Penny Sanford Designs

Happy Hooking & Sassy Stripping

I'm learning how to hook (rugs) and strip (wool).  *grin*

The happy hushed voices of over 50 women in three different classes are composing a contented tune in the meeting rooms at Lake Tiak-O'Khata.  I am one of the super contented!

This is a photo of a Christmas Ornament, for which we chose our own pieces of wool and cut the wool into strips on little hand-crank stripper! 

I stopped long enough to walk around and take some photos.  This is a hard-working crowd of ladies, all members of the Jackson Stitchery Guild (of which I am a member). I blogged about this stitching retreat here. 

This is better than any medicine I can imagine! Lots of great conversation, uplifting and positive.  Our teacher Candace, has the soft voice, soft doe eyes and beautiful spirit of Lillian Gish, the famous silent movie star.  She has done some stunning hooked rugs, which I have photographed and will show you later.

Now back to hooking!  he he he

More observations from DAR State Conference

Talk about some beautiful suits....At the recent Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution State Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, I saw some drop-dead-gorgeous suits. 

Now, I am a sucker for the sophisticated look of a lady-like, beautifully tailored suit!  My favorite suits at the conference were handwoven silks. 

One inspirational suit (of which I did not get a photo) was a stunning turquoise handwoven plaid blended with other shades of similar blue tones.  The edge was bound (bias seam binding) in a turquoise paisley.  Because of the many shades of blue in the fabric, the paisley binding did not scream for attention.  It was a artistic blending of patterns and colors.

There were some stunning hats that came out for the Memorial Service at which we honor the DAR members who have died in the past year. Several of my DAR friends were wearing fabulous vintage hats!  (Carol G. of Jackson and Charla J. of Brandon).

Thanks to a lovely cold snap, the furs came out of storage for the Conference.  I had a grand time petting the sleeves of my friends and hinting to Gordon that he should expect to gift his wife with fur in the future.  *grin*

One of these days, I must tell you about my one and only ski trip to Park City, Utah.  After the first day spent bouncing around on the cold hard snow, and not on my feet, I  soothed my bruised ego by visiting fur shops and trying on fur coats for the rest of the trip.  Aaaahhh, those are happy memories!

This huddle in the halls at State Conference was around the J.E. Caldwell table.  It was the table to the left of our fund-raising table, and Gordon stood guard to keep me from straying over there too much.

That is because J.E. Caldwell is the official jeweler of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  They make all of our official DAR insignia that I talked about here.

If you are into Longaberger Baskets, you might recognize the Banker's Waste Basket from a few years ago.  I forget what the yellow striped fabric with blue roses was called, but I fell head over heels for that lining and have it in every basket I bought from Longaberger.  This was pre-marriage and pre-hubby-spending-management!  LOL

Don't get me wrong.  I am proud of Gordon's money management, and he makes the best and wisest decisions 99.9999999 percent of the time.  (Yep, I am already buttering him up for a future fur!  he he he)

DAR is anything BUT a fashion show.  A tremendous amount of volunteer work is done each year in the areas of education, literacy, genealogy, historic research, historic preservation, support for our military, and many more worthy areas! Here is the National DAR website if you want to read more!

This has not been a serious reporting about State Conference, as you can tell! Every lady attending worked hard, networked, brainstormed, learned, volunteered anew, planned ahead and  supported fund raisers! It was exhausting and renewing/refreshing at the same time!

We've been in a full-out run this week, getting an order ready for a special commission for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.  It is a special commission for a family that has had three generations of women intimately involved with the Cherry Blossom Festival.

At the same time, the Sewing Lady has been running us ragged, trying to get a big order ready by Monday.

A nice surprise this week was an order for a selection of my brooches for the gift shop at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.  My sculpted pieces have sold out several times in their gift shop in the past.

Three new designs are in various stages of sculpture.  One is a historic building in Mississippi.  Gotta have that one ready by mid-March.  One is of an iconic symbol of our State Capitol building.  The third is another Cherry Blossom design in conjunction with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

I'll keep you posted.  If I write about or think about any more of the many projects waiting to be finished, I will be too nervous to sleep tonight.

Mad Mosquito attacks typing fingers!

Here is a picture of how Jackie at TJ Bookarts used my little Heart YoYo pattern to make gift tags for Valentine!  I love your fabric choice, Jackie.  Great idea!

Over at I Knew That, Lisa has written a funny self-depreciating saga of her struggle to make a heart yoyo. Fun name for a blog too!  She describes herself as an Asian Cajun.  Sounds like a fun person!

The Quilt Monkey blogged the Free Heart YoYo pattern.  She has some very interesting posts from her blog-traveling.

The Pin Gallery blogged about my little Free Heart YoYo Pattern and Tutorial.  That looks like another blog I want to read frequently!

I can't wait to see the pillows that A Prairie Home plans to embellish with my little heart yoyo's.  More talented interest in the little humble heart yoyo's at  Spiritual Knitter

Poulsbo Crafter's Craft Room posted a link to my heart yoyo, and, they also said one could make a shamrock yoyo with a similar method.  I plan to try that out!  Great idea!

The heart yoyo popped up on Wists, a social Internet sharing site of web lists.  I never dreamed that a simple little free pattern would tickle the fancy of so many interesting folks from all over. 

This little blog is barely two months old, and more than 6,300 people have visited to date with over 9,500 page views!  Who'da thunk it!  It blows my mind!

At the moment, however, all I can think about is a demonic mosquito that is chasing my hands.  I think he likes my Bath and Body Works Tutti Dolci Mango Sorbetto Moisturizing Souffle. 

Hubby ReAlLy likes that particular scented body lotion, but Gordon is going to have to protect me from these Mississippi Mammoth Mosquitoes before this tender skin ventures out from under the covers!  LOL  Who ever heard of mosquitoes in February?  We need a fast freeze to zap those blood-suckers!

More later when it is safe for my hands to be out from under the covers!

 

 

Friends, Daffodils, Silver, Sewing, Porcelain

What a busy first day back on the farm after a three day State Conference of the Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

At least six friends and fellow DAR members helped Gordon and me "man the booth" of items for sale to benefit historic preservation at Rosalie Mansion. 

Thank you, Jocleta C. of Kilmichael, Annis D. of Durant, Nell T., Faye P. of Kilmichael, Patsy C. of McComb, Becky R. of Waynesboro, and, of course, Mary F. of Holcomb who works so many hours throughout the year to keep these particular fund-raising projects going.  Please realize that these and many other ladies volunteer hundreds of hours to the many committees that keep Rosalie Mansion in tip top shape. I am proud to be one of your ranks!

Rosalie Mansion is a very historically significant antebellum mansion built high on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River at Natchez.  It was built in 1820 by Peter Little for his bride Eliza. 

The Mississippi DAR bought Rosalie Mansion in 1938, and our members have been committed to  preserving her authentic history every since.  The furniture, artifacts, clothing, toys, etc., on display in Rosalie today were actually used in the home over the decades.  Some are artifacts from Peter and Eliza Little estate; Some are artifacts from the Andrew Wilson family that bought the home in 1856.

I could prattle on and on about Rosalie Mansion, and I probably will over the months ahead.  Many of our visitors form a lasting relationship with this regal "time capsule", and they come to visit as often as they travel to Mississippi.

Back to the State Convention: Anna R. of Clinton very generously donated the heavy Oneida silverplate coffee and tea service to benefit Rosalie Mansion.  The winner lives in the Jackson area. Thank you, Anna, for providing a very successful fundraiser!

We were giving away two Sewing Lady brooches every day as door prizes at our tables.  Sharron B., one of the DAR friends for whom I have much admiration, was the first winner of a Sewing Lady brooch. 

Since it is such a new design, I guess you could say Sharron is the first person to wear one!  See all those lovely DAR Insignia pins Sharron is wearing?  They represent six of her 20 proven family lines that connect her to 20 recognized patriots of the American Revolution!  That is something of which to be extremely proud!  The other pins represent contributions of time and money to some of the very worthy projects of DAR.

Other winners of the new Sewing Lady were Dorothy V. of Tupelo, Jo H. of Brandon, Frances A. of Laurel, Mary Lou B. of Jackson and Wanda Jean W. of Grenada!  I'll be shipping the little brooches to the last four winners by the end of the week. 

Next door to our two tables for Rosalie Mansion, was the State Regent's Project Table.  The money raised there ALSO goes to preserve and restore artifacts at Rosalie Mansion.

Lori G. of Ridgeland is the State Chairman of that committee.  There was a beautiful crystal punch bowl set.  That bowl would have made a very stunning centerpiece bowl for a flower arrangement. 

Lori also had a set of lovely dinnerware in pale yellow with blue patriotic American Revolutionary scenes.  Yes, I drooled over that set and tried to win it also!  (Somehow Gordon "forgot" to take a photo of that dinnerware.  He does not want to encourage my passion for porcelain! *humph*)

Lori, her mother Dorothy V. and Lori's six-week old baby, Becka, were a pure delight to be near those three days.  Little Becka was a magnet!  I think everyone at the conference (something like 422 ladies) came by at least once to admire the little beauty!  I hope she has her mother's and grandmother's stunning blue eyes!  She sat in Dorothy's lap and smiled and cooed at everyone, even if her little peepers could not quite focus yet.  I'm pretty sure she was able to FEEL all the love directed her way from her new admiring fan club! She is such a contented and happy little baby!

Little Becka is too young to join the DAR (has to be 18 years old), but she could join the Children of the American Revolution!  How I would have loved to have been a member of a CAR chapter while growing up! The title I put on the photo is a little misleading, but we all KNOW that Becka will want to join DAR just as soon as she is able!

Dorothy loves to sew also, and she wowed me with the classes she has been able to take at Heirlooms Forever in Tupelo.  See my list of Mississippi Quilt Shops for the address, phone and website for this great shop!

Sara S. of Oxford shared an intriguing framed needle package, President Household Pin Card.   I noticed only needles pinned through the printed paper in perforated sections.  Each section had the name of five presidents, with year of _____leaving office perhaps?  What was George Washington doing in 1789?  Thomas Jefferson in 1801? James Madison in 1809?  When I have a moment, I will do a little research.

The bottom of the sheet of needles ended with J.A. Garfield, 1881.  The edge is perforated, so it would seem at least one section of needles had been torn off (used) at some time.

Any idea when this packet of needles was produced?  Do you know anything about President Household Pin Cards?  Sara and I would love to know.

There is more to blog from this very successful State Conference, but I will pause for now and enjoy the chicken tenders my sweet husband just prepared. 

Heart YoYo Pattern in French!

Just back from a three-day conference (topic for another post), and I have been catching up with email all day. 

Take a look at this!  It seems that some ladies in France posted about my little free Heart YoYo Pattern on a PatchtoPatch discussion forum. 

I can remember just enough of my four semesters of college French to realize how much I have forgotten of this beautiful language!

Then, someone posted about Google's translation service, and viola, my little blog is translated to French!  WOW!  I remain in awe of what is possible with the Internet!

Just this weekend, I was talking about French Hand Sewing techniques with a new friend at the conference.  I even have at least one (French) Huguenot line, Estill.  At a very recent program I gave on the History of Porcelain, I shared proper credit (and my personal admiration) to Sevres Porcelains (considered the world standard of porcelain standards).  Very few folks know of my collection of Hermes scarves....and now this interest from some ladies in France in my little amateur pattern.  I'm smiling all over! In the area of the Arts, (design, fashion, culinary, etc.) I am a decided Francophile.

Looking back at the couple of posts on the Free Heart YoYo Pattern topic, I see that I wrote instructions on top of the photos (using Photoshop CS2).  The words on the photos were not translated into French by the Google service.

For the benefit of our new French readers, I would like to post the instructions originally published ON the photos to the text area (here) where it can be translated more easily.

1.  Begin Here:  Turn under fabric 3/8" (three eights of an inch).  Baste with a long stitch.  You can see that I cut out the heart with pinking shears to discourage fabric fraying.  (This is certainly not necessary, but I do tend to be a bit obsessive compulsive with details, even on a fun little project like this.  I hope that part translates well! Grin)

2.  Stitch in two segments; 
     a. stitch one thread counter clockwise to the point of the heart. Leave a 2" (two inch) tail of thread and cut thread.  This you will pull or gather later.
     b. stitch the other thread in a clockwise direction.  Again, leave a 2" tail of thread and cut thread.  You will also pull or gather this strand of thread later.

(On the pattern, you can see the red basting stitch running counter clockwise and the blue basting stitch running clockwise.)

3. Pull both threads until you have a basic heart shape.  Do not pull gathers so tightly that you lose the point of the heart shape.  Mine resulted in an oval center.  Tie two pull threads (gathering threads) together securely.

4. Note the location of the secret stitch marked by an X on the photo.  Knot a piece of thread, insert needle through the center oval, and come out at the top of the heart in the X location.

5. From the next photo, you can see how to pull the thread up through the top of the heart, take a tiny stitch, and pull the thread back through the center gathers. 

In the next photo, you can see the difference this tiny stitch makes in the shape of the Heart YoYo.

6. If you save the hand drawn pattern as a .jpg and then tell your printer to print it on a standard 8.5 x 11 inch page, it should come out to the original size that I used.

You can size the pattern on a standard photocopier to make larger or smaller Heart YoYo's.

7. The last part of text printed on the photo that prevented the Google translator from translating the words into French:

By downloading this pattern (printing this pattern), you are agreeing to the following conditions:
a. This pattern is for your personal use only.
b. You will not reproduce this pattern for sale
c. You will not sell products made from this pattern (claiming that you created the original pattern from which your product is made).

As always, if you want to share this pattern in some print media (magazine, newsletter, etc.), just email me to ask for permission.  As long as you give proper credit and link to this blog, I will be happy for you to use this copyrighted pattern and photos.

To the ladies of Patch to Patch discussion forum:  Thank you for honoring me by enjoying and sharing my simple little pattern and by translating my little blog into French. 

I would very much like to see photos of how you use these Heart YoYo's in your sewing.  There is so much that I would enjoy learning from you and your rich French heritage in the Arts!

Very soon, I will be sharing more FREE patterns, so please come back to visit.  I look forward to seeing you again!

The Google translator works for other languages.  The Craft Revolution is big in other parts of Europe, in Japan and in South America.  Let me know if you are reading this in a language other than English!

New Sewing Lady

We're off to West Point, MS, today to give a program on Forensic Genealogy.

Here's a peek at one of my new sculpted designs, The Sewing Lady.  You can tell the size of the brooch as compared to the small vintage wooden spool.

The Sewing Lady was inspired by an old photograph of Mary Pickford (Silent Movie Diva) sewing between takes on the set of "Sparrows", 1926.

If you are interested in one of these hand-made brooches (that can also be worn as a necklace), just email me.  Hubby Gordon has not had time to put this piece on our website yet.

Snippits or Snippets from Port Gibson

Saturday was an absolutely perfect day, one that I will long remember. 

Gordon and I spent our first hour awake playing with our two Westie Rescues, Annie and Mackie. That was a rare treat as we usually "hit the ground running". 

Sweet Gordon let me have "just five more minutes" buried in the covers....then "just five more minutes"....and then "just five more minutes" while he puttered around with the morning ritual of feeding critters and getting ready.

Our trip to Port Gibson could not have been prettier!  Three wonderful hours of stitching time under glorious blue skies while Gordon drove.

Then, to make the day even more wonderful, Gordon planned for us to arrive early in Port Gibson, MS, so that we could take more photos and so that I could spend some coveted time at Back Forty Quilting. 

That is where the appliqué heart wreath block comes in (see the top photo in this post and then the heart wreath block in the quilt on the long arm quilter). 

The Quilt Divas, the local Port Gibson quilting club, made this spectacular quilt to raffle and raise money for the Natchez Children's Home.

Back Forty owners Cindi Greer and Kathleen Pauli are big contributors to this worthy fundraiser to raise money for the privately funded Christian group home for abused and neglected children.  The home has been operating in Historic Natchez, MS, since 1816.

Get a look at the big Super King Long Arm quilting machine that handles quilts up to 122 inches wide!  WOW!  The very intricate quilting on this raffle quilt is called the McTavishing Technique.

There are over 1000 appliqué grapes in the border of this fundraising quilt!  I love how the fabric flowers are snapped onto the quilt (for ease in washing...or child-proofing or pet-proofing?)

If you want more information about this quilt for the Natchez Children's Home (to be given away in May), you can email Cindi and Kathleen or call them (601)437-0777.

Kathleen told me that this Civil War Fabric (see photo) was selling out everywhere, and Back Forty Quilting had scrounged the last bolts from the manufacturers.  I forgot to ask her who made this fabric.

Then I had to tear myself away from that beautiful quilt shop to go talk to the Pathfinders Chapter of the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution and the Claiborne and Jefferson County Genealogical Society...a combined meeting.

In a later posting, I'll be telling you more about the very interesting people at that meeting.  Gordon and I had a super time!
Those generous folks gave us a gift certificate to Back Forty Quilting, so you can imagine how fast I scooted across the street after the program to spend that overly-generous gift certificate!

The 1776 Quilt book that I previewed earlier was in stock, and I snatched one up super fast!  (Actually, it had JUST arrived and is hot off the press and flying out the door!)

It is a magnificent book and quilt journey by Pat Holland, an Australian quilter.

She discovered a photo of this fantastic story quilt made in 1776 by Sorbian soldiers on the battlefield as Prussian troops marched into Bohemia.  (OK....I need a world history book now because in typical American fashion, I have only read about our little war in 1776.)

The old quilt, made from pieces of uniforms and other precious scraps of fabric, was created with an antiquated technique called Silesian quilting.  The original quilt is located in Stadtmuseum, Bautzen, Germany. (Now I'm curious where the quilt was housed pre-unification.)

Pat Holland meticulously recreated the quilt using modern quilting and appliqué techniques. Pat writes, "The last stitch was placed on May 27, 2003, a total of 9,586 hours, or 818 twelve-hour days."  (p. 15)

I can't begin to cover all the honors this quilt has earned.  The book is filled with patterns and projects inspired by the fantastic design.

What struck me in my brief thumbing through the book is that Pat discovered, after the quilt was finished, a relative of Serbian heritage, perhaps explaining why she was so emotionally drawn to the old quilt the first time she saw a small photo of it, back in 1995.

I look forward to adapting some of Pat's patterns from this 1776 European quilt into projects that honor my family members who fought in the American Revolution.  If you know of a similar story quilt from the American Revolution, please let me know.  This is a fascinating area for much more learning!

On a related Australian note, Whipup, an Australian craft e-zine, has published my Free Heart Yo-Yo Pattern and Tutorial today, and over 700 new visitors have dropped by this blog just since this afternoon!  Wow!   Thank you, Whipup, and Hello to all the new visitors!  It is already Valentine's Day in Oz, and I'm glad I can talk about this fantastic book by Aussie Pat Holland!

I've learned of some fun blogs that have linked to my Free Heart YoYo Pattern and Tutorial:  The Misadventures of Mama and Jack (fun name, huh?) and Buiscuitbear's Friends page and Hopeevey's Friends page.  There are a few more that I did not thank here, but I can't find them at the moment.  If you know of a blog or e-zine or website that has linked to the Heart Yo-Yo Pattern and Tutorial, please drop me a line.

Penny's Pink Perspective

Feeling all Pink and Purry.  Perchance it from Photographing Piles of Porcelain on Pink today?  Perhaps working with all Perky heart-shaped Porcelain today? 

The Pounds of heart yo-yo Praise has decidedly Put me in a Positively Pink Perspective. 

Penny the Purry Pink Pampered Porcelain Princess.  (Help, I can't stop!)

I am overwhelmed and delighted you like my free pattern and tutorial.  WOW!  I am rather taken a-back from the response!

Many pink-tinted thanks to Craftzine for choosing my novice tutorial to share with the world!  Crafty Beats also touted the heart yoyo toot (tutorial).

Now to share some background on my original line of porcelain ornaments and jewelry.  The first Nature's Angels were released just before Christmas, 1996.  "Maple" and "Oak" were my first two designs.  (Another time, I will prattle about the inspiration to sculpt an original line of porcelain pieces when I had never sculpted before!)

The concept is that G-d is always around us, sometimes in the presence of His Guardian Angels.  So when a tree does a shimmy, leaves fluttering, branches swaying....it might be the wind, but it may also be your Guardian Angels moving around.

The journey God has taken me on in the last 15 years (since I opened my studio, Penny Sanford Porcelains) has been so amazing.

Of all the honors and experiences and blessings and opportunities, the most rewarding and fulfilling gift from God has been my husband Gordon. We are embarking on our fourth year of marriage. 

I can't tell you how marvelous it is to be blogging and editing photos while Gordon is across the room working on one of our websites.  His terrific geeky computer skills are the perfect compliment to my artistic pursuits, making our collaboration something only G-d could have authored.

 

I'll continue to Post some Pink eye-candy throughout the evening as I Purr along P reparing for tomorrow's Power Point Presentation in Port Gibson.  (pink grin)

Heart Porcelain Designs

We're in the process of shooting fresh new photos of my porcelain designs.

This is the first heart-shaped leaf I ever sculpted into one of my Nature's Angels, the Redbud.  The angel is carrying a branch of Redbud blossoms.

Redbud blossoms are tiny as you may know, but the overall effect of thousands of those teeny blooms make a spectacular hot pink show in the spring. 

We love redbud trees here on the farm!

The brooch can be worn on a chain as a necklace.  These look great on an omega chain.

The ornament can be displayed on a stand year round.  We have ornament stands for $2.65 on our website. 

If you are already a collector of my porcelain pieces, you know that I work on every piece, putting in the final sculpted details.  I also sign each piece before it is fired. Once fired, we polish the porcelain to give it a soft gloss finish that is often described as the look of white chocolate!

I'll post more photos of the heart-shaped leaf collection tomorrow after we shoot more photos.  They make great gifts beyond Valentine's Day (think wedding, Mother's Day, etc.)

Pattern for Heart Yo-Yo

Sorry for the delay in posting the pattern, and thank you for such an enthusiastic response to my heart yo-yo's.

Geeky-Hubby has my laptop all reformatted and programs restored.  (Gee, it is so nice to work on a clean, refreshed computer!)

Finishing Tips:

1.  Turn under the standard 3/8" and sew a long basting stitch.  I use quilting thread for strength.  Sew one segment counter-clockwise and end at the point of the heart, leaving a 2" tag (that will allow you to pull/gather later).

2. Sew the second segment clockwise, beginning again at the "V" of the heart.

3. Pull both strings until the piece has gathered into a heart shape.  As you can see in the accompanying photo, I do NOT pull the heart yo-yo into a tight closure.  Tie securely.

4.  Now you are ready for the "Secret Stitch" that gives the heart yoyo its unmistakable heart shape. 

Knot your thread; Start stitch inside the heart, sticking the needle up through the top where the "V" of the heart should be.  Make a tiny little stitch and pull down toward the gathered center.  You can see in the Before and After photo better than I can explain it in words. 

I tack that "Secret Stitch" to one of the gathers and then sew on my button.

I like to tack each stitch of the button to some of the gathers and then end by wrapping the thread around the base of the button and securing the thread.  This helps the button stand up from the puffy gathers.