New Products are being added daily!  Please visit us often!  Our New blog is now on the website and this one will no longer be used.  Thank you!   We look forward to your visit!

We will be selling a beautiful assortment of these turn of the century embroidered cards soon!  Mostly from France, these cards had an embossed border with embroidered message on the front. This particular one has a pocket with message card inside.  Many are elegantly scripted on the reverse side with messages to home…

We can’t get enough of these vintage kitten towels.  Being a cat lover I just love the little embroidered designs on them.  Many times they were made out of scrap sheets and hand sewn.  We have several different types available now and more coming soon to our new online store.  This little cat above is “Saturday” and she is biking!  She is part of a set of 7 and is all handmade.

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Our New Store opens soon……www.fadedthreadsmercantilecompagnie.com

 It was a happy thought to bring
To the dark season’s frost and rime
This painted memory of spring,
This dream of summertime –  John Greenleaf Whittier

The farm will soon have a new blog, new online store of its own and new products, especially old fabrics from France.  Here’s a peek at one of the cutest old fabrics we have found lately.   Old, adorable and so very French!

This past summer I had several beautiful hanging baskets of Lobelia.  It is a gorgeous periwinkle blue flowering plant that chases the sun and you have to keep it turned regulary so that it grows uniformly in the baskets.  It kept going right up until Thanksgiving in the indoor sunporch.  It was beautiful against the old weathered back sun porch of the farmhouse. Enjoy!

Native Americans used lobelia to treat respiratory and muscle disorders, and as a purgative. Today it is used to treat asthma and food poisoning, and is often used as part of smoking cessation programs. It is a physical relaxant, and can serve as a nerve depressant, easing tension and panic. The species used most commonly in modern herbalism is Lobelia inflata (Indian Tobacco).^[8]

Extracts of Lobelia inflata contain lobeline, which showed positive effects in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tumor cells.^[9] Furthermore, lobeline can be modified to lobelane which decreased methamphetamine self-administration in rats.^[10] It therefore opens a perspective in methamphetamine dependency treatment.^{[11] Thanks to Word a Day for the definition and information.}

As used in North America, lobelia’s medicinal properties include the following: emetic (induces vomiting), stimulant, antispasmodic, expectorant, diaphoretic, relaxant, nauseant, sedative, diuretic, and nervine. It has been used as “asthmador” in Appalachian folk medicine ^[12]

Because of its similarity to nicotine, the internal use of lobelia may be dangerous to susceptible populations, including children, pregnant women, and individuals with cardiac disease. Excessive use will cause nausea and vomiting. It is not recommended for use by pregnant women and is best administered by a practitioner qualified in its use.

tick⋅ing  /ˈtɪkɪŋ/ Pronunciation [tik-ing]

–noun 1. a strong cotton cloth covering for mattresses or pillows

1649, from tyke (modern tick) with the same meaning (1342), probably from M.Du. tike, a W.Gmc. borrowing of L. theca “case,” from Gk. theke “a case, box, cover, sheath”n fabric, usually twilled, used esp. in making cloth ticks.

2. a similar cloth in satin weave or Jacquard, used esp. for mattress covers.

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No longer for farms or those old straw mattresses ticking is resurging into farmhouse style and urbane interiors alike!   Repurpose it into pillow covers, daybed covers, chair cushions and even pet beds, the best we have found lately for crafts of all kinds comes from the American Farmhouse and from France!

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