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This blog has now moved to www.hangingonbythread.blogspot.com -- hope to see you at my new address.

The Last Straw

I hate using drinking straws. I've never understood why you would want to take something you really love to drink, such as a milkshake, or a nice cold soda, or my favorite, sweet tea, and drink it through this little hole that makes you work harder for it. Whenever I'm brought a straw at a restaurant, I immediately take it out of the glass. I hate using straws so much that even my older son noticed it when he was about five years old. The waitress had brought me my drink, set down a straw, and he immediately proclaimed, "My mom hates using straws." I had never said anything to him about my pet peeve of not liking straws. I was very impressed that he had noticed by simply observing that any time I was brought a straw, I didn't use it. Waiters/waitresses always ask me if I want lemon or sugar with my iced tea, so why can't they ask me if I want a straw, too? If I go to their restaurant 30 times a year, that will save them at least 30 straws, and maybe even 60 straws, because many times they bring me another one if they bring me a refill! The other day I went out to lunch and ordered an iced tea. When the waitress brought it, the straw was in the glass and she had taken the extra step of tearing off the straw paper, except for at the very top, to keep the straw clean. I looked around the restaurant, and anyone who had a soda was using a straw. "This is the last straw," I said to myself. Maybe I should just succumb and start using a straw. Well actually, I thought to myself, "Maybe this will be the 'first straw.' I carefully peeled off that last piece of paper on the top of the straw. My lip quivered as a put the straw to my mouth. (Okay, that's just an exaggeration, but I thought it sounded good in this post). I took a sip. . . and immediately removed the straw. I just don't get the same flavor of the drink when I use a straw. So that was the last straw! No more straws for me. I will have to tell the person waiting on me in the future, "Please don't bring me a straw." Unlike a waiter or a waitress who just brings you a straw without asking, there's one great thing about pillowcases from Pillowcasegram. . . you can have them made any way you want them. If you don't like the colors we have on the cuff or the band, or you want something else embroidered on your order, just let us know, and we will make the change for you. Check out our web site at www.pillowcasegram.com

Bag Women

I love to see what my customers have made with the fabric they purchase at my store. A very popular pattern this year has been the "Bow Tucks Bag." I think about every fourth woman who comes into the store is carrying this bag. I kid that the designer of this bag could almost retire on this design alone. One day I had six women come in as a group. They were all carrying this bag. Every one of them was different. It was "sew" fun to see them all. They told me that they had had a group sew-in of about ten women who had made it. One of the woman was carrying one that is my favorite of them all. She had used the "Fruit Lady" fabric. A picture of the bag is above. I have a lot of women come into my shop based on them seeing her bag, and they want to buy the Fruit Lady fabric. Right now I have it on back order. I hope it comes soon, as I have a line of women waiting for it. I can always tell when my customers have discovered this fabric. They start laughing at the pictures, and I'll say, "I know what you are looking at." It has really brought a lot of smiles to people in my store. Pillowcasegram is located at 3 W. Main Street, North East, PA, or you can check out our web site at www.pillowcasegram.com

Everyone Needs a Little R and R

Everybody can use a little "R and R." "R&R" can stand for rest and relaxation or rest and recreation, according to the online dictionary. Before I wrote this BLOG post, I googled R&R to see what would come up. To my surprise, this is what was shown first -- "the molar gas constant plus the molar gas constant = 16.628944 m2 kg s-2 K-1 mol-1." What that means, I have no idea! But I do know that when you order a pillowcase from Pillowcasegram, you will certainly know what it is. A customer recently came into my store looking for fabric with some bright fish on it. I didn't have any, so we spent a little bit of time looking on the internet for some, and I was able to find some really cute bright fabric. Just what she was looking for. She wanted to have some pillowcases made for her boyfriend's boat, which was named "R and R," and wanted me to embroider "R and R" on the cuff. She was so excited that we were able to find some fabric with bright fish on it. And since the boat's name was "R and R," and the "and" is at a slant on the boat, that is how I embroidered it on the cuff. We really work with the customer to try to give them exactly what they want. She was very happy with the pillowcases! They certainly make great fun gifts. Check out our web site at www.pillowcasegram.com. If you don't see what you want, write or call us, and we will be happy to help you with any idea(s) you have.

Hearts

The "wedding season" is almost upon us. Of course, people get married all year long, but June seems to be the month for most weddings. Or so I thought. I recently read where August may actually be the most popular month, which surprised me, especially if you live anywhere where it's hot and humid! But regardless of which month is the most popular, at Pillowcasegram our most popular pillowcases are our wedding pillowcases. We have traditional, which are white pillowcases, with the couple's names embroidered on them in white. We can also make them very contemporary, with a black on white design. Some have ordered pillowcases in a turtle theme, a movie theme, a frog theme -- anything that the couple may like. We don't only make pillowcases, but also pillows. Above is a recent heart-shaped pillow that we made for someone that matched their invitation. The giver did not want just a traditional white pillow, but chose the black/white/green plaid ruffle, since the invitation had those colors in it. We strive to custom make pillowcases and pillows the way our customers want them. These are truly gifts that will last the bride and groom forever! Visit our store at 3 W. Main Street, in North East, PA, or our web site at www.pillowcasegram.com

It's Your Turn to Walk the Dog

When I was young, I loved to play with the Yo-Yo. I was never good at it, and was always impressed with anyone who could do it well. My favorite yo-yo trick to watch was the "Walk the Dog," where the yo-yo would roll along the floor as if the person was walking the dog. If it were a yo-yo trick about walking either of my dogs, it would be either pulling me along the floor, or the yo-you would grab the string in its mouth like my Golden Retriever does. Walking my dogs is a real trick! They get so excited that they are impossible to take on a nice relaxing walk. My Golden Retriever even flunked obedience school, because she would just get so excited that even the instructor couldn't do anything with her. I occasionally say to my kids, "Let's take the dogs for a walk on the leash," and they both yell simultaneously, "NO!" They know how hard they are to walk on leashes. So we walk them on our farm instead off leash, where they love to run through the grapevines and the woods. Our lab loves to swim in the pond. It is almost impossible to get her out when we are ready to return home. We will yell and yell at her to come, but she does not get out until she is good and ready. And she absolutely loves to shake her water off right by us. She'll wait until she's near us and then she shakes off the stinky creek water all over our clothes. What a clown she is! So I recently made two pillowcases for those who do get the pleasure of walking their dogs, but once in a while it is hard for them to get out of bed to do it. Especially in our area in the winter, where we had snow every day for two months straight. One side of each says, "It's Your Turn to Walk the Dog," and the other side says, "No. It's my Turn to Sleep Late." So you put the side of the pillow that pertains to you. Now if both of you put the side that says, "It's My Turn to Sleep Late," then the dog has a problem, and hopefully someone will eventually get up to walk the dog. Check out our pillowcases at www.pillowcasegram.com . The "Walk the Dog" Pillowcases(TM) are under the "animal" category. Life is too short to have a boring pillowcase, so we make them fun!(TM)

The Discontent of my Winter. . .

A friend of mine suggested that I make a pillowcase that said, "I survived the winter of 2008." I thought it was a great suggestion, since this winter has been really brutal. It started snowing about the middle of November, and we didn't get much of a break until the beginning of February. Actually, this year, February was not too bad. And March hasn't started off badly either. But November, December, and January really gave winter a bad name. Of course, up here, in Western, NY, life still goes on, and nothing much stops when it's snowing. That is one thing I had to get used to when we moved up here, is that schools and businesses don't close, and I had to learn to drive in it. This winter I've gotten a lot of practice, and I think I've become a pretty good driver in the snow! So I really feel like yes, I have survived the winter of 2009. When my friend suggested I make that pillowcase, I found some great fabric to use, and I embroidered, "I survived the winter of 2009." But a customer was in my store at the time, and she said it should say the "winter of 2008," since this winter started in December of 2008. So I embroidered "Winter of 2008." Then when I posted it on Facebook, someone wrote me and said it should say the "winter of 2009," since winter started December 21, so there were really only 10 days of winter in December of 2008. Oh my gosh, that made me feel so discontent over this winter dilemma. Which should it be? The winter of 2008 or 2009. This certainly couldn't be what Shakespeare was talking about when he started Richard III with "Now is the winter of our discontent." Of course, if he had had almost 300 inches of snow, maybe he would have had a different meaning! But I was not going to feel content about it until I solved this problem. I surfed the internet to see if I could find out: Should it be the winter of 2008 or the 2009? But every site I found said it was the winter of 2008-09. So I solved the 'problem' by saying when customers order one, I will embroider the "winter of 2008-09." So now I feel content! Of course, customers can order anything they want embroidered on it, such as the official snow total this year, or "I hate shoveling snow." For more fun pillowcases, check out our web site at www.pillowcasegram.com.