March was a quiet month. Except for some wintery weather, spring did arrive with lots of blooming trees in my neighborhood and the reliable daffodils bringing a nice bouquet for my St. Patrick’s Day table. Since I spent several summers in Belfast when I was in high school, I feel a little bit Irish and always celebrate with
the appropriate table decorations and some corned beef!
Taxes were tackled in March and I made progress in trying to learn more about possible social media marketing solutions for my Heirloom Treasures kingdom. I listened to several webinars on the subject and looked for advice from different
sources.
Many years ago when I taught Adult Education for Southwestern Community College in Franklin, NC, we had a very active Small Business Administration Center and sometimes I assisted with different topics for our local businesses’ supervisor training programs. We used lots of Power Point at that time.
Several years ago, Dave and I went to some of our local community college Small Business Development Center workshops about effective marketing. Covid put an end to all of that, but I did remember some of the connections I made at that time. I reconnected with several people, and I am now working with two knowledgeable ladies to create an effective marketing strategy for me. One of them is a WordPress specialist and another a marketing strategist. It all starts with a review and refresh of my two websites before we proceed with marketing, which most likely will include a Facebook business page. I intent to learn how to set up and maintain some of the marketing tools. Most of this will be happening behind the scenes, but in a few more weeks there will be a new look to both Heirloom Treasures websites. The Musings will always be easy to find!
I have already updated the events calendar for this coming year, so be sure to check in frequently. I will also continue to send updates on MailChimp to those of you who are on my mailing lists. Let me know if you need to be added!
In the process of trying to locate a specific sunflower pattern, I came across some old “Crochet on the Double” patterns. They were published in the early 2000’s in the Hooked on Crochet magazines and the trademark owner is The Needlecraft Shop, now owned by Annie’s Craft Store, which publishes Crochet World.
I still have several sizes of the double ended hooks (one hook on each end) and took the time to work some swatches from the given patterns. Basically, using the two ends facilitates working color changes effectively and the look is that of Tunisian Crochet. It was nice to refresh my memory on that technique, but I have not seen it used in a long time. I searched for directions and found 3 YouTube videos and some information on Crochet on the Double in my Google search. If you own the double ended hooks it is worth checking out for a change, especially if you like to play with different colors.
Over the last several months I posted images of my lace on canvas pieces with the Musings. Those four pieces are my Quarter Turn Collection, because if you get tired of one look, just give it a quarter turn and you have a new look!
I am honored that our Folk Art Center curator asked me to submit all four pieces to the next exhibition at the Appalachian Cultural Center in Washington, DC. They will be on display for one year. I am so excited that she is featuring them together on one wall in the foyer. I do not have any images of all four canvasses together (which will require a large wall), so I hope for some interesting images of the collection once they go up this June.
Keeping track of the contents on the shelves of my studio is quite a job. I have been trying to locate before mentioned sunflower pattern for a restoration customer; not because I need it to complete the repairs, but because she is trying to research the original artist, year and pattern for this bedspread. The customer
is in her eighties, and it was given to her by her mother. She would like to include the history and possibly the pattern to pass down to her granddaughter. I have checked hundreds of publications already, online and hard copies of mostly Decorative Crochet and Magic Crochet from decades ago, no luck so far. If you can help identify that particular pattern or solve the mystery, please send me an email……………
April finds me thinking about our next Fiber Day event in May, where I usually debut several new pieces. I have already created a special fiesta colored lace wrap and a lavender summer shawl. Now it’s time for a few new baby things, I love to have the freedom to create whatever I want!
So pick a fun project for yourself in your favorite colors; it’s time to get outdoors with friends and family and enjoy special events again. That always deserves a new wrap or shawl. Some of the new color blend cakes in acrylic or cotton/acrylic blend make it so easy and it is fun to watch it come together perfectly.
Have fun!
“I do what I love and I love what I do.”