Not A Pincushion.......

I was looking for some green felt and came across a UFO that I had forgotten about. It was a pattern given to me as a prize on an online doll club that sadly no longer exists.  I recall that the competition I entered was about fairy tales. I made this doll.

The Princess and the Pea.....

So naturally the prize was about a fairy tale....the Frog Prince. This is a design by Cynthia Treen.

I got this far with him then.....

After I started working on it again I remembered that I had issues making the eyeballs. Why I had started with them after making the arms...who knows. They were still a pain to make.

The whole frog is completely sewn by hand with itty bitty stitches. The toes and fingers....arrgghhh.....LOL

Anyway....he is finished and awaiting his Princess.

Take care and stay safe :)

Free Pattern From Jill Mass...............................

Here is very easy adorable 8 inch doll pattern from Jill Maas called Lucky Lucy...................https://dollmakersjourney.com/maas.html#free

Source Jill Maas and Dollmaker's Journey

Enjoy and take care :)

A Finish and a WIP......

For those of you who do not follow my doll making blog or my Facebook page I thought I'd show you my latest effort. This is the first doll I've made since last August 2014. When I looked back and saw that I was a bit shocked.

I made this doll for an online challenge with a Facebook doll club I belong to called Cloth Doll Artistry. The challenge was called "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

We were to make a cloth rabbit at least 20 inches tall and dressed for a charity event.

I used a pattern by Teresa Pietras called "Lilly: A Fantasy Rabbit". She turned out much better than I expected as I was a bit rusty in the doll making department.

A tiny bit of bling:)

I've also started another CQ block for CQJP2015. A tad behind schedule but I hope to get caught up and finish all 12 eventually.

This one is in shades of brown and peach/orange primarily.

Today I thought I'd participate in The Needle & Thread Network WIP Wednesday link up. I haven't done that in ages.

Come on over and visit.  Take care:)

Redwork Embroidery....

So I'm finally starting a class in Redwork Embroidery at StitchMAP. My mentor is also doing the class for the first time so I have to be on my best behaviour and not give her any problems:)

I didn't realize that there was so much history around such a simple basic style of embroidery. If you're interested go....here.

I remember getting red embroidery thread and tea towels given to me when I was little by my mum. The tea towels already had a printed embroidery pattern on them. I was sat down and taught stem stitch, french knots and daisy stitch and the like. I vaguely remember manic dancing teacups.

Aha....I Googled....lol........

Source

Maybe that's why I love vintage embroidery...so much fun:) Now a purist would have down this in all red, blue or green but I didn't.....ooops. Also, I didn't use the correct stitches.

I have since learned the error of my ways........:)

While I can't divulge everything from the class I can say that the beginning is really basic stuff about tools and fabric preparation. All good things to know and to be reminded about again. 

One thing is wrapping your embroidery hoop. This is something I have never done before so I'll have to see whether I'll stick with this idea. The big hoop is wrapped in bias tape and the small hoop in twill tape. I think I prefer the twill tape to be honest.

So that's what I'm up to in these lazy hazy days of summer.

I also making itty bitty fairies:)

Take care.

WIP........

More about my crazy quilting sampler on line class with Kathy Shaw.

I'm finding that the silk ribbon embroidery is not my forte.  It looks pretty though. Anyone who can master it rocks in my books...LOL I would say it takes lots of practice to get it right.

I found it was very difficult to keep the soft integrity of the silk ribbon while pulling it through the two layers of fabric. Pliers were needed when doing the vine. Bad planning on my part. A lot of my leaves are over areas where the seams meet and there are four layers of fabric. Ah well this is how you learn stuff...what not to do.....right?

We have now been introduced to Fly Stitch Roses and French Knot Wraps....eeeek !!

Thank goodness there are videos.

I'm posting the videos here so I can find them again. Also you might like to give SRE a try.

Fly Stitch Rose

French Knot Rose

 
Rosebud Made With French Knot and Beads

Twirled Ribbon Rose.....

Anyway, here is my effort. I think I may be done with this. I'll finish the edges and put it in my stitch diary book for further reference. I've learned quite a bit from this class and I'm considering taking Kathy's intermediate class when she offers it.

If you're interested in cloth doll making, I have also started a new class with Angela Jarecki called The Traveler: Anya and Baba. You can find out what I'm up to over here.

I'm joining up today with The Needle & Thread Network...come on over and see what my fellow Canadians are up to.

Take care:)

Almost Wordless WIP Wednesday......

A wee bit of  Scotland

and......

A wasp waist doll circa 1880's

WIP......

I bought myself a new book in April called Allie Allers Crazy Quilting. I've looked at it several times trying to get motivated to finally try crazy quilting......ho hum.

I looked at it again yesterday. It wasn't a very nice day weather wise and I was at a loss as to what to do with myself.  I flipped through the book, as one does, and decided to try one of the smaller projects in the book....Crazy Quilt Soft Doll - The Dreaming Maiden.

Amazon

I dutifully followed all of the instructions...well some of them:) The main bits anyway. But, then I went off on my own tangent when it came to the face and hair. I started out with the original plan but then I decided her hair was way too big so I picked it all out and started again. I realize that part of the big hair will be turned under when it's appliqued onto a background but I'll figure that out later:) Also, I was originally using embroidery thread and then switched to a chenille type yarn.

The face is embroidered so that was a challenge on such a tiny face.....approximately 1 1/8 inches. The mouth in particular... so tiny....done in satin stitch.

This is my piece so far...after much picking out and a few swear words.

I've learned a lot so far and will use what I've learned the next time I do this. There will be a next time as this is really lots of fun.

One thing is that I'd do the face as a separate piece from the neck. I think it would be more visually appealing.

The crazy quilting comes in when I make the bodice and the skirt. I have lots of small pieces of  fabric to choose from so really I just have to decide on a colour scheme.

The hardest part for me will be the embellishing I think. I'm going to have to hone up on my embroidery stitches. I 've been looking through Pinterest to get some ideas and I set up a board for crazy quilting.....http://www.pinterest.com/mytategallery/crazy-quilting/....to gather ideas for future projects. There are some very talented needlework artists out there.

Take care:)

WIP.....

I have just finished this bed for a doll class I'm taking called The Princess and the Pea.......

Now to make the Princess.

Take care:)

Hello!!!!!

I know.......I haven't been here for awhile.  I have been busy making dolls though.

I managed to get this ridiculous flu/cold thingy that went on and on and on. I have finally stopped coughing most of the time. I've gone for a couple of days now without much hacking and I'm sleeping again at night.

I emailed someone recently and she wanted to know why I was sending her mail at 3 o'clock in the morning. Well if you cough and cough and can't sleep what else is there to do?

Silly woman.....sheesh.

So......hello again and some news:)

Recently I was looking for some fabric to make this doll for an on line class called "Abundance" with the talented Angela Jarecki. As you can see she has a crazy quilted jacket....that's actually what attracted me most. I've always enjoyed embroidery and I've wanted to try crazy quilting so I figured why not:)

This is what I hope mine will look like......

Source: Whimsy Moon

So I went looking for fabric at various stores on Etsy and bought some from Dianem's Etsy Shop as she had some very nice crazy quilting bundles on sale that I thought I could use for this doll.

I'm also a follower of her blog and went over to see what was up and lo and behold she had a giveaway for a crazy quilting selection and guess what.......I won more FABRIC!!!!!!

I really couldn't believe it as I was the last person to put a comment.  I know I've said this before but I should really start buying lottery tickets.

So I received the package today and I thought maybe I'd share what I'd won......lots of pretties to play with........

That last piece is so beautifully crafted.......really lovely.

Take care:)

Year In Review.....

I thought I'd review what I have made this year just for the heck of it. I never realized how much I had done.

Here in no particular chronological  order are my makes for 2012...I think I may have missed a few but whatever....I think I'm safe in saying I was productive.

Unfortunately there are a couple of largish UFO's :(

I'm joining up with The Needle and Thread Network today......I've been a bit lax in my participation recently but I intend to get with it this year.....take care:)