Dog Block

This block is part of the Dog Park quilt designed by McKenna Ryan.  As soon as I saw it I knew that I had to make this block for my son because he is a lover of Bernese Mountain Dogs and has two of them, Nancy and Ronnie.  The block is a gift for him for his office at home or his office at work.
It is the first time that I used Steam a Seam II and it was not fun.  After speaking to a friend, I loosened the tension on my machine and lower the speed and was able to machine stitch around the pieces.  I did hand tack the eyes and noses because they are so small. It took me about three months to make this block while doing other projects.

A New Irish Crochet Necklace

I am determined to learn more about Irish crochet and this necklace is the result of my learning how to make a different flower, leaves, and the chain part of the necklace.
I saw the flower on Pinterest and was able to follow the directions to make it.  The leaves were from a book that I purchased and the chain came from that book also.  In addition to the above, I learned how to use a knit pick to make the bullion look center of the large flower.

Samantha's new winter coat

The last Embroiderer's  Guild meeting was called Play with Dolls.  For this occasion Samantha needed a new winter coat.  I had a pattern for a coat with a cape that I thought would lend itself to embroidery. From my stash I found a pretty piece of wool that a friend had given me and even had lining fabric in the right color to go with the wool.  After several tries I decided to use number 8 pearl cotton for the embroidery, lazy daisy stitches and bullion roses. This turned out to be a very enjoyable project.  I really enjoyed doing the embroidery.  The stressful part was making the buttonholes.  I tried many different sizes until I was satisfied.  Then I was able to make the five buttonholes that were needed.

A Productive Weekend

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Camp Wannastitch sponsored by the Embroiderer's Guild in Ocean City, Maryland.  I went with a friend on Thursday and stayed until Monday morning.
I spent many hours stitching and was able to complete a crewel piece and an applique piece that is part of the calendar quilt that I'm making and even worked on a bird embroidery piece.
On Saturday another friend treated our group to high tea in Berlin, Maryland.  It was a delightful experience.  I hope to be able to attend camp again next year.

Holiday gifts

Emily, our four and a half year old granddaughter, is in love with all things American Girl.  I gave her a Bitty Baby doll last year and a Bitty Baby Twin doll at Thanksgiving.  Her parents bought her a bunk bed set and I was asked to make doll clothes and bedding for the bunk beds. It has been a year or so since I made our other granddaughter's doll clothes and thought that they were finished playing with their dolls.  When Eva, the seven and a half year old heard that I was making doll clothes, she asked if I could make her doll a dress.  I said yes and somehow got the dress done in one day.  I think that because I had the dress cut out the night before, it made the process go much more quickly.  The dress for Eva's doll has blue lace on it and is for an 18" doll.

Belinda's Daughter

I just finished knitting this rabbit for Eva.  Her favorite color is blue so her rabbit was done in blue with black shoes.  I think that the next time I make a rabbit, the shoes will have to be a different brighter color because the black is so difficult for me to see when sewing up the shoes and knitting them.
Knitting the rabbit this time was easier than the first time but sewing in the loose threads and sewing her together is very tedious.  I will not be making another rabbit very soon but after a rest from her, I'm sure that I will make another one and probably make some new dresses and maybe a sweater for my rabbit.
She will be delivered to Eva on Sunday.  All Eva has to do is choose a name for her and love and take care of her.

Sunny Sunflower

  On Thursday, I decided that I needed to do something different and a doll kit by Barbara Willis fit the bill.  My friend Pat gave me this kit several years ago and I have been wanting to make this doll.  I used my own fabric for the petals, the skirt and the body of the doll and the rest of the fabric was part of the kit.  Making the body was a challenge because of the way the face had to fit into a small circle.  Once that was done and the parts were stuffed, I painted the face. I think that painting the face is my favorite part of the process next to deciding how to dress the doll.