as I have all threads in stock, I will be sure to list these on Etsy.  I currently have a small bowl full in the store.  So now for my stitching projects,  I use DMC, Valdani Size 12, Aurifil Lana Wool thread and the Cosmo Multiwork..yay!

TWEAK, TWEAK!



When I was going through my patterns, I ran across my Buttermilk Basin stitchery patterns that of course made me want to tweak to wool.  Just needs to be stitched and I am itching to use my new Cosmo Floss. 

SPRING GIVEWAY: 

Next month I will be hosting a small spring giveway....you just might see a wool applique pattern in the mix....and perhaps a stitchery pattern for you to "tweak" amongst the other surprises.

Take care .....  keep stitching..... stay healthy. 

Smiles - Valerie  (I just used up my sitting time for the day with this blog.....don't tell my husband!)

"I cannot count my day complete, till needle, thread and fabric meet."