Cajun Corner – Vol. 7, No. 4 – March 21, 2015

Cajun Corner – Vol. 7, No. 4 – March 21, 2015

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, and, www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook.  

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.my-catalogs.com/cajunstitchery

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Wow!  This year has been crazy so far.  I've been working on a project that actually began in mid-December.  It was a beautiful bed cover.  We took photographs of a gorgeous 17th or 18th century bed cover.  Then I digitized  some of the embroidery from the bed cover.  We finished the new and improved bed cover last week.  This week we are working on matching shams for this beautiful bed.  I don't usually mention the projects that I create for this customer because she prefers that I not show our creations.  That means I cannot post photographs.  So, you don't get to see.  No fun in that.  So, I usually don't mention it.  But I have been busy.

We have the studio that George remodeled and I decorated.  It is so adorable and I love working on my embroidery projects over there.  It came to my attention a few years ago that I really need to start entertaining in the studio.  I don't really have a store front.  I take orders mostly over the internet.  But I love using our projects to decorate the studio.  Insofar as a store front, Cajun Stitchery is more, shall we say, exclusive, by invitation only.  These projects need to be seen for sales purposes, of course, but for art purposes as well.  My girlfriends have been giving me platters and all sorts of fancy dishes and stuff to assist me in entertaining.  This year the entertainment began in earnest.  

To say that I'm not a great cook is an understatement.  I'm not really interested in cooking and therefore, I don't cook well.  I tend to agree with something my mother told me years ago.  We can sew and wear or use the item for years and have that good feeling of accomplishing something beautiful for a very long time.  When you cook, the dish may indeed be a work of art, but then, people come along and eat it and it is gone.  Or, if no one eats it, it rots and it is gone.  Nope.  I prefer a longer lasting good feeling.

Anyway, I decided to cook chili one night this past winter and told George to come over for dinner at the studio.  Well, I had the ground beef in the skillet and the beans in a pot and everything was cooking pretty much all day.  That's when I noticed it.  I looked at my hands and realized I had broken a nail and couldn't find it.  Visions of the nail in the ground beef or beans was tormenting me.  I searched through those 2 pots for hours thinking whether or not I should tell George.  Maybe the nail wouldn't end up in his plate.  If it did...that was just too disgusting to think.  I searched and searched totally mortified.  Distraught, I hung my head and walked to my embroidery machine.  There on the floor was my nail.  Whew!  So, my entertaining attempt had some stress involved.

Later, I decided to invite my CPA and dear friend over for dinner, wine and taxes.  It was a riveting evening.  Absolutely nothing like wine while doing your taxes.  LOL  That evening we had boiled shrimp, potatoes and corn.  Success!  Both dinner and taxes went just fine.

Last November I invited several of our friends to the studio for shrimp gumbo.  The gumbo was delicious but I noticed one of my friends did not eat it.  I asked why and was informed that even though he lives on the waterfront, and has a big, beautiful fishing boat, he doesn't like seafood.  I had no idea and was, of course, disturbed that a guest would go hungry at my party.  

After Mardi Gras this year, I invited my friend, as well as others, to a Meat-Fest dinner.  Everything was meat and no seafood was allowed.  It was very interesting.  I will tell you that chocolate covered bacon is fabulous and you simply cannot eat just one.  The appetizer was a meat tray of luncheon meat that I rolled into little tubes with little pots of mustard and mayonnaise for dipping.  The main course was pulled pork with barbeque sauce.  Dessert was the chocolate covered bacon and ground beef brownies.  The ground beef brownies were interesting because the recipe said that many people are allergic to nuts and the brownie recipe merely substituted two tablespoons of fried ground beef for the nuts.  Otherwise, it was a normal brownie recipe.  One guest brought hot wings and another brought bacon cupcakes.  The bacon cupcakes were maple flavored cupcakes with bacon on top.  Delicious.  We had so much fun at the Meat-Fest party that some of the guests are planning Meat-Fest 2016.

A week later I had my Mardi Gras krewe over for our monthly meeting and dinner.  Our krewe is an all female krewe.  The girls always bring various dishes.  This dinner theme was Mexican.  I made tacos.  We had a margarita station.  I cannot really tell you what all was served because I spent most of the evening at the margarita station.  We all agreed that we definitely need a repeat of this gathering.

After all of that entertaining, I was tired of cooking.  Guess we'll give the entertaining a rest for now but I definitely am planning a 4th of July shindig.

Peggy Henshall, Owner

Cajun Stitchery

www.cajunstitchery.com

www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com

Also, visit us on Twitter and FaceBook

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 10 – April 19, 2014

 

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 10 – April 19, 2014

 

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

 

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, 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.

Spring comes and goes this year.  A friend and life long resident of Pensacola once told me that we have one last cold spell in mid-March and then it is spring.  Usually that is true but this year little frosty days have popped up in April.  And the rain!  It seems we’ve had quite a bit of rain this year.  No problems here.  Our garden is very happy.

We had a week or so of company.  It was so nice to be able to have out-of-town guests and let them stay at the studio.  The bed over there is apparently quite comfortable.  It is too low for my tastes and George promises to make a platform for the bed someday.

It may be the full moon this past week but my printer died and we had to buy a new one.  Then our microwave died and we had to buy a new one.  Now it looks like our Mr. Coffee may be dead.  Goodness gracious!  Things need to last longer.

In spite of all of our activity this month, a lot of embroidery was done, as well.  I finally finished a non-rush project of a name on a huge Christmas stocking.  I kept putting the project off because the customer didn’t need it until Christmas.  George finally said that if I keep putting it off Christmas will arrive and then it will be a rush job.  So, I did it and it turned out beautiful.

In my endless pursuit of trying to use all of my scrap fabric, I made a cute “Happy Easter” banner that turned out very nice.  It is now hanging in our showroom. 

Handkerchiefs are the highlight of our Etsy store.  One lady contacted me on Etsy to find out what kind of fabric I had available for handkerchiefs.  After sending her pictures of a lot of fabric she decided that she wanted four handkerchiefs made.  Two of the handkerchiefs were to be made from our black and white pin striped fabric and the other two from our 100% cotton white fabric.  One of the black and white pinstriped hankies was to have an artists palette and the word Dew in script.  The other pinstriped hanky was only to have the word Dewest on it in script.  The hanky with the palette was edged with white thread.  Dewest was edged in red thread.  The other two were on white cotton and edged in pastel colors.   The white and pastel edged hankies were no big deal and they were done using a light tear away stabilizer.  The hanky with the red edge was a bit more complex.  You see, the tear away stabilizer is white and once you tear it away little specks of white can show around the edge.  It does not show on white or light colors but for a dark color like red it poses a problem.  Instead of the tear away for the red edged handkerchief, I used Vilene.  Vilene is a wash away stabilizer.  Basically it is a sheet of starch.  After making the hanky with the red edge I soaked it in cold water.  It turned out beautiful.  The handkerchiefs were mailed to the customer who, upon receipt, replied that three of the hankies are beautiful but the one with the red edge is discolored and hard.  I knew it was the starch so I told her that before she had to send it back and I make another, for her to soak the hanky in cold water.  She did soak it overnight and replied the next day that it is as soft as the other hankies.  She just couldn’t believe it was starch because the fabric wasn’t hard, just the edge.  Ah, another satisfied customer.

A baby shower was approaching and I needed a baby shower gift.  I’ve made baby booties before and have some adorable patterns.  So, I made a pair of baby booties.  They turned out okay, I guess.  They really are not that hard to make.  The problem is all of the little, tiny pieces.  Finally, I got the idea of scanning the pattern pieces into the computer and digitizing them.  OMG!  It worked.  I was able to do a running stitch for the seam and outline, including the little important divots.  Then I turned on my boring needle and the machine cut out the pattern pieces perfectly.  Sweet!  The booties still had to be assembled and sewn on the sewing machine but with perfectly cut pattern pieces it helped so much with the sewing.  Better than that, I was then able to embroider on the pattern pieces before cutting them out.  Yes, anyplace on the pattern can be embroidered, including the soles. They did turn out so cute.  The time involved in making the booties is rather extensive.  It still takes me 2-3 hours to make a pair of booties.  This is much better than the first pair that took me the better part of the day to make.  One problem still remains.  The very last thing to do in making the booties is sewing the front, toe area.  Mine rarely are curved properly.  For my baby shower gift, I made a pair of booties with a matching bib and bonnet.  The bib is also done on the embroidery machine.  The bonnet is easy to make but other than the embroidery, could not be done on the embroidery machine.  Of course, the baby bibs are for sale on Etsy and for custom orders.  The booties are not; simply because I would have to charge $40-$60 per pair, which is ridiculous for a pair of booties.

A friend/customer contacted me about wedding coasters.  Her son is getting married and she wanted a special coaster to go under candles that will be placed on each table at the reception.  In addition, she wanted something that her son and daughter-in-law could keep and use.  We ended up making 5” wide coasters in the shape of a sea shell with the names embroidered on the edge.  Using one of the special features in our digitizing program we were able to embroider the last name as a loose fill stitch on the entire area of the shell.  All 24 coasters turned out lovely and the customer was happy.

Another customer, a real New Orleans Saints fanatic, found a pair of scrub pants in the gold color of the Saints.  She asked that I design something that said New Orleans Saints and included some fleur de lis.  Our end design was “New Orleans” down one side of the pant leg. “Saints” down the side of the other pant leg.  Fleur de lis across the bottom of each pant leg.

Recently we obtained some new embroidery designs.  One of the designs is the Pledge of Allegiance.  It is very pretty.  I’ve heard that schools no longer have the children recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning.  That is a shame.  What about having the Pledge of Allegiance embroidered on patriotic tee shirts?  Last year George and I purchased identical tee shirts.  They are white with red and blue stripes on the sleeves.  I stitched out the design and it stitched out just fine.  We are now going to stitch it out on our tee shirts to wear for Memorial Day, 4^th of July, and other patriotic days.  I’m doing mine on the front but George wants his on the back.  At least the kids can see the words and we will make a statement, too.

You know when my embroidery tech comes by she gets me up to date on all of the latest embroidery techniques and things.  This visit was all about Thread Velvet.  Thread Velvet is a technique which I think is registered to Viking or Pfaff.  The method is to sew a satin stitch in one color with a bean stitch around the edges.  Then embroider another satin stitch on top of the first but slightly larger; and, bean stitch around.  You can have as many layers as you like.  Once finished, slit the middle of the satin stitches and fluff them.  If you use a darker color on the bottom and a lighter color on the top (or vice versa) it gives an illusion of a little strip of velvet and is beautiful.  It is hard to describe but I am definitely going to have to play with this technique.  Everything that I’ve read says it can be laundered but launder gently.  Of course, the more layers the thicker and richer it looks.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

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. 

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Thank you, Sandy, for all of the jokes:

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie.

'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'  

So he tied her up and went golfing.

 

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A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.

She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'

The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'

 

 

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Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

 

 

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A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.

First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test.

The optician showed him a card with the letters  

 

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'  

'Can you read this?' the optician asked.

'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'

 

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Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, 'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.'  

'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonnay.'  

 

 

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A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

'Careful,' he said, 'CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh, my gosh! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh, my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!'

The wife stared at him.

'What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?'

The husband calmly replied, 'I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving.'  

 

 

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Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army.

On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb.

That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair.

On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush.

That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth.

On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap.

The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

 

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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. 5, No. 15

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 15 – April 21, 2013

 

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

 

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, 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.

All of the furniture is now in the house next door.  With the sleeper sofa and Mama’s bed, we can sleep 4.  All of the windows have curtains, or more appropriately, covers.  Proper curtains with embroidery will take some time but that is the next step.  Ah, visions of overnight guests are filling my mind.

We have begun the task of going through the boxes of stuff for the kitchen.  Yes, I have begun tossing things out.  Used aluminum foil pie tins went into the trash, as did empty jars.  Some empty jars may be antique and were kept for the time being.  One was a glass jar in the shape of a maple leaf.  I believe that syrup originally came in that jar.  There are also several jelly jars from long ago.  We found a can of sardines – unopened.   We were stumped when we found the box of wine that was never opened.  Is that stuff still good?

Some of the stuff is going to Waterfront Mission unless someone pop ups and wants it.  We don’t need her microwave, toaster oven, or Mr. Coffee, since we have those things already.  If anyone wants them, they are yours for the taking.  First come, first served.

It is mind boggling how many sets of dishes she had.  Going through the items from the kitchen drawers is interesting.  There are some things that we cannot figure out what they are.  Other things are unique items.  Still others are obviously very old.  There are pots and pans, bake ware of all kinds, measuring cups, you name it and she probably had it.  I’d venture to say that there are more boxes from Mama’s kitchen than anything else.  The amazing thing about that is that she didn’t cook – ever.  She collected and read cookbooks and had to have every kind of kitchen utensil, but she didn’t cook.

The most recent box that has been opened seems to be full of spices.  That is where we have stopped.  There will be more to come on this topic next week.

Last night we had a few guests over for a shrimp boil.  Shrimp have been on my mind for awhile.  We had tours of the house next door going on for awhile.  One guest suggested that we have a slideshow of the “before” pictures on the TV as we give our tours of the renovated house.  Not a bad idea.  I wonder how I would get that on the TV?  Does anyone know?

One of our friends brought a salad that everyone raved about.  The last bit of that salad was my lunch today.  It had broccoli, grapes, crasins, cheese, and all sorts of things in it and it was delicious. 

The wine flowed, as did the conversation.  I try to invite guests who I think will be interesting to each other and that seemed to be the case last night.  Everyone not only got along well, but interacted in some very interesting conversations.  We all ended the evening on the back deck just talking and drinking wine.

The dogs were very well behaved during the entire evening.  Sam, “the puppy”, no longer jumps on everyone.  He still sniffs and gooses everyone but hopefully he will stop that as he matures and is around people.  Otherwise, even the dogs got along with the guests.

Last week I was playing around with some cutwork embroidery designs trying to use the boring needle rather than stopping the machine to do the cutting.  So far, it hasn’t worked but I haven’t given up hope.   Practice makes perfect and I’m convinced this will work.

I did make some lace coasters for next door on the embroidery machine.   I used plastic for the stabilizer so that the coasters would be waterproof.  They turned out very nice.

Have a wonderful week.

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. 

No time to read Cajun Corner?  Visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com and click the Odiogo button to hear the computer read the blog.

Found the following at http://www.aokcorral.com/how2feb.htm

 

How To's and Projects

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   January 2000  Heart shaped gift boxes

 

Instructions for making heart shaped boxes:

Materials needed:

• Card stock paper or poster board
• Masking tape
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Spray paint
• Hot glue gun or craft glue
• Decorating accessories;
• ribbon, lace, flowers, buttons, etc...

 

Draw these hearts on 1x1 inch graph paper.
(The inner heart is suppose to be drawn 1/8 inch
inside the outer heart)
 

Cut card stock or poster board according to the
following dimensions and patterns.
For Small Box:

• Cut one strip 1"x 10" (For top of box)
• Cut one strip 2.25"x 9.5" (For bottom of box)
• Cut two heart shapes (Small hearts on pattern)

For Large Box:

• Cut one strip 1.25"x 18.5" (For top of box)
• Cut one strip 2.75"x 18.25" (For bottom of box)
• Cut two heart shapes (Large hearts on pattern)

 

Now you are ready to assemble the box:

Pre tear several pieces of masking tape for use.

Take the two heart shaped pieces that are for the size of box you have chosen.
Starting at the bottom point of the heart, tape the thin strip of poster board to the larger of those heart shapes.  Then tape the thick strip to the smaller heart shape.  (These steps are shown on the smaller box in the photo.)

Bend the strip slightly inward at the top mid-point of each heart as you tape the pieces together.

Overlap the ends of the strip, being sure to bend the strip at the bottom of the heart to make a point.

(Tip:  Apply tape to strip edge first as seen in photo then roll the strip along the edge of the heart folding the tape over onto the heart at the same time.)
( Do not worry about bumps and folds in the tape.)
 

After you have fully assembled your box you need to texture it:

Tear small pieces, (approx. 1/2") of masking tape and stick them randomly all over the top and bottom pieces of the heart box. Cover the box completely with the tape pieces. (This step is shown on the large heart box in the photo.)

(Tip: Be careful not to fold tape to the inside of the box, this would give it a messy unfinished look.)
 

You are ready to finish the box:

Set out the box pieces on newsprint in a well ventilated area.
(Tip: Make sure that the inside of each box piece is facing down so that only the areas that are covered with tape are showing.)

Spray paint thoroughly and let dry completely.

Decorate the box with ribbons, lace, doilies, buttons, charms, anything you like!  Fill with candy or small gifts!
 

Happy Creating!

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.