Madison

Madison is the doll that I purchased for the charity project from Cinnaminson Quilters. She and all of the things that I made for her are to be turned in on Wednesday. On Friday, I made her nightgown. It was from a panel by Simplicity patterns that I cut out, added eyelet trimming and sewed together. The quilt was made from fabric that I got from the "give-away table" at quilting. The other outfits were made from fabric that I had in my stash. It was lots of fun to sew for Madison and I hope that the child who gets her will enjoy playing with her.

Two finished blocks

Recently I decided to start two new quilts, Dear Jane and a calendar quilt. Both are gigantic projects but since I don't have deadlines for completion of either of them I was okay with starting them at the same time. The Dear Jane block was my first attempt with paper piecing and I think that I like that technique. From this block, I realized that I enjoy working with small pieces of fabric rather than cutting into yards of fabric. The calendar quilt block was a challenge from beginning to end. I think that I sewed every seam at least twice before they met up. The finished product should draw attention to that part of the quilt.

Ruffle skirts

During the summer at a Day With Dolls, a woman came with lots of costume type fabric to give away. I was fortunate to be able to find coordinating fabrics that were enough to make two ruffle skirts, one for Adina and one for Eva. I used directions that I found on Pinterest and didn't have to buy a pattern. The girls got their skirts yesterday and were happy with them. Adina tried hers on and was very pleased. I wonder if she wore it to school today.

A quilt and party dress for Madison

When looking through my stash for something else, I came across this pink fabric and thought that it would make a pretty doll dress along with a scrap of green velveteen that I'd been saving for that purpose. When I finished the dress, I was pleased but not satisfied, so I looked through my embellishment stash and found this ribbon and button which I turned into the flower at the waistline of the dress. The quilt was made from fabric that someone left on the give-away table at quilting. It was easy and quick to make. Sewing the back of the binding down by hand took the most time

. That process is very restful to me as well as enjoyable.

I learned about using paper clay

Last Saturday and Sunday, I attended a class at the Artsy Soul in Manahawkin, NJ. The purpose of the class was to learn to make a doll of fabric and paper clay. I hadn't done anything with clay probably since college so this was a real learning experience. Using paper clay was fun and not messy at all like using regular clay. The teacher, Lynda Miso was extremely patient and helpful. The head that I came home with is the result of her refining what I did. Inside the head is a styrofoam egg that is molded and then covered with clay. I have five more eggs so I will definitely be trying to make additional heads. We were also taught to make the feet from the clay and how to attach them to the cloth legs. Along with the sculpting, Lynda taught painting techniques for the face and under-painting with black paint as a first coat. From this class, I also became aware of how densely something should be stuffed, hence, I'll be adding more stuffing to

many body parts.

Knitted, felted flowers

I finally finished knitting and felting the six flowers that are needed to complete the purse that I started a while ago. They are easy to make and don't take too long to knit, a perfect project to do while watching TV. Now I have to select the lining fabric for the bag and sew it. Then I'll sew on the flowers and maybe put some crystals on them to represent dew drops and do the rest of the work to complete the project. I'll be sure to show pictures of the completed bag, hopefully soon.

She's dressed and has hair.

Molly is now dressed and has a full head of hair made from yarn that my friend Andrea gave me. Molly has lots of hair because I don't. As you can see her clothes are made but I think in desperate need of some embelishment. When I finish the companion doll, I plan to "fancy-up" both of their outfits.

A little doll

I spent the beginning of the week working on making a little cloth doll. She isn't totally dressed yet and doesn't have hair but I decided to show her anyway. She is cute and will get a dress and apron as soon as I have time. Her companion doll is much larger and still in pieces because my play time ran out. She too is waiting in line to get finished, soon I hope.

Creative time

While looking at Facebook, I saw a post by Patti Maderas Collea that caught my attention. She was going to teach a make and take class at a show in California. Since I live on the other coast, I decided that I was going to try and do the project that morning. The project was a button with a face on it surrounded by petals. After gathering all of my supplies and doing the project, I realized that it took me lots longer than a few hours, more like two days but I had lots of fun. One of these days, I plan to make another pin. Thank you Patti for the idea.

Adina's new dress

I made this dress after seeing a sundress on the cover of a Sew Beautiful magazine. The smocking insert came from a size twenty-four month bubble that was outgrown. We loved the watermelons and I was able to find the gingham check fabric on Martha Pullen's web site that matched the smocking. Adina is proudly wearing the dress to her nursery school graduation.

A new dress for Sabrina, Adina's doll

On Sunday, Adina and Eva's mother, two grandmother's and aunt went to the New York for a tea at the American Girl store. We bought lots of gifts for the girls and this dress will be added to the gifts. The store has beautiful displays where ever you look. Each displays tells a story which would stimulate the imagination. After making our purchases, we went to the cafe where we joined Kyle, her mother and grandmother, and had tea to celebrate Adina's and Kylie's birthdays. It was so much fun. I think that I'd like to celebrate my next birthday that way.

Eli Manning Puppet

Since I couldn't figure out how to get the picture of the puppet on the last post, I'm doing a post just so that you can see Ben's puppet. Ben's teacher was very pleased with his report and also with the puppet.

Ben's Robe and a puppet

Ben, our grandson is a big New York Giants fan and I was lucky enough to find a piece of fleece to make him a robe. You can see how proud he is to wear a robe that represents his favorite team. Several weeks ago, Ben had to do a bookreport on a person and he chose Eli Manning a player for the Giants. The report was to be given orally with a puppet. After a lot of discussion, we came up with this puppet. I loved helping Ben with this assignment because it was so much fun to color the face, a skill that I want to improve so that I can make cloth dolls.

Baby Shower Gifts

When our daughter told my husband and me that she was pregnant, I couldn't wait to start making things for our new grandchild. Figuring out what to make was lots of fun. While relaxing in the evening, I crocheted a large granny square blanket from gray, pink, and white yarn and crocheted several hats. During the day, I made the "E" for Emily picture, the rabbit, and the smocked dress and diaper cover. Somehow, I don't have pictures of everything but will get the ones I'm missing when I have a chance.

A New to Me kind of Applique

At Applique by the Bay, I took a class with Emily Martin and learned about applique on Pelon. She taught us the back basing technique that I had never done. After trying it, I found that even though it was slow going, I really liked working that way. The cardinal was the first thing I tried and I was pleased with the results. After that, I started the rose. I have put that block aside to work on gifts for Ellen's baby shower. I'll be showing those gifts after April 7th, the date of the shower.

A New Outfit for Madison

Today I finished Madison's new outfit. The pants fit her well and were made very quickly because they needed no adjustments. For the blouse, I used the adjusted pattern from the bodice of the dress and lengthened it by two and a half inches. For a better fit, I should have angled out the side seams about a quarter of an inch at each side seam. Also, I lined the top and got stuck sewing the sleeve into a closed armhole. That was a struggle because the armseye is so small. Next time I make an outfit like this, I'll have to figure out a better way to do the finishing.

A New Project

The quilting group that I belong to decided that it would be fun to buy dolls, make clothes for them, and then give them to children in need at Christmas time. When JoAnn's had a 50% off coupon last week, I purchased Madison, an 18 inch doll. When I went to a meeting on Friday, one of the women brought fabric that she didn't need and I got the African print that I used to make Madison's dress. With some alteration at the shoulder, the Simplicity pattern I used fit her well. She has a narrower body than the American Girl Dolls. My goal is to make her four or five more outfits. I already bought her a pair of sneekers and will buy her a pair of black shoes the next time I'm near A.C.Moore.

Hari-Kuyo Needlebook

I made this needlebook from an on-line class taught by Susan Elliot from the blog: http://playswithneedles.blogspot.com. (Get a cup of tea, and check out Susan's blog, you'll love it) I especially needed a place to keep my needles in a spot where they'd be labeled so that I could use the correct needle for the job to be done. Hari-Kuyo is the name of a Japanese festival where seamstresses, dressmakers and others take their broken needles to a shrine to properly dispose of them. Last year, I buried my broken needles in a pill bottle in my garden and said a prayer over them. This year, I hope to do the same thing.

Ben's Holiday Gifts

Ben, our grandson needed a wallet to carry his lunch money to school in so I created this wallet with a ribbon to go around his neck. I used a Lazy Girl pattern but changed the size to fit his needs. As an extra treat, I included lunch money inside for which he was pleased. As another gift, I made Ben a pillowcase with outlines of states printed on the fabric. He enjoys having me ask him the capitals of the states so when my friend Gayda pointed this fabric out to me on a recent trip to JoAnn's, I had to buy this for Ben. Now I'm waiting for Simplicity patterns to go on sale so that I can make him a bathrobe from

fleece with the Giants logo on it, Ben's favorite team.