Scarlet Quince News
March 2013

We have two pattern awards this month! Grace - Eric Enstrom was suggested by Susan M. from Texas. Breakfast in the Open - Carl Larsson was suggested by Marci Garcia of Camas, Washington. Both are shown below. We've sent both of them copies of their suggestions and appreciate the ideas.

Many of our patterns come in more than one size. Until now there was no simple way to look at them side by side to compare the amount of detail. We've now added a link to a comparison page for the relevant patterns. For example, Take the Fair Face of Woman comes in two sizes. The description now includes "compare them side by side". (You can follow that link to see how the comparison looks.)

Thank you to everyone who took last month's survey about a possible change to the floss labels. Apparently we got a little ahead of ourselves ... so ... (ahem) we have floss labels! For each of our patterns, a custom set of floss labels is available. Each set contains exactly the labels you'll need for that pattern: one label for each solid color used alone or in blends, and one label for each blended symbol. The label includes the symbol, the floss numbers, and color swatches. The labels are optional. Each pattern includes all the information you'll need to stitch it -- the labels just help you get your floss set up quickly.

The labels measure 1" x 5/8" (2.54 cm x 1.59 cm). Just peel and stick. They can be folded over the top of a floss bobbin, stuck to floss bags or envelopes or felt pages in a needle book, or used with a variety of needle minder systems.

The reason for the survey was that, while the labels stick well to almost everything else, there have been problems getting them to adhere to bobbins, especially plastic bobbins. (Rather than repeat the explanation of the problem and the possible solution, please refer to last month's newsletter, but note that the survey is now closed.) Because we dislike surveys that force you to say black or white when you want to say gray, we allowed a lot of latitude for comments which made the results hard to tally. But here are the main points:

• Many people don't use bobbins and have no problems with the labels.
• A majority of the people who have bought labels since our latest change to the label material have not had problems with the labels sticking, but some still do.
• The voting was essentially tied between people who would like the labels changed so that you don't have to fold them over bobbins, and those who would like them left the way they are.
• A common suggestion was to make the labels fit to one side of the hole in the bobbin, but there isn't enough room for that to be practical.
• A few people noted that they like to put their bobbins on rings and so put the labels at the other end. (This probably interferes with the slots for keeping the floss from unwinding but you don't really need both slots.)
• We were surprised and touched by how many people said that they love the labels and can't imagine doing without them!

There were lots of other good ideas as well, just too many to mention here. We haven't made a decision about what (if anything) to do but we are thinking along the lines of tweaks rather than drastic changes. We'll let you know soon.

Grace
Eric Enstrom

Apple Wallpaper
William Morris

Breakfast in the Open
Carl Larsson