Appalachian Folk Art

Lyddie Shaneberger, owner of LS Mercantile Co., could easily be described as an  old soul. With a deep appreciation for antiques, history and vintage textiles, she and her mother bring new life to old fabrics, quilts and feed sacks through intentional, meaningful and meticulous design, repair and reuse, resulting in heirloom quality pillows, table runners and picking totes. Over the past four years, Lyddie’s creative Instagram side hustle, which she began with her mother Cathy Shaneberger, has become a bona fide full-time small business, allowing her to be a stay-at-home mother to her young daughter, Isela.

With its daily sneak peeks into her family, insight about picking, design and sewing, as well as highly anticipated seasonal teasers, Lyddie has leveraged modern digital marketing strategies to build a cult-like following of those with an appreciation for small-town America, nostalgic textiles and artistic whimsy. These designing women have a difficult time keeping up with demand, and their bimonthly website pillow drops frequently sell out in a matter of minutes.

Lyddie grew up in rural Rutherford County, North Carolina, and has always enjoyed the process of designing, building and creating. While she was in high school, she took advantage of dual enrollment courses at her local community college, taking mechanical drafting and art classes. She continued to immerse herself in general education and art courses, eventually completing an associate degree. “I was told from an early age that if I earned good grades and went to college, it would lead to a good job and a good life, but I just didn’t fit into that cookie-cutter mold that society had made for me,” explains Lyddie.

Having worked from the age of 16, Lyddie conformed with a 9-to-5 “career job” working at a county office. But with her entrepreneurial spirit simmering, she patiently built a small antique and handmade pillow business in her off hours. “In the evenings, I was scouting places for antiques, planning what pillows to make and building an Instagram following,” she says.

When Lyddie was seven months pregnant, she lost her day job and approached her mom with the idea of turning LS Mercantile into a full-time business. What seemed like a devastating financial setback became an unexpected and fortuitous blessing and endeavor, recalls Lyddie. “I became more passionate when I had time to fulfill my passion, nurture it and give it the time it deserved. Instead of my 9-to-5 job, LS Mercantile became my life, and, for once, I felt like I was really living.”

Four years later, this mother-daughter pillow business is thriving, so much so that they can barely keep up with the demand for their online sales and occasional wholesale and custom requests. Made from high-quality and frequently one-of-a-kind vintage textiles and with a nostalgic nod to simpler times, there’s just something special about these pillows rooted in history that seem to stitch together a broader human story.

Lyddie, her mother and little Isela spend countless hours scouting the Southeast and beyond, searching to save worn and tattered quilts; feed, grain and flour sacks; and camp and park pennants. Some fabrics are hand embroidered; others are emblazoned with long-gone company names.  Every single colorful textile they use is hand-picked, interesting and unique. “I started gathering sacks from everywhere, every state, even international sacks from Canada, Chile and Hungary,” says Lyddie. “If I liked the way it looked, the color, the subject matter, I bought it.”

Every time Lyddie sees or picks up a textile, she considers its potential: Can we repair it? Can we save it? How can we use it? “It’s like an old friend I met long ago and we see each other again for just a minute before I let them go back out into the world just a little different than I found them.”