Another New One! “CatTails Of Love”

Just a quick update. Terribly sorry about all the drama from earlier. Because of alllll the kind comments and support, I did report the one seller to Ebay for copyright infringement. I did it regretfully. Now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did and I’m not going to cause any further drama by explaining why.
In less than 24 hours after I reported her, Ebay removed the listings for the 2 candle mats that she had made.
The other seller? I’m letting her alone for now simply because it’s not a blatant copy. She used my design and there are definite elements to it that are clearly my own signature look that many of my customers recognized … and the more I write to explain why I didn’t report her, makes me wonder myself, why, so I’m going to shut up now. :-X
Thank you to all who responded and a big thank you to my kind Ebay customers who brought this to my attention in the first place and the others who went waaaay out of their way to back me with support. You ladies are just wonderful.
I’m putting this behind me now and moving on to better subjects like….
My newest candle mat!
OOdles of thanks to Mary, my Ebay customer and blog reader, for suggesting the name.

I did have trouble with this one but I’m so happy that I stuck with it. This picture isn’t the greatest for the background color though. That tan background color is more of a caramel color.
I was in such a crappy mood the last few days because of all the drama, that I just couldn’t focus on this to figure out how to get it to look right. I was really ready to scrap it, but wisely, I left it sitting out on the dining room table. Every time I passed by, I had to look at it and think about it. It was just too plain and I didn’t know how to detail it up.
It finally occurred to me that a center ring area was needed and once I stitched it on, I knew it was perfect.

I used a nice black/brown herringbone tweed for the cats. You can’t see in the picture, but the wool has little flecks of red and gold in it too. I love those tweedy wools. I really need to push myself to use more of it in my designs.
They are so easy to find too, ladies. Go into any thrift store and venture over to the men’s sport coats. There is always a huge array of herringbones, tweeds, houndstooth wools. Sports coats are a nuisance to break down for the wool because of all the shoulder padding and tight interfacing, but the little bit of wool that you can get from a sports coat makes it well worth the effort to rip it all apart because once it’s washed and dried, it’s just wonderful to work with and always adds nice texture to your piece.
I know all of you who work with wool can relate to this … when I’m out and happen to see someone wearing something made of wool, I always take note of it .. looking at the quality, the color, and the amount of wool that is used in the sewn panels. Sometimes, if it’s a really nice camel hair jacket or something exceptional in color or texture, I drool. :)
I have to contain myself and not ask them to let me have their wool clothing so that I can rip it up and use it. Actually, I have asked some people. …
Btw, camel hair wool is SOOOO nice to work with and it dyes nicely too. If you see a camel hair jacket at the thrift store, grab it up! It’s so soft and dreamy. :)
Well, I’m off to babysit the grandson today. I’m looking forward to his company. Those 3 year olds just have a way of saying everything so cute. I’m really appreciating this age.
Happy Day everyone … and thank you all for the support.