Dinara

There are a number of dolls living here with me and my bear collection, how to choose who should play along in Clare's playing with dolls?

You won't have to look too closely to see that this young lady is dressed, very warmly considering the current season, in head to toe knits. She came as a kit from AK traditions- a beautiful ready made felt doll, including a felt skirt and boots, with the materials and patterns to knit her clothes. 
She has been a much adored part of my collection since 2007 and is currently overseeing all my creative activity from her perch above the fat quarter stash.

Are there any dolls at your place who would like to play along with Clare's?

Happy Sunday wishes for this long weekend.

Creative Christmas

Some hand made Christmas dolls - Annies and angels, with Santa.

The commercial Santa just happened to sit in on the photo too, he used to be my desk ornament when I had a desk job.

(I know the dish is empty, they ate the yummies when I wasn't looking!)

A new project, hoping it will be finished quickly.

Using the pattern Evening Lace from 'Knitted Gifts" edited by Ann Budd, the yarn is Candy by Cleckheaton, an old wool blend boucle yarn that was generously gifted to me.

And...

I was gifted this teapor complete with her gorgeous cosy from one of my craft group friends. It wasn't wrapped  so there was no need to save it for next week.

In all my favourite colours -Sweet.

The pattern is Hanky Panky from 'Really Wild Tea Cosies' by Loani Prior.

Hope it's cool in your corner of the world.

Tuesday Treasure

This doll was made by Granny around 60 years ago.

While she had cosmetic surgery and received a new wig and outfit in the early 70's she is still in good condition.

The clothing includes a full set of underwear and is all removable.

Sure have lots of memories of playing with this lady who I don't believe ever got a name.

The tights are made from children's socks and the shoes are black felt with red laces.

The hair is a crocheted head piece which is attached after making.

She even has ears embroidered on the side of her head.

Go visit the treasure queen to see who else is playing.

Happy Treasure Hunting

Shopping at the Mother's

Over Easter I went to visit the Old People and the Mother had all these goodies for me to browse. It's good having a Mother who volunteers at an OpShop where lots of crafty stuff gets deposited - I do have to share with S-R and SIL-J so you can imagine there was plenty of goodies in the latest offerings because this is what I got after they had already made their selection. Lou Lou is a commercial doll - but extra cute - she came in without her clothes, but she still has her swing tag attached. My mission is to make a new outfit so that she can be sold on one of the community stalls that the auxillary have regularly. She is perched on two good sized peices of cotton batting - honestly do people not know what it is they are donating? Next a good quantity of Bendigo Woollen Mills 100% wool yarn - those are 200g balls so I have enough to make a project for me that I have been thinking about starting - that should be a happening thing soon.

Perfect colour and the right weight - it was obviously meant to be.

Lastly there is fabric - all metreage. The Bear print is a uphostery weight fabric, I know I will find a good use for it. The others are all cotton fabrics most likely destined to become quilt backings.

Hope your week was a good one.

Happy weekend

Annie Angels arrived safely

Some of my Annie Angels have been flying off to their new homes. This orange Angel flew over to Marina's house last week and she took these goodies with her.

If you go by Marina's blog you can see what she did with the fabric and ricrac on the weekend.

And this Annie Angel all in Red...

collected some goodies and flew off over the waves to live with CJ here.

She took fabric, ricrac, buttons and a piece of lace. The Annie Angel production has not stopped yet and you will see more here soon, (or not if you have seen enough already).

It's Friday and the weekend is just around the corner - hope you get to spend lots of it doing what you like best.

Happy Crafting

Started and Finished

With some encouragement I decided to join the pinwheel quilt-a-long over at P.S. I Quilt and it is providing lots of opportunity to practice straight line sewing. As I started late I made one of each of the first two blocks and decided that as they were not too onerous I would continue with the project. As there are two of each block I decided to do the others yesterday and be caught up?? Well Rachel has the third block up so I guess it is back to the cutting mat and some more sewing today to get up to date. This is the first block. And this is the second block.

So far so good all the blocks are the required size.

Here she is, the previously referred to Miss Nudie, you may have seen her already as she made an appearance over here last Thursday, and while she was dressed in that photo she was still without a wig - all done.

Meet Miss Noel, created using the pattern Sing Noel from Denni Doodles she is such a cutie and has already made herself at home here, as you can see she is minding some fabric that I have been playing with lately.

Sure there could have been more sewing achievements this weekend if the storms would not have turned the power off for a big chunk of Saturday afternoon when it was too dark to hand stitch. Fortunately it is a long weekend here, more stitching time this afternoon as it appears todays predicted storms have detoured south.

Happy Creating

Here we are...

four Annie Angels taking in a little sunshine - it was okay we didn't stay out long and there was a pleasant breeze so it wasn't too hot. Here is the Yellow one - changed the face again putting eyelashes instead of eye brows. She is so happy she has found a home to go to.

And the Blue one, which is really more purple. You will notice her chocker is a little wider than the others and sits higher on her neck - well she is staying with me, lets just say she had a bit of an accident and decided to let her stuffing come out of her neck.

Here's another shot of them all hanging together and you can see I did things a little differently and three of them have coloured fabric for the back of the body and wings.

Sometime last month was my first blogger birthday and I was going to do a giveaway - but well lets just say life got very complicated and January passed me by in a blur. So here we are in the second half of February and I am ready. The Orange Annie Angel is the one up for grabs, she'll be accompanied by some other little goodies I found today while rearranging my sewing things so that I can get the quilting started on the Happy House quilt tonight. The best bit is you just need to leave a comment on any post between now and February 28th to be in the running.

HAPPY STITCHY WEEKEND

Then there were 2

I finished another of the little Annie Angels today, this one is tea stained and well some of the colour ran from the embroidery thread as well, so she is definitely coloured, the pink one is regular calico. A friend commented that the Pink Angel looks sad, I am hoping that the Orange one looks a little happier. She really is a cutie.

This afternoon - just because I could I sat on the beach - perfect weather, high 20'sC and a gentle breeze. It was before school got out hence the lack of paddlers, about now it would be quite busy down there.

Oh, and this Friday I am participating in the Friday night sew in co-ordinated by Heidi and Bobbi it seems they do this most months, but I have not previously played along. I am hoping to make some progress on the Happy House quilt, so I best get the backing sorted and check I have enough batting, it is kinda big for me.

Hope your Tuesday was a creative one.

Happy Crafting

Happy Monday...

That's right Happy Monday - I got to stay at home and play. First up I finished an Annie Angel from a design by the talented Brenda Greenwalt of LillieMaes Crafts. She is a right little character - (Okay, so I finished 1 there are 3 more in various stages of production) such a sweet pattern and she comes with multiple embroidery designs, that is why I couldn't make just one.

Oh, and last night I finished putting the borders on my Happy House quilt - I like the way it came together.

I continued with the scrappy theme and used all those little 2 inch squares to make the 2nd border. I did not buy any fabric specifically for this quilt top and I found a piece of blue in my stash for the backing as well, the binding will be the same fabric as the blue cornerstones.

Now I am hoping that I can get it quilted for a finish by the end of the month, the question is will 2 weeks be long enough? And here is a pic which shows the border more clearly.

Yeah, I am very happy it is Monday.

Hope yours was a good Monday too, with lots of creative space.

Happy Creating

Winning...

I won over at the Raggedy Blog Party and my pattern for this super cute Annie turned up in my mailbox this week. She is SingNoel designed by the talented Denni Bowles from Denni Doodles -she has lots of cute patterns available here. I ran off to Spotlight and got the supplies I needed to make her - but I haven't made a start yet I got distracted by these...

That's right just a few Happy House blocks - I participated in Lurlines Happy House swap last year - I managed to make a whole lot more blocks while I was perfecting the houses so I had some up to swap standard. Now I have plenty to make a good size quilt. I found some suitable fabric for sashing in my stash, I know it is hard to see but it is a chocolate with blue spot from the Bella Baby range purchased from My Place in Bowral in 2008. Great shop if you happen to be in the neighbourhood. Now that I have figured out how to put it together I may just get it sorted??

So is it too ambitious to think that I will get the blocks sewn together and a doll made before visiting Quilters Bazaar on Sunday to help their first birthday celebrations??

I'll let you know how I faired!

Hope your weekend is full of many crafty opportunities.

Happy Creating

Merry Christmas

It's almost Christmas time - this little guy came by to brighten my home this week - he'll hang out there for a bit and share some cheer. Remember to enjoy this time with family and friends.

Happy Christmas to all may yours be a safe one.

Introducing...

Well I matched the legs and bodies I had last week, I made some clothes and painted and embroidered faces and now I have three new friends. I'm not sure I want to part with any of them but I guess I will and just make more. The first who has been flitting around here already is Candy Cane Annie from a pattern by the talented Brenda Greenwalt of LillieMae Crafts. Next is Sweet Annie - another design from Brenda Greenwalt - I'm not sure what I did with this one - but everytime I look at her I can hear Ms13 telling me she looks evil. She really looks sweet in the original pic, so maybe I should follow the directions sometimes?

Last is an oldie but a goodie - a design from Petals and Patches which I have made more than once before - she is petite and oh so cute with that raggy hair.

all 3 together for a group shot - they sure brightened my week.

I finally feel like I have been a bit productive and Christmas may not pass by without me noticing.

My wish is that you're relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and family this Christmas season.

Happy Creating

Wrapping with Annie

Annie helped me get the packages wrapped ready for posting. We gathered all the goodies - some paper, scissors, ribbons, tape and those pouches for the little and big girls. I decided to use plain wrapping paper this year - lucky there are a lot of girls on my list as pink and silver seem to be my favourites at the moment, guess I'll find something else to wrap the two boy presents in, or maybe not? She is such a good wrapper - look at that pretty neat bow and some sparkly stars all ready to go to Ms6.

Ooh.. some more these ones are off to my sister and nieces - pretty tags and some sparkly stars for decoration.

I posted these today - wonder how long they take to get to their destinations? Hope you're enjoying the weekend wherever you are.

Happy Crafting

Christmas Comes Early...

I recieved my package in the Handmade Christmas Swap from Nicola - will you look at all those packages... when I took the bubble wrap off this is what I was greeted with - lots of red Christmas goodness - yippee I love red anything.

As Nicola had labelled all the packages I opened the decoration first - oh my goodness how cute is this - I just love him - the colour is perfect - come to think of it everything is perfect.

This here is what all the other packages contained - a gorgeous framed picture stitched by Nicola - just so sweet - and there were some extra goodies included too - a cute handbag notepad that will be very handy, chocolate - essential at this time of year, some way cute fabric and threads in my fav - Red and purple - and look at that Christmas card - more red and sparkles.

Thanks Nicola you have been an amazing swap partner.

There has been some activity in the creative space since the offending tooth was removed - three sets of legs just waiting to be attached to....

these bodies - yes they are three different doll patterns.

I hope everyone is enjoying some crafting time between all the activity at this time of the year.

Happy Crafting

Keeping an Eye Out...

Annie has been watching over me this week - just keeping an eye on progress and ensuring that I don't get distracted by any new projects. So far it appears to be working... Red plain and spots for a swap project. Ssh... It's a surprise, I sure enjoy playing with red.

I completed the Love block for Christmas Wish and have to admit that I am very happy with the look of this block.

Sewing Peace has been good for me - things have been a bit turbulent around here lately.

Oh, yeh a question for you - Can you see I am sewing in an anti clockwise direction, now The Mother always told me I sewed backwards - I am right handed but find it most natural to go in this direction. Does anyone have preferences for Clockwise or Anti-clockwise when hand stitching?

Hope your week is proving to be a creative one.

Happy Crafting

Making Progress

Two dolls no longer have cold feet! Though the one on the right is still undressed so my guess is she's feeling cold about now as it is very damp here this evening. I have been practicing 'Needle Turn Applique' - well kind of - I know this is not really that technique but I like the running stitch detail. I used more of the recycled Denim for the Journal cover.

These gorgeous designs from Natalie at Cinderberry Stitches have been sewed to the main fabric ready for making into something fun for my Secret stitcher.

And this was the first Stitchers Angel project stitchery from Helen at Hugs and Kisses who is also the Swap Hostess. Here it is ready to be finished into a fun project.

Another stitchery from Gail Pan's free block of the month. As I was convinced the light colour which I used on the Believe stitchery was DMC 680, I asked Jindi's mum to pick one up for me on her way to visit last weekend. When I completed this block I realised it was lighter than the colour I used on the first one. A trip to Spotlight yesterday rectified the problem - the colour is DMC 167, the other colours I used are also DMC 610 and 924.

Of course all these beginnings mean I may just have a whole lot of finishes soon, but I wouldn't count on it!

Make sure you go over and say hello to the nine Australian designers who have come together on this new blog - Among the Gum Trees. Oh, and check out the links to the individual blogs where they are all hosting a giveaway until the end of September to celebrate the blog launch.

Happy Crafting