Oops!

I forgot that Tuesday is Doll Day. I was busy working on a new quilt top. So this week, today will be Doll Day. I have 2 dollies that need to be dressed and I will work on them today. Pics later on.

Update- No Pic Post

It's almost the end of the month. Unbelievable. There are many things happening this year. Along with building up my new longarm quilting business, I'm getting back to making dolls and making items to help others. This is my year of the Creative Juggernaught. So far this year I've completed more projects than all of last year. I feel pretty good about that but again, it's time to kick it up a bit. I still have this week to work on more projects to add to my list of accomplishments. I am also working on upping my blog posts. Sometimes I get so busy creating and working on quilts that I forget to do so. I will work to remedy that.

I love to hibernate in the winter. Lots of comfort food which means packing on some poundage because lack of exercise. I refuse to go out for a walk on icy roads and sidewalks. In the winter I just want to stay under a quilt and read a book. But exercising will commence tomorrow.

I saw that some people are working on projects to help others for Lent. In the past, I have given something up like food or drink or TV. I think I will work to make a project each week for the next sic weeks for Lent. At least two will be for others. I will let you know how that goes. I don't want the other projects to be something I've already started. Something new, I think. I will give a bi-monthly report at the end of the week.

Enjoy your Monday and week. Stay warm.

Last Gail Wilson Doll Kit

Finally. I got my last Gail Wilson doll kit done. After having the kits (4) hanging around for years, being transported from one home to the next, and traveling over 1000 miles, they are done. I took liberties with the directions because I could. I did not age the fabrics at all. She looks old enough for me already. I will take a pic of all four dolls this week and post. I'm very excited that I finished my GW series of doll kits.

#gailwilsonkit #primitivedoll #clothdoll

Doll Day

I forgot that Tuesday was Doll Day. But I worked on doll things yesterday anyway. How clever of me to have subconsciously remember. I worked on my last Gail Wilson doll, making her undergarments, apron, and cap. By now, I just improvised on the directions and won't be aging the clothes. Nope. Not going to do it.

I did dye the fabric for the clothes above, so they do look aged. Seeing that I'm not very good at dyeing (I know my limits), I will have to continue to look for my stash of mohair for her hair. When I cleaned up, I put my mohair in a very safe place. And I can't remember where. So she may be bald for awhile.

The bonnet was interesting to make. The directions called for hand stitching to quilt the brim and it was the end of the day, early evening, and I was pooped. So I quilted it on the sewing machine using a longer stitch. It's cute. Today I will cut out her dress. I have other things to do and I don't know if I'll get a chance to sew it.

#gailwilsondollkit

Moving Right Along

I had a day off on Sunday. The power went out Saturday night and came back on Sunday afternoon. Went riding with a friend to the mountains- Pilot Mountain, Sauertown Mountains, and Hanging Rock. Saw some historic sites along the way. Yesterday I finished a quilt top. A study in black and white with a little red thrown in.

Today there will be some clean up in the sewing room. Gets real dusty working with cloth. I'll load up a new quilt on Leonidas, cut out undies for my Gail Wilson doll and start getting clothes together for my Halloween dolls. It snowed yesterday and most of the night then there was freezing rain. But the sun is out right now and things are starting to melt and thaw. That's a good thing and the power is still on. Also a good thing. Time to get back to it.

Have a happy day.

Doll Day

Tuesday was doll day. I'm glad I made the time to work on them. I really miss working on dolls. These babies are cloth. I finally painted faces and they are ready to be dressed.

The two on the left are Halloween dolls. Yeah, I know, I'm behind but I finally got going again. They are a new pattern and I want to make Frank's monster, the Bride, a mummy, and something else in the series. The one on the right is my last Gail Wilson doll. Painted, stained and ready for hair and clothes. It's going to be a long day today because I'm back to working on quilts. After almost causing a fire in a friend's kitchen (oops), I have to get to work and quit fooling around. And no drawings yet. It's going to be a long day.

#halloween #skellie #witch #gailwilsonkit

Doll Day

I have been working on quilts like crazy. I have declared Tuesdays as Doll Day. I haven't made dolls in a long time. Almost a year and I miss it. So with all the quilting that is getting done, I will take time out for me and work on some dolls.

I finally got my last Gail Wilson doll kit doll stuffed. Now it's time to work on her face.

The little mask is a face template. I've drawn the nose and now I'll needle sculpt it.

Eek!

Ha! Six days in and I'm a little behind. I have been journal writing and reading on the regular, I got a quilt in the mail, I designed a Halloween wall hanging so that I can machine applique it and I took a machine applique workshop today. I learned about tension using the stitch I want to use and which direction to take when placing one applique piece on top of another. Wow! Sue Lauer is an excellent instructor and I love the one-on-one time. I told her that she has created a monster. Bwahahaha! So this is what I did in class.

Another way of thinking with this process. I think I will like it. Here's my sketch for my piece.

Here are my first sketches. The fat cat was the first one and I didn't like him so much. So I stretched him out, giving more room for the hanging spider from his tail.

Here is my final sketch. You can see where I had first pencil marks and then redrew it, finally using marker to make the outline.

Here are all of the applique pieces that are prepped and ready to be stitched onto the backing fabric. I will stitch a few more flowers before doing this. I probably shouldn't have so many small pieces for my first big project but... I never really start off doing easy things. That's just how I roll. Stay tuned.

#machineapplique #halloween #blackcat

Bat Heart Ornaments

Finished and delivered a commission of bat heart ornaments. Even though I'm getting busy with quilts, I enjoyed making these little guys. Yes, I love bats and Halloween is all year round for me. I have another quilt on the frame right now, so I gotta go.

#Halloween #bats #hearts #ornaments

Hello February

It's a brand new month. Can you believe it? My head is spinning. Last month was okay creative wise. The creative mojo is coming back. Thank goodness. I didn't get a chance to work on Kid Medusa but 29 Faces is this month.

Here's what I did do:

• Finished reading one book (out of 3)
• Longarmed quilted 2 quilt tops, and a wall hanging
• Finished 2 quilts/throws with binding (for sale)
• Made a Nine Patch quilt with Irish theme (just have to put the binding on, that was also longarmed by me)
• One day trip to a quilt and fiber show
• made 12 bat heart ornaments (commission)
• Stuffed half of my Gail Wilson doll
• Watched on documentary on Joan Miro, Miro, The Art of Seeing which is now at the Nasher Museum at Duke University.

For this month I will work on increasing what I want to accomplish. After all, it's a new month.

February:

• read 3 books
• watch 4 documentaries
• 29 Faces
• write a short story
• practice longarm quilting
• one day trip
• Gail Wilson doll
• picture quilt
• continue downsizing apartment
• post regularly on blogs
• one Halloween piece