Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 4 – January 28, 2011
Bon Jour! Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
ΘΘΘΘΘ
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Our trip to the Saenger in Mobile was so much fun. The bus was packed with 54 crazed, Mardi Gras decorated people. We had fun from the time we stepped on the bus until we returned home. God bless our little bus driver. The bus dropped us off right at the front door to the Saenger. As it happened a gentleman was playing a trumpet across the street for tips. When we departed the bus, the trumpeter joined us and played all of the Mardi Gras tunes, including When The Saints Go Marching In. We sang and danced and had a great time. Once we got to our seats in the Saenger, Beausoleil was playing. Who could sit with that kind of music? We were up and dancing. The security guard asked us to dance to the side of the seated audience so we wouldn’t disturb their view. We complied. Before long the whole audience was up and dancing. I noticed the security guard just sat down and enjoyed the show. We were overwhelming. Marcia Ball was actually the main attraction. I had never heard her music before and was very impressed. We danced through her set, as well. When the show closed, we entered our bus which picked us up at the front door, and partied all the way home. There were a few people who fell asleep on the return trip. They must have been tired because I think we were louder going home than we were going to Mobile. I would make this trip again in a heartbeat. It was just a wonderful evening.
Most of last weekend was spent digitizing the logo for the Krewe of Bad Habits. I had some concerns about whether I was a good enough digitizer to do a good job for them because their logo is fairly detailed with the King, Queen, and Jack of hearts in the center. By the end of the weekend I was able to sit back and give a critical eye to the simulated embroidered design. It is beautiful. On Monday I stitched it out. It stitched out perfectly, although it took a few hours to stitch.
I had digitized everything except the lettering. The lettering was done freehand. It’s pretty much a piece of cake to do lettering when there is a font involved. In those instances I can pick the font and type in what I want, give the program a few parameters and with a click of a button, voila, it’s done. Freehand lettering requires actual digitizing, as though it was a piece of art, stitch-by-stitch. With art detail, depending on the amount of detail and the size of the design, you can fudge a bit on the detail, since there is a point where a tiny thread sized detail isn’t going to show whether it is digitized or not. That is not necessarily the case with lettering. You have to read the lettering when it’s done. Tiny lettering is the worse. Many digitizers have to hire more experienced digitizers to do the tiny lettering. I’ve digitized some lettering before but this lettering is extremely thin. Think of it this way. An embroidery machine needle is 1mm wide. If you have a line 1 mm wide, then how do you zig zag for a satin stitch? All you can do is a straight line.
Photographs of the artwork were sent to the krewe, along with an explanation about the lettering. I haven’t heard back whether they like the digitized design or not. Everyone who has walked into this house has raved about it. I’m so proud of the stitch out that I have it on my kitchen table. I gave the krewe the option to hire a digitizer specializing in lettering. In the meantime, I’ve taken a crash course on digitizing lettering and, by golly; I think I’ve got it now. There are a few little things to iron out but I think I was worried unnecessarily. Finalizing, the lettering is my goal for this weekend. In between parties, that is.
Tonight is the Mystic Krewe of Nereids annual Moon pie Party at the Sandshaker on Pensacola Beach. It starts at 7 p.m. If you are local, please come and join us. The money earned from the raffles is going locally to help breast cancer patients and breast cancer research. I have a list of things that I don’t want to forget to bring tonight and it’s so absurd that I giggled after I wrote my list:
Tuxedo jacket
Top Hat
Flashy scepter
Hair lights
Tambourine
Light Stick
We will obviously have a great time tonight!
Tomorrow the Mystic Krewe of Nereids will be entering the Junkanoo’s 3rd Annual Chili Cook-off at the Sandshaker on Pensacola Beach from 1p.m. to 4p.m. You may recall that last year we were going to enter the chili cook-off but after the Moon pie Party some of the girls were a bit inebriated and came to rest at Krewe Den, got hungry and ate our entry. This year we have a failsafe method. Cowboy Carl (authentic cowboy, direct from Texas) is cooking the chili and delivering it directly to the Shaker on Saturday for the cook-off. You won’t want to miss Cowboy Carl’s Cowgirl Chili. We are certain that we are going to be the winners this year.
Oh yes, I also embroidered the aprons which will be given as prizes for the chili cook-off.
Yesterday, I had to take some time for us. If you are a true Mardi Gras person, then you know all about sequins. Our tux jackets have loads of sequins, including the sleeve cuffs. Those sequins snag on everything and we always end up with lost sequins or threads hanging. After awhile it looks tattered. So, I made new cuffs for George and me with the new Mylar embroidery. If for no other reason, you need to come to the Moon pie Party to see the new cuffs. George and I love them. They are every bit as sparkly as the sequin – without the snag problem.
Oh, there’s something else that I made this week. It’s top secret because it’s a gift that will be given tonight. This was another one of those stitch outs that we put on the kitchen table and just stared at – it’s beautiful.
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The following Boudreaux joke was sent to us by Paulette Provost:
Boudreaux, an 80-year-old South Louisiana Cajun, goes to the doctor
for his every year check-up.
The doctor is amazed at what good shape he is in and asks, "How you
stay in such great physical condition, Boudreaux?"
"I stay in the swamp and I hunt and fish every day" says the old Cajun,
and, that's why I'm in such good shape. "I'm up well before daylight and out
hunting or fishing all day. I have a beer for breakfast and at lunch and
wid my supper. And I have a shot of hooch before bed time. And I say my
prayers every night. And all is well wid me"
"Well", says the doctor, "I'm sure dem prayers helps, but there's got to be
more to it. How old was your father when he died?"
"Who said Pop is dead?"
The doctor is amazed. "You mean you're 80 years old and your father's still
alive? How old he is?"
"Pop be 100 next month," say Boudreaux. "In fact, he hunted with
me this morning, and then we went to a "beer joint" for a while and had
a few beers and that's why he's still alive. He's a tough Cajun man
And he hunts and fishes every day, too.
"Well, the doctor says, that's great, but I'm sure there's more to it than
that. How about your father's father? How old was he when he died?"
"Who said my Paw Paw's dead?"
Stunned, the doctor asks, "You mean you're 80 years old, your father is
100 and your grandfather's still living? Incredible! How old he is?"
"We tink 'bout 118." says the old Cajun. He likes his beer too, but he
wont touch the hard stuff."
The doctor is getting frustrated at this point, "So, I guess your
grandfather went hunting and fishing with you'll this morning too?"
"No, Paw Paw couldn't go this time. He's getting married today."
At this point the doctor is close to losing it. "Getting married! Why would
a 118-year-old man want to get married?"
Boudreaux looked down at the floor and mumbled "Who said he wanted to?"
Did you know:
Natchitoches, Louisiana, is the oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase Territory, and was founded in 1714.
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French Phrase of the Week: Le Parti de Tarte de lune (Moon Pie Party)
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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.
SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, February 3, 2011)
Cobbler Apron with name or initials -- $20.00
Toppers Cobbler Apron
• 7.5 oz. 65% polyester/35% cotton twill
• Two front pockets
• 19" x 28"
Colors: Black, navy, royal blue
