Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 9

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 9 – March 10, 2012

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Oh, what a week this has been!  I don’t even know where to start.  Most people start at the beginning.  I will start at the end.  Mama used to tell me that I always do things backwards because I’m left handed.  Who knows!

The weather is so beautiful right now that I just want to garden.  A week or so ago there was an article on Pinterest that said when you cook with an onion, save the root end that you would normally toss and plant it.  According to the article the onion will begin to grow and voila, free plants and free onions.  There is logic in this.  The root ends of about 4 onion bulbs were planted in the garden and today they are growing.  If they produce more bulbing onions that would be wonderful since bulbing onions have not been successful in our garden in the past.  You know what this means.  The root ends of all root vegetables are now going to be replanted.

Another Pinterest article said that rather than cutting up a potato and planting the eyes, plant the whole potato.  By planting the whole potato you safeguard against some diseases and insects that go for the fleshy part.  There is half a sack of potatoes on the counter that will be planted for this experiment. 

Last year our tomato plants just kept supplying tomatoes.  They were all small tomatoes.  None of the tomatoes were larger than maybe golf ball size.  They were tomatoes nevertheless and they were delicious.  After a particularly cold few days in January, the tomato plants were finished and placed in the compost.  One little tomato plant was unintentionally left in a pot on the side of the house.  Guess what has started blooming?  That little tomato that could has blossoms. 

Our business consultant from the Small Business Development Center visited this week.  She has such good ideas and helps keep me focused on our goals.  For those of you who have been reading Cajun Corner for a long time, you know the goal is to be the Tiffany’s of embroidery.  The problem is that every aspect of embroidery is so enjoyable that I am going in a hundred different directions at once.  My peep keeps me focused on our goals.

The annual Arts & Wine Craft Fair on the beach will probably always be on our annual agenda because of our connections with Pensacola Beach.  However, additional craft fairs will be few and far between.  That just is not Cajun Stitchery.  It is not possible or feasible to provide “custom” embroidery at a craft fair. 

The Cajun Stitchery Etsy Store will stay.  That store has many purposes, not the least of which is an outlet for craft urges.  It also serves as an experimental store to see if people like different colors and different items, and so forth.  Of course, if I make it, it is made in the USA and this is a good place to sell the Made in the USA scarves and handkerchiefs.

This week Shelby Johnson also visited for a one-on-one meeting to get to know each other and each other’s business.  Shelby is our Wines For Humanity representative.  If you have not met Shelby, you definitely need to meet this lady.  She has home wine parties.  About 50% or 60% of the money that Wines For Humanity earns goes to charity.  Shelby is hilarious and we spent most of our time laughing and giggling like school girls.  If you would like to host a wine party at your home, please let me know and I will put you in touch with Shelby.  That girl knows what wine goes with what food and in what glass.  A wine party would be a great get together for any group of women to sit back, drink some wine, learn a little bit about wine, and enjoy an evening.   Just for a group of women?  Heck, this would be a great get together for men and women.  Wouldn’t it be fun to get a group of friends together for a pot luck dinner and have Shelby serve the wine?

Our new Amaya commercial embroidery machine arrived late Monday afternoon.  Our SWF machine was moved into the living room and the Amaya is now situated in the studio.  The SWF is a 1201C.  The C stands for compact.  The machine always seemed very large but now that the standard sized Amaya is here, the SWF does look compact.

Our friend from Orlando, actually she lives in Geneva, brought the machine in her truck.  Since she is also the service technician for the Amaya machines in Florida, she stayed for service and training.  She left Thursday morning.  The machine is amazing.  She gave the machine a once over and did the routine maintenance and made sure it was in good working order.  Then she began the training.  George and I both attended the training.  The cap frames are so much easier to use with the Amaya.  Ball caps are no problem for us whatsoever.  The machine connects to my computer rather than using floppy disks like the SWF does.  Should the need arise; we can have both machine working at the same time. 

The Amaya came with some very special computer programs.  The program that I had been using to digitize was not a bad program.  It was just the low end of the spectrum and I was teaching myself how to digitize with it.  Usually home embroiderers use the Embird program. The new program, Design Shop, is the professional, high end of the spectrum, program and can do some pretty amazing things.  The big bonus for the program is that it is so user friendly.  Now I need to learn the program.  While she was here, my tech showed me how to change the fill of a design into a name or whatever you want.  I would post pictures of the items that we did but they are presents and should not be shared before giving.

Before the Amaya got here, however, we embroidered a shirt for a new customer and friend.  The situation was that she is still working with her graphic artist to achieve the perfect logo.  In the meantime, she needed to wear a shirt with her company name to Bark for Life today.  She contacted me for help.  She purchased a very nice coral/peach colored polo at Sam’s Club and I embroidered the name of her company in brown.  Her company (which always puts a smile on my face) is “We Scoop The Poop.”  How cute is that?

We Scoop The Poop wasn’t our only emergency this week.  One of my WBL friends contacted me saying the annual Maguire’s Run is this Saturday (today) and the guy who originally began the event has passed away.  She wanted 100 black arm bands with something like “In Memory of Les” embroidered in Kelly green.  I played around with some lettering and came up with a shamrock with the name LES in the middle.  She loved it.  I told her that since we were training on the new machine this week, I could do the 100 arm bands but she would have to get the arm bands to me.  I just would not have time to do more than embroidery.  It was quite an ordeal.  We finally decided the best way to do this was getting some fabric cut about 5” by 25” or so.  I suggested some sort of knit fabric, especially jersey, because you can pull the fabric and it will roll the edges and not fray.  As it turned out jersey was unexpectedly and outrageously expensive, so she got some broadcloth and had a friend cut the dimensions needed.  Since my tech was here, anyway, my tech, George and I collaborated on this project.  It was decided that we would fold the fabric lengthwise to hide the side edges.  A rectangle was digitized to hold the fabric down around the shamrock.  This still allowed for unsightly frayed edges down the remainder of the arm bands.  Finally, we decided to use spray adhesive, which held the side edges, and gave a nice finished look to the project.  Once my tech left on Thursday, I began working on the arm bands.  In the end we did 123 armbands on Thursday and Friday using our new Amaya.  Sweet!  Not to mention we have another happy customer.  And I hope Jennifer’s team won the race.

Yesterday I received a message on Facebook from Pandora de Balthazar regarding monogramming work.  Pandora owns a very high end, local luxury bedding store.  This is the type of work I dream about.  She and I have scheduled a meeting for Monday morning.  I do have to thank some people.  Pandora said that Shelley Johnson gave her my name amid high praise of my work.  Thank you, Shelley.  While Pandora and I were conversing on Facebook, Lila and then Courtney, also chimed in with praise of my work.  Thank you, Lila and Courtney.

Since I’m handing out thank you’s, Shelley Johnson and Becky Shearman were the reason that Cajun Stitchery got the Bananimals account during Mardi Gras.  Thank you Shelley and Becky.

It is good to have friends.  Apparently it is really good to have Shelley, Lila, Courtney, and Becky as friends.  And apparently you hit the jackpot when you have Shelley for a friend.  Of course, you all realize that Shelley owns the ISLAND TIMES and if you want to know what is happening on the island, you need a subscription to the ISLAND TIMES.  Also, if you want a good laugh, you need a subscription to the ISLAND TIMES because whatever is going on at the beach is sure to have some comic relief involved.  Visit www.myislandtimes.com for further information.  Of course, you can always see Cajun Stitchery’s ad right next to “Peas, Porridge & A Dry Martini” by my friend, Kathi Lewis.

No one answered the contest last week.  The answer is:  Small businesses employ 57% of the country's private workforce.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

========================================================

Tip of the Day:  Use a lint roller to pick up glitter messes.

Found this on the internet at http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2012/01/chocolate-lip-gloss-and-free-printable.html

How to make chocolate lip gloss:

What you'll need

Vaseline
cocoa powder
sugar
microwave safe bowl
lip gloss containers
labels printed on sticker paper

Directions:

1. put about 1 cup Vaseline in a microwave safe bowl

2. Heat the Vaseline in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each heating (this is very important, don't just throw it in the microwave for a few minutes!). It took me about 7-8 minutes the batch of Vaseline. It will be liquid when it is fully melted. Make sure you wear gloves or oven mitts and make sure children are being supervised.

If you find the Vaseline REALLY hot you may want to let it cool for a bit before you mix in the cocoa powder. I didn't and didn't have any trouble dissolving the cocoa powder but some of my other readers had trouble dissolving the kool-aid if the Vaseline was too hot!

3. Stir in a couple spoonfuls of cocoa powder and a sprinkling of sugar for some sweetness. You don't need exact measurements here. Just put some cocoa powder in until you reach your desired color. I used a couple small spoonfuls. Stir until it is all dissolved. This only took about 30 seconds. If it's not dissolving the Vaseline may be too hot. Let it cool a bit.

4. If starting to solidify you can heat again for another 30 seconds - skip this step if it is still liquidy

5. Pour into your lip gloss containers and leave to solidify - a couple hours

6. Print out labels on sticker paper

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 8

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 8 – March 2, 2012

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Is it Friday already? 

It was March 3, 2009, when I went down to the tax office and got myself a business license and filed for our Fictitious Name with the State of Florida.  March is Cajun Stitchery’s anniversary month.  Cajun Stitchery has survived three years and we are not out of business yet.

The first thing we have done to celebrate Cajun Stitchery’s anniversary is to purchase a new (used) embroidery machine.  Yes, this will be our second machine.  The new machine, an Amaya, is MADE IN THE USA.  The Amaya’s are the only commercial embroidery machines made in the USA.  There are a lot of really cool things this machine does that our older SWF machine does not.  Nothing that would probably interest this audience but it sure makes us happy.  Instead of a 12 needle machine, this is a 16 needle machine.  That means that we can put 16 different colored spools of thread on this machine at one time and stitch out a design with 16 different colors.  The old machine is limited to 12 needles.  Although 12 needles are not bad, 16 needles are better.  The top speed of our SWF machine is the same as most commercial embroidery machines, 1200 spm (stitches per minute).  The Amaya’s top speed is 1500 spm.  Not to mention that the Amaya has automatic tensioning.  With two machine working for Cajun Stitchery, we can take on twice the number of jobs and size of jobs.  If one machine breaks, for some reason, we will have the other to continue working while the broken machine is repaired.  There are a lot of reasons.  Happy Birthday, Cajun Stitchery.

Our new Amaya should arrive this coming Monday via our embroidery tech friend from Orlando.  The following two days will be training, with and without wine, for both George and me on our new machine.  Right now the old SWF machine will be placed in the living room until the house next door is finished.  The SWF still purrs like a kitten and embroiders beautifully.  So, we will be cramped for space for a little while.  It is worth it. 

Aside from the new machine, I went into our Etsy Store and reduced some prices so that there is nothing in the Etsy Store over $20.  Please visit our Etsy Store and browse around.

George and I are also planning to visit our son and his family in Tampa later this month.  Shernise, our daughter-in-law, is graduating with her RN degree.  I cannot tell you how proud we are of her.  We will be there for her pinning.  She said that she didn’t want to bother with the actual pinning ceremony.  My friends who are RN’s have all told me that they felt the same way but went through the pinning ceremony nevertheless.  In retrospect, all agree that the pinning ceremony is a memory that each of them cherish.  Now I have to figure out a really good gift for her.

Now that the Mardi Gras festivities are over, I had time to attend my WBL meeting today.  I didn’t realize how much I missed those wonderful girls.  I have already set up a meeting with one of the girls who represents Wines For Humanity.  That is the name of the company and pretty much sums up what she does.  I have often said that some day I am going to have a party at my house with Wines For Humanity and our Dove Chocolate lady.  You know that will be a good time.

I have also agreed to have a booth at the Power Link Small Business Conference & Expo at the University of West Florida on April 27 and 28, 2012.  This should be a fun time to meet others in business and determine how we can help each other’s business.

This week has also been consumed writing a fictional story for my krewe.  These annual post-Mardi Gras stories have become a tradition.  They are as zany and outlandish as my imagination will allow.  Someday I may even start another blog for my fictional stories.  I do love to write.

I made a cute dance bag this week.  In retrospect, I probably didn’t glam it up enough but my main reason was to see if I could sew a presentable round bag.  It is really neat because once you unzip it, you see that it is lined in gold lame.  It is blinding.   It is in our Etsy Store for sale.

I’m working on a long scarf right now.  I have a large piece of navy blue, stretch lace fabric that I’ve never used for anything because it is so pretty.  I decided to make a long scarf.  The scarf is 108”.  That is 3 yards, and about 20”-25” wide.  I’m still playing with it.  Since the lace itself is a design and it is so light, I really don’t want to embroider on it.  I have attached some colorful eyelash yarn to the ends and may attach more.  I am just not sure where I’m going with it at this point.

We’ve also embroidered several scrubs for the beautiful ladies at Bloom Spa.

I did have a situation where a lady contacted me for a lap handkerchief a/k/a lap scarf.  She wanted it 30”x30”.  The purpose was to lay the scarf on her lap and cover her knees and legs at church.  Sorry, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.  After doing a Google search for lap handkerchiefs, I found that there are actual stores that specialize in them.  I made one to sell in our Etsy Store.  Take a look.

George showed me a painting of a mermaid and merman entwined that he liked.  So, I digitized it.  I even made myself a scarf with the design.

It has been a busy week and I hope everything remains busy because I truly love what I do for a living.  Please let me know if there is anything you need that might require embroidery.  And remember you do not need to order embroidery if you want something out of our catalogs or through our wholesalers.  We can still get it for you.  Just ask.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

========================================================

Thanks to Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Down in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana , Boudreaux gets a job with BP helping with the cleanup.

He reports for work and is told to speak to a supervisor about his assignment.
He finds the man and asks, "What it is I suppose to do?"
The supervisor tells him to go to the animal shelter and clean the pelicans.

Two hours later, Boudreaux comes up to the supervisor and says,

"Okay. Dey all cleaned. You want me to cook some rice?"

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 37

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 37 – September 18, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

 

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our new on-line catalog at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frames=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

Poo yie!  This week has been busy, cher.

I try very hard not to use anyone’s name in this publication unless I feel pretty confident that they will not be offended.  Mais, that did not even help last week.  People were offended because they knew who they were without names.   I guess sometimes you just cannot win.

There were so many activities this week for a small business to attend.  I just could not attend everything.  There were expos, Gallery Night, Toastmasters, WBL, various luncheons and meetings.  On top of everything, I was and am busy getting ready for the upcoming 4^th Annual Pensacola Beach Arts & Wine Festival the first weekend in October. 

Our new tablecloths came in.  I’m really trying to spruce up the Cajun Stitchery booth.  The tablecloths are blue and floor length.  I was trying to work on some hand painted signs but I’m an embroiderer and not a real painting artist.  Painting is just one more thing that I am going to have to learn how to do.    

I was reading a blurb on Facebook from one of my business friends.  I guess she sells soap but the blurb was about the chemicals in soaps that you purchase from the store.  Oh my.  How do they get away with using all of those chemicals on people?  Then she made a statement that just hit home for me.  She asked if we have noticed more people with allergies and sensitivities to a variety of things, including soap, in recent years.  As a matter of fact, I have.  My ADD personality decided that I needed to learn how to make soap.  My niece makes vegan soap.  I have friends who make soap.  I have made glycerin soap and read about soap making in the past. So, now I have spent a lot of time researching soap making and by golly, we may just start using homemade soap.

I’m starting to feel like I live on Little House On The Prairie. We grow the garden.  I make our bread.  Now soap?  I just want us healthy.  Mama is surely rolling her eyes and laughing.   

The garden is one of my passions.  Our beautiful spring garden turned into a lush jungle over the summer.  It was sad to have to pull up those plants.  We decided not to pull everything up, just one area that was beginning to look spent.  George planted carrots, onions, garlic, English peas, broccoli and lettuce.  Some of the fall plants have already germinated.  The part of the garden that we did not pull is still producing tomatoes, peppers and green beans.  Now I’ve noticed we are starting to get eggplant and cucumbers.  The watermelon plants have flowers and are beautiful but no watermelon.  I need to get out there and trim some of the herbs for drying.  The cayenne peppers have gone amuck this year.  They are beautiful but there is no way I can use that many peppers.  I guess I’ll start drying those, as well.  If you want a mess of cayenne, drop by the house and get some fresh off the plants.

A few weeks ago a gentleman emailed me saying that he visited the Cajun Stitchery booth last year at the Arts & Wine Festival and purchased several of our Christmas tea towels.  He continued that he enjoyed handing those towels out as gifts to his friends.  This year he will not be able to make the festival but will be coming to Pensacola Beach later in October with some friends for their vacation.  He wanted me to embroider some tee shirts for him and his friends.  That was very flattering.  I sent him to one of the embroidery design websites, www.dakotacollectibles.com.  I have most of those designs.  He chose his designs, sent me the tee shirts and I did the appropriate embroidery.  He now needs to pay me so that I can ship the shirts to him.  For some reason, this week my emails either haven’t gotten to him or he is on another computer.  He kept emailing asking for the cost.  I kept sending it.  Finally, I just called him.  Sure enough he was on a different computer this week and just hadn’t seen my emails.  He is such a delightful gentleman and we had a very pleasant conversation.  When he gets here for his vacation, he may be calling me to come out for a drink on the beach.  It is exciting meeting new people, especially new customers.  Of course, he tells me that we met last year but there were so many people that, sadly, I don’t remember.

Speaking of people and friends, I had to “unfriend” 4 people on Facebook lately.  They were hackers.  I don’t think I’ll ever understand why people do that or create and spread viruses intentionally.  Those people need a garden for sure.

Another friend, from my business groups, placed an order this week for embroidery on a nice bag and some kitchen towels.  They have turned out beautiful and almost ready for delivery.  She has an interesting business, ToucanSave.com.  It is a coupon-like business, similar to Groupon, but ToucanSave.com is local.   If you are local, you really need to visit her website and register for the great savings.  It costs you nothing to register and you get some great deals and savings.  It is a win-win.

While doing her embroidery yesterday, I embroidered several tea towels, as well.  I think some of my Nereid girls are going to like my little mermaid tea towels.  “Unique” doesn’t even come close to describing my Nereids.  If I am going to embroider mermaids, I better have them with blonde hair, black hair, and brown hair.  In fact, I have 3 Nereid birthdays coming up soon and I have run out of bath towels.

Thursday night we visited friends for dinner and a game of Scrabble.  One of my friends works in marketing for a large corporation and gets all sorts of items to test and see if it might be something his company wants to purchase.  I was presented with a bottle of sparkling liqueur for test purposes.  The bottle is beautiful with a screw on cap rather than a cork.  George said we could dump the contents and save the bottle for a vase.  It is a beautiful bottle.  I would never waste good liqueur.  Last night my CPA/friend came to dinner and we tried the new liqueur.  It is pink.  It definitely fizzes and bubbles in the glass.  The aroma is very fruity and pleasant.  The taste is good.  It is sweet.  I like sweet wine.  I asked my CPA if she would purchase that, if available.  Her answer is the same as mine, “if the price is right.”  So, we both agreed that it is a good liqueur that we would not mind having again.  However, to spend money, it would have to be in the same ballpark as the usual dinner wine.  The ingredients initially made us hesitant, but it was good.  It is French white wine with French vodka, French sparkling wine, fruit flavors and carbonation.  Made in France, imported in London, distributed in Connecticut. 

Several of our friends have gone to New Orleans for the Saints game today.  Some are spending the weekend; others have just gone for the day.  Still others will be watching the game on TV.  There will be several fleur de lis for sale at our booth.  Geaux Saints:>)

Continuing to market Cajun Stitchery, I posted an ad on my Facebook groups this week that got a chuckle.  “Does your dog have a job? Is he/she unemployed? Hire your pet to advertise for you. Have your logo embroidered on your dog's jacket. People are drawn to babies and animals. Let Fido earn her keep:>)”  In my endeavor to keep your dogs employed, please read our sale of the week, below:

SALE (good through 9/22/11):  3900 Doggie Skins Doggie Ringer T-Shirt

• 5.8 oz. 100% combed ring-spun cotton baby rib
• Contrast double needle ribbed binding on neck, sleeves & bottom

Colors:  black/raspberry, brown/lt blue, lt blue/navy, pink/raspberry

Sizes:  XS, S, M, L

$9.54 (normal retail price is $10.54) (price is without embroidery)

Even if you don’t want a logo embroidered on the tee shirt, your dog’s name is always a good idea.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

===============================================================

Taken from: http://www.louisiana101.com/ideas_stdenis.html

The year, 1712. The Louisiana colony has grown very little in the past eight years since the Pelican girls arrived. Less than 50 people live in the area now known as Louisiana. A new governor has been appointed, his name, Antonie Cadillac. He wasted no time in wanting to establish trade with the Spanish in Mexico.

For this important work he chose Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, the 11th of 12 children, born near Quebec. He had studied in Paris at the Royal College. Stories abounded concerning his love affairs and duels. Most perhaps just legends. St. Denis' entire life was what legends were made of.

Cadillac could not have made a better choice than St. Denis, commander of Fort de la Boulaye along the Gulf coast. St. Denis was a heroic figure to both the French and the Indians of western Louisiana. He spoke several Indian languages and Spanish fluently. He was greatly respected as a talented salesman and skilled diplomat. It was known that he could talk his way into - an out of - almost any situation.

Governor Cadillac had recently received a letter from the Spanish priest Father Hadalgo working with the Tejas Indians in east Texas. He was asking for the governor to please send some French priests to help him as the Spanish refused to allow more priests to cross the Rio Grande. The governor thought that this could be a great cover and excuse to send someone to explore the possibilities of trade with the Spanish and possible Mexico.

St. Denis set out on the first leg of his journey following the Mississippi to the Red River where he met the Natchitoches Indians. He stopped on his way to the Tejas Territory long enough to sign a treaty with the Natchitoches tribe. The Indians were so impressed with this 6 foot, well built, Frenchman that they called him Chief Pretty Legs. The title partly came because of his preference to bright colored clothes- yellow jackets, red pants, and white silk stockings.

While there he built a storehouse for his extra supplies and left a few men to build a garrison or fort. The fort would become the first permanent settlement in the French colony, Fort St. Jean Baptiste de Natchitoches.

St. Denis then headed west with 25 men leaving only 10 behind. They crossed the Sabine. They traded goods with the Indians all throughout east Texas. Guns, knives, beads - all traded for furs and livestock. The Indians helped guide St. Denis to Father Hadalgo - of which they never found. All the while, traveling deeper and deeper into Spanish Texas.

St. Denis quickly learned the dialects of the various tribes. After months of travel he neared the Rio Grande along the Mexican border. He was ready to cross, knowing that the Spanish had ordered their troops to shoot anyone crossing. He was heading to the nearest Spanish fort or persideo on the river. St. Denis saw the fort that guarded the border - he was not fazed. Onward he headed.

The fort at San Juan Bautista first got word of the coming of St. Denis from the Indians. Tribes of them kept reporting the advance of pale faced troops. They had killed many Indians they said. The Apache, Commanche and so on. That alone was a feat to inspire Indian talk.

The fort worried - Was this an invasion? A massacre? Change in country ownership? Exaggerated speculation flew wildly throughout the fort. Soldiers at the fort were ready. Then they saw them - approaching from the direction of the Rio Grande. Out over the plains. A small band of men. A soldier adjusted his field glasses again. Was it an advance party? Where were the rest of the troops?

Before the guards could properly challenge him, St. Denis announced in loud, perfect Spanish that he wanted to see the commandant. The soldiers granted his wish.

Inside the fort St. Denis used his polished manners, fresh and beautifully tailored uniform, and forceful Spanish to show that he was not a man to be taken lightly. Any slight blunder by this invader might have changed the history of the southwest forever. Being the salesman that he was, St. Denis soon talked his way into the good graces of fort commandant Captain Don Diego Ramon.

The fort was so far removed from regular visitors, there was a general excitement in the air about this strange Frenchman. Captain Ramon was bewildered at his guest; however, had no choice but to arrest him. Orders were orders. Only two years earlier the viceroy of Mexico issued strict orders to stop all foreigners.

Arrest could mean many things and St. Denis was placed under house arrest and allowed to roam the fort at will. A prisoner yes but also a very distinguished guest. As the days passed, St. Denis dined with Ramon and talked of trade between the two outposts. St. Denis was an expert storyteller and exhibited a wonderful sense of humor. While at San Jaun Baptista he also met and fell in love with the captain's granddaughter, Emanuelle Sanche de Navarro. She was just seventeen. St. Denis was 37.

Manuela was known as the most beautiful girl in all of Northern Mexico. Her fair skin was in sharp contrast to that of the other Spanish. St. Denis was charmed by her exotic loveliness. The stage was set for romance - strangers meeting under dangerous circumstances.

Even more dangerous was the fact that Emanuelle was the sweetheart of the governor of Northern Mexico. If St. Denis was to steal the governor's girl, Spanish heads might come off at the persideo. The family was impressed with St. Denis, yet worried. What if officials in Mexico City found out they were housing a Frenchman?

However, it was easy to see, that this young girl was apt to make her own decision: she was in love with the Frenchman from Louisiana. A fiery young Spanish girl in love was not going to be an easy force to control.

It didn't take long before Maneula's former Spanish fiancé reported the foreigner at the fort. Maneula was angry. She didn't want to marry the widower Don Gaspardo Anya. "He was so ugly and so fat and more worried about stuffing his face than loving me." she said. I refuse. I won't marry him.

Within days 25 Spanish soldiers rode into San Juan Baptista and put St. Denis in chains and carted him off to Mexico City. The whole city was buzzing; everyone wanted to see this brave Frenchman. Don Gaspardo descended on St. Denis' cell and offered him his freedom if he would just leave the lovely senorita of San Juan Baptista

St. Denis refused.

The governor was furious. He dispatched a message to Emanuelle saying that if she did not consent to marry him her lover would be put to death. St. Denis' calmness and poise bewildered the Spanish. It didn't take long before the smooth talking St. Denis had talked his way out of jail. He convinced the Spanish officials that he was on their side. He wanted to marry and become a Spanish subject. It must have worked. Not only was he set free but placed as second in command to 65 men being sent to regain East Texas and reestablish the Spanish dominance there.

They met with French officials and set up several missions there to reclaim the land. One, San Migual de los Adeas, was built just 15 miles west of Fort St. Jean Baptiste de Natchitoches, St. Denis' first garrison. There is was a Spanish mission right under the noses of the French!

St. Denis came back to San Juan Baptista a hero. The whole Ramon family was impressed as well as grateful. Time was precious and a wedding was planned. The first international wedding of importance in the new world. It would be a large Catholic wedding and celebrated by everyone. Wedding dresses had to be selected, arrangements made. The shopping tour to the south took over a month. San Juan Baptista became a riot of color.

Never had the frontier witnessed such an impressive occasion. The entire population turned out, Indians and Spanish alike lined the bridal path. At the alter, seven priests gave up saving lost souls just to officiated the Catholic service that overflowed the chapel. The wedding festivities lasted three days. Church bells rang out. It was all play and no work at the presidio. The marriage was a social affair the frontier would not soon forget.

St. Denis and his bride soon moved back to Natchitoches and set up housekeeping on a small vachiere deep in the woods along the Red River.

Within two years war broke out between the French and Spanish in Europe. The French ordered their colonial troops to move against the Spanish in western Louisiana. Seven scouts were selected and sent to report on San Migual los Adeas. When they arrived, they found the gates were open. They rode inside and found - and captured the whole garrison - only a priest and one lone soldier stood between them and victory.

As they began to celebrate their victory and steal goods, they knocked over several chicken cages allowing them to escape. The chickens scared the horses throwing the riders causing several injuries. The seven French scouts had driven the Spanish out of Eastern Texas in what would become known as the "Great Chicken War".

The French had won.

Within two years the Spanish were back claiming the land along the Red River as their boundary. This time there would be no small mission; this time there would be a real fort. Fort los Adeas would come alive with over 100 well supplied and well trained Spanish soldiers. It would become the Spanish Capital of Texas for the next 50 years.

St. Denis was renamed commandant of Fort St. Jean Baptist de Natchitoches and he protested the Spanish fort on French soil. The Spanish wouldn't give in - and neither would St. Denis. Over the years several Spanish commanders came and went, none able to stop St. Denis and the French from trading with the Spanish and Indians to the west of Natchitoches. Trading went on under the cover of darkness and in broad daylight. French and Spanish alike knew it was going on; they just looked the other way.

During all this time the Spanish never found a way to out-scheme St. Denis. As long as he was alive he was a thorn in the flesh of the Spaniards. He outwitted them at every turn. To them and the Indians he was never "commandant", "Indian Agent", "Commander", "friend", or "foe", it was simply St. Denis. To everyone - that was his title. He maintained his magnetic personality with the Indians, the Spanish, and the French. He played all sides for his gain.

To the Indians, when St. Denis died, they lost a God. Their Chief Pretty Legs. And a legend was created.

NOTES
As the years and wilderness took their toll; St. Denis requested that he be relieved of duty, allowed to retire to Mexico with his wife. The French government, having no one like him to name as a replacement, delayed his request time and time again. The permission never came. "His desire for rest and peace and a few quiet days in private life with Emanuelle ...was never realized. One June 11, 1744, he passed away as quietly as the evening shadows. He died as commandant.
A leader.
Chief Pretty Legs.

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

In-The-Hoop Pot Holders

It dawned on me recently that our annual Arts & Wine Festival on the beach is just a few months away.  It is usually the first weekend in October.  I found some tutorials on making potholders in-the-hoop but they just don't seem big enough.  I'm on a quest for the perfect embroidered potholder done completely in-the-hoop.

Potholders were probably the very first item that Mama taught me to sew when I was a little girl.  She would lay a piece of fabric down and then we would use our scrap material, neatly layered over the fabric until we felt it was thick enough.  Finally, we would lay another piece of fabric on top of the layers and start machine quilting.  Anything is fine.  The point is to sew around to hold all of those little scrap pieces in place.  We would sew straight lines across, usually at one inch intervals; then up and down.  After the quilting was done, we trimmed the edges to make them straight, sewed around the edges and finally, add bias tape around the edges.  Potholders are great beginner projects for children.

A few decades down the road from those early days and I'm still making potholders.  The embroidery machine is funny about how many layers of fabric it will stitch.  I am working on that.  I started off hooping some plastic.  The heavy plastic is sturdy and after the satin stitches are applied, you can pull the item away from the plastic with a clean edge.  I sew a single stitch line around the shape of the potholder.  Then I apply 2 layers of fabric.  Put that back in the machine and sew another line around the shape.  Take the hoop off the machine and trim the excess fabric.  This is just like an applique.  Then put the hoop back into the machine and stitch the middle design.  Depending on the size of the middle design, you may want additional quilting.  This is the time to stitch the stipple.  Then take the hoop off the machine and add a couple of layers of fabric to the bottom.  I just pin the fabric to the plastic but make sure the pins are far away from the path of the needle.  Put the hoop back in the machine and sew another outline.  Take the hoop out and trim the edges.  Then I take 2 pieces of fabric, folded in half and pin them so that the folded edges meet in the middle on the back of the potholder.  Pin in place and sew another outline and trim.  Finish with your satin stitch.  The reason for the folded pieces is to put your hand inside, creating a mitt.


Yep, that's a lot of trimming and putting the hoop in and out of the machine.  You can save time and effort by not doing the "mitt" and just pin all of your layers of fabric on the bottom before the quilting and let the machine run to the end.  I'm still working on more layers of fabric.  Yes, I know I could and should probably use batting.  In fact, the machine doesn't have a problem with batting at all and I would get the thickness much easier.  Let's face it, I'm stubborn and I want to use up that scrap fabric.  Anyway, I'm still perfecting the process and hope to have lots of beautiful potholders on sale at the Arts & Wine Festival this year.

C'est tout, mes amis