Penny Sanford Designs

Splish, Splash, Pinch, Dash, Sploosh!

Have you ever thought about the germs on your trusty, loyal sewing pins?



I must have seen too many episodes of "How Clean Is Your House: US" where they do lab tests to prove to people that phones, computer keyboards, counters, etc., are crawling with nasty, harmful germs.  So when I spilled my Happy Yellow sewing pins all over the floor in the sewing room recently,  my sweet hubby swept them up into a handy dust bin.

That was great. Quite helpful. And I DO appreciate his help.  But it did not take long for me to think about the OTHER stuff that broom and dust pan handle around here...in a house of four Westies and one creaky old English Shepherd.

Are you following my train of thought here? What do I do with the pins when I sew? Sewing with pins temperarily lined up between my lips or buried in the fabric of my bodice. Hmmmnnn....dirty pins in my mouth.  Germs from the floor transferred to the Happy Yellow sewing pins from the dust bin and forward to my unsuspecting lips. 

ICK! *Grimace* E coli, anyone?

So, little square Happy Yellow Tupperware container was filled with water and a small SPLISH of bleach was added. About 10 percent bleach, or one part bleach to 10 parts water....a "splish" which is different from a SPLASH. The measurment is rather like a PINCH or a DASH is to a cup of liquid.  I'm not quite sure where SPLOOSH fits in with these measurements, but when it is bath time for the Westies,  Gordon asks them if they are ready to go take a SPLOOSH.

Fuzz and thread snippets floated to the top of the Tupperware pin container, and I simply let the accumulated fluff flow away from the pins that I stirred in the disinfecting solution.  Every pin got a good soak in the Splish Bleach solution.

Is 49 years of age too old to still be playing with silly stuff? Actually this is only half of my Happy Yellow sewing pins. The ones I first disinfected are making a fun pattern on my pin cushion (sorry no handy photo, but here is a previous play session with my pin cushion).  Yes, I play with my sewing pins.




And I still play with my BFF Happy Yellow Duckie from my childhood.  This little fella must be 46 years old by now.( I wonder how old that is in Duck Years?)  Our friendship has never waivered, My Happy Yellow Duckie and me.

Even when he was accidentally sent to the attic for many years, I still loved My Happy Yellow Duckie. Even last year when Nemo came to live here on a pair of wash cloths bound with pretty quilt fabric,  I still loved My Happy Yellow Duckie the best.

Yes, I have seen all of the Toy Story movies, as well as Finding Nemo. Many times, in fact. Why do you ask?  *wink*

So BIG JUMBO Happy Yellow Tupperware Canister full of Epsom Salt awaits the next bath along with my BFF Happy Yellow Duckie and Nemo, who cannot escape the quilt binding on the wash cloths nor the anemone made of Happy Yellow sewing pins.

Uh, you might want to give your sewing pins a Splish Disinfecting. Needles too. I'm just saying...

PennyCast: The Eyes of this House

PennyCast for Nov. 6, 2011: 

The Eyes of this House.

(Click on the link below ("Eyes_Master") and then when the page with the podcast player appears,  click the play button to listen to the podcast.)

Eyes_master

This is a short audio podcast of how a simple DIY task has sparked some insightful symbolism to life.  I expanded the blog post of a few days ago on this topic.

Here is the picture of the actual window on the second floor from which two panes dropped to the ground WITHOUT breaking!



The windows on the second floor are perfect Westie Height!



Lillibeth, above, died September 5th of this year.  We miss her SOOOO much!


Jenny keeps a frequent watch out this window for any invading critters.  Even at night, the Westies can smell visiting wildlife around the yard.

The Eyes of this House

We started re-glazing the old windows in this family farmhouse late yesterday afternoon.

There were two panes in one of the windows in the upstairs-guest-bedr00m-turned-sewing-room that fell to the ground back in the summer, but miraculously they did not break.

This is the very window, photographed in the spring. A thick carpet of periwinkle buffered the fall of the glass panes, and the old glass must be quite durable.



It's been too hot, or we were too rushed with deadlines to actually start reglazing the windows in this circa 1870 farmhouse.  Some of the procastinating was my fear of the unknown, having never glazed windows before.

So with a forecast of 35 degrees Farenheit for early this  morning,  it was time to get those old bubbled glass panes back in their proper spot and for me to  jump into reglazing with both feet.

I've volunteered to reglaze every window in this house (and anywhere else on the farm that needs it). It's a frugal step, but I also like tedious, repetative work. Well, maybe I don't automatically LIKE tedious work, but I know how to talk myself into thinking that I am enjoying it. *grin*

What I did not expect was to cry as I scraped oversized layers of putty from the panes.  I cried as I tried to explain to Gordon and Unc why I was crying over the window on my work table. I cried while trying to put this into words last night. (I'm finishing this post Tuesday afternoon)

The emotions are still raw and not quite captured in words in my mind, but as I struggled with the layers of old caulk, I thought about the tenacious, weathered family from which I come. 

The erosion of the old wood on the outside of this second story window brought to my mind the family stories of the natural disasters that left footprints on this farm.  How many storms with driving rain have pummeled these windows? How many ice storms, snow storms, hail storms?

This 141 year old window is quite fragile when compared to tumultuous events in those 141 years of protecting this family. Up here on the second floor, the windows have received less attention and more temperature fluctations, so life's toll is easier to see.

So, why did I cry over the mundane task of reseating a couple of window panes? The contrast of our little petty family dramas of the last couple of weeks compared to the scars and erosion of the 141 year old wood in this 141 year old window...is what made me cry. 

The three of us in this house had gotten caught up in a silly merry go round of "he said, he did, he didn't, it's his fault, it's not my fault"...when the REAL battle was and is how God continues to protect us and provide for us as a family in a never-ending script of quite daunting problems.

God's constant protection could be illustrated by these fragile, beautiful old windows that have never failed to protect us. If the panes of old wavy glass were representative of faith, then our view of the world is filtered through the intangible of faith just as my view of the falling leaves that I am watching right now  through the panes of this old wavy glass... is slightly altered because of the unique character of the old glass.

SO in the weeks and months ahead as I tackle this re-glazing process one half window at a time, I will be removing the old "scar tissue" of cracked putty and paint. Then as I clean each beautiful pane of bubbled, wavy glass, I will be removing the cataracts, so to speak, from the eyes of this old house.

I fully expect to learn quite a lot as I putter along with the putty and glazing points, primer and top coats. It's as if God is saying that it's time to clear off the debris of the past generations and the lingering scars of unforgiveness, jealousy...the old family stories of "He said, he did, he didn't, it's her fault, it's not my fault".  

We inherit those emotions too, you know, from the old family stories.  Cloaked in the shadows of passing along family stories, we also pass along the negative emotions.  Those toxic emotions  in turn hold us back from the kind of life with which God wants to bless us.

Yes, I have MUCH to learn from these old Eyes of this old family farmhouse.

Yellow Towel Therapy

Like generations of women before me, fabric is acanvas for  creativity. Sewing is a binder of pain. Disappointments and sadness are captured in the thread and held captive by the fabric and the thread.



These may look like pretty yellow towels to you, but to me, they represent faith in the future, hope for sunnier days ahead. The binding I've stitched by hand to these towels has been a celebration of color and design.



This summer, I've stitched on these towels mostly while listening to Unc tell his stories.  There is a kaleidoscope of emotions stitched into these bound towels that only I have seen.



For now, the emotional boost of simply walking into my little butter yellow bathroom upstairs and seeing this stack of happy yellow towels is better than.....

The reason I am binding towels is because I needed to do something to save the good towels we had that were beginning to show wear on the edge. I knew that would lead to rips along the edge after continued use. Binding the edge gives the towel a whole new lease on life.

The binding was so much fun that I started doing it on my slowly-acquired new yellow towels. I'm using different favorite fabrics to give the bathroom a cozy "scrap quilt" feel. See this previous post on Jazzing up the Bathroom.

Later on, after I've finished all my yellow towels, I'll take them outside for a more creative photo session.  Same for the older towels getting a fresh lease on life.  Lots of happy stitching hours ahead of me!

A Bouquet of Rick Rack

My grandmother Ora Belle Dunn Hamer put rick rack on my clothes, the clothes she made for my four first cousins, on aprons, on my doll clothes.  One of my first embroidery lessons was putting rick rack on gingham aprons with a decorative stitch.  Rick Rack was an integral part of my formative years!

One would think that with all of that rick rack in my family's Save-Everything-Cause-There-May-Be-Another-Depression history, I would have found a HUGE stash of pieces of rick rack.  Nope.  Nada. 

I've hardly found any scraps or unopened packages of rick rack.  The quest for the booty of Grandma's rick rack stash has kept me digging around in every corner of the attic here in the farmhouse and in Grandma's attic.  I'm going through all the drawers, all the closets, etc. I've not yet given up either!




So I've been casting my eagle eyes over the Internet for some GOOD sales.  I recently found 10 yards of rick rack for $2.00 before shipping.  Out came my "egg money", and I stocked up. Not all the colors have arrived yet, but I just had to show you this beautiful array!

For less money than a bouquet of flowers from the Florist, this pretty little centerpiece is making me smile every time I look at it (which is often while I am working in my studio upstairs).  Unc is carving out some large flat spools (think flat dog bone), but while he takes his time, I've kidnapped the Cherry butter paddles he has made ahead for Christmas. 



I just love this little basket, and it seems perfect to hold my rick rack bouquet!

See that little tat of yellow rick rack on the handle? That little piece was from Grandma's sewing stuff.  Obviously I am very light on the YELLOW portion of the color wheel. Don't worry, YELLOW rick rack will soon be living at this house again!  *grin*



I'll show you very soon what I am making with this rick rack, having just as much fun with it as when I was a child watching Grandma's nimble fingers fly through fabric, threads and trims! Happy memories at her knee. I can hear the hum of her sewing machine right now.

Collecting Tiny Glass Ball Ornaments

Three minutes left in today in which to post this blog post...

I'm collecting tiny little glass Christmas Tree Balls.  Do you know where these can be purchased?  I've several ideas to share with you when I have the little balls to work with...

Bob...Bob...Bobbin Along

I have no idea why the photographer of this picture called it a "Viking Santa".  This looks like a bobbin to me.  A decorative bobbin yes.  I'd like to make pretty bobbins like this for my stash of laces, maybe some trims like ric-rack.



There are more pictures I saved from various browsing sessions on the Internet. (HOW did we survive before the Internet?  Gordon and I research everything, and I'm constantly saving ideas via pictures!
 


These little character bobbins are delightful! I'd like to make them...but HOW?



Heather Bailey did a tutorial on these bobbins (above).  I probably could handle them.

This last picture of the colorful embroiidery floss wound onto plastic bobbins gave me the idea of making a string of Christmas lights with this as a guide.

Patchwork Place made some star block light strings and some thread spoostring of lights. I've bought the star block light strings, and I enjoy them year round.  Now I'd like to find the thread spool string of lights. I *think* Patchwork Place is the name of that company. If not, I'll come back and correct my blog post.

Have you seen other cute bobbins?  Please share!

So About My "Thing" With Bobbins

So a few days ago I shared my relatively new addiction for winding embroidery floss onto plastic bobbins.  Today I want to share some photos of more unique bobbins.

In my quest for the best Embroidery Floss Organization System, I ran across some very creative, organized people who had wound their trims onto larger bobbins (larger than the small embroidery floss bobbins that I am using at present).

Most of these images I found on Etsy, because they are primarily hand made.  IF you know the photographer or website from which I found one of these pictures, PLEASE tell me. I DO want to give proper attribution.



Is there a machine for the scrapbooking hobby that lets one cut out repetative shapes from thicker paper...board stock like these?



This one above was apparently printed and then cut out.  I love the whimsey of these.

One seller on Etsy had some delightful animal shaped bobbins (the next three pictures). I *think* they were cut out of some thin wood-based stock and then burnished.





The pictures following are probably are cut f rom a dense paper-based board, heavier than "card stock". If you know, please let me know. 

 


 






Then these next pictures of creative bobbins appear to be a stained wood?




There are more creative bobbin ideas to share with you, but this is a nice place for a bookmark. I'll share the other ideas next time.  If you have an idea for some pretty bobbins for storing one's laces, trims, floss, ribbon, etc...please share!

Color Therapy

Sometime this year, I decided it was TIME to get all the embroidery floss in order.  We have embroidery floss from at least three generations scattered ALL over this complex of farmhouse, Grandma's house, studio.  (To my knowledge there are no stashes of embroidery floss in any of the barns! LOL)



Apparently I started around May or maybe April. (Thank goodness for easy digital pictures to provide something of a "diary" of one's life!)


 
The organization system I chose was plastic bobbins and those little organizing boxes. Our previous system of lots of dividers in a big drawer no longer worked.  I found some bargains on eBay and started winding.  Sewing friends warned me that it would take forever and that I would be so tired of winding embroidery floss onto bobbins.



Surprise!  I love it!  No, I ADORE it!  I want to buy more embroidery floss JUST so that I can wind it onto bobbins.  When I take a break from floss bobbin winding and then return to it, I'm immediately downright OBSESSIVE about it!



Playing with the beautiful colors is  SUCH therapy.  Also, it is a somewhat mindless little task that I can do while listening to Unc or watching football with Gordon. 



The beautiful Happy Yellow Tupperware Mixing Bowl was a gift from Facebook friend, Jeanne H. in Alabama! It is my OFFICIAL Embroidery Floss Winding Station!  You can imagine my mood when I was winding all the many shades of yellow in my yellow bowl!



The "You" mentioned in the above picture is reference to the Facebook friends who shared their opinion on which floss organization system they liked the best.  As always, I receive some spot-on advice from my Facebook friends! (Thank you!)



The larger bobbin was purchased in the 80's, and I've not found it since.  Actually the smaller bobbin works just great, and I love the little rings to hold the little bobbins together when working on a specific project.

My floss winding took a break while I waited on more boxes and more plastic bobbins to arrive. I've started back and have to limit my time with it just to prolong the pleasure.  I even bought more floss...twice so far this year...under the guise of NEEDING those colors. 



This latest picture was taken in the upstairs guest bedroom turned into a sewing room this year. I need to blog that journey as well as share what I've been making that is using up embroidery floss FAST!

I've not shared how many boxes I have filled with bobbins of embroidery floss. I'd like to turn that into a guessing game with prizes.  Plus, I still have more floss to wind onto bobbins.  *Happy Grin*

Need Fabric!

It never fails.  I buy 1 yard of fabric...my minimum purchase.

Fabric settles into my stash, gets to know its similarly-hued neighbors.

Said fabric slowly reveals its charm over a year or so in my stash.  Then one day, I pull this piece of fabric and FALL IN LOVE with it!

One yard is NEVER enough, so over the next few years, I comb the Internet looking for more of my new fabric love.

Sometimes I succeed. 


In a spirit of optimism, here are the two fabrics I am looking for now.  They are reproduction feedsack or 30's fabric.  I cut off the selvage with the name and a smidgen of the print...but I cannot remember where I stashed the little selvage/name pieces!  LOL

So if you happen to run across either of these two fabrics, PLEASE let me know!  If you just happen to have the name of the manufacturer or the name of the fabric collection, please also let me know!



See the green and pink daisy 30's reproduction fabric? I had enough to make two pillowcases.  The dot print on the pillowcase cuff is also one of my fabric searches.  The dot fabric is Makower (I think) and the pattern name is something with "Party" in it.

I need to just make a list with photos and post it...Putting that on my To Do list, page 357.