Doll

This is the first quilt that I made that I considered a success- I was happy with the design and function.  I made it in 1978, 30 years ago.  The top and bottom edges were originally navy and white stripe.  I also used that fabric in the dark areas.  The design has changed because of how it faded but not ruined.  I used another stripe fabric from an old dress that has completely disintegrated.  This quilt has seen a lot of use and it is stained, torn, all around pretty ratty.  If I get inspired to make another quilt, I might use this design as a starting place.  I’m going to put this photo onto flickr so you can see it big if you are interested.

You might have noticed that I added some new categories last month. One of them is “my art history“. I figured that it would give me a place to show how little has changed over the years!

When the studio building where I worked burned down in 1999, it took me a while to realize that one of the biggest loses would be my sketchbooks- years of them. I have been thinking about the recurring themes in my artwork. If I post examples of the artwork with those themes, it is a way of remembering what was in those sketchbooks. And as I try to make some kind of order in my studio these days, I keep finding examples.

I figured this needed to be posted today, since I finished up another tiki yesterday.

1972, I think. Carved out of a scrap end of a 2 x 4. In an early 70’s definition of feminism, my 2 friends and I signed up to take wood shop in my senior year in High School. We were the groundbreakers- the first girls through the door. This was a little project I did then.
Combine embroidery, a Spirograph, a 14 year old and some really ugly color combinations-

It is 3″ x 3″. I did this the same year as my sampler. I have no memory of how I transfered the image onto the fabric, but I see on the back that I wasn’t happy with my first try.

and some other stuff- Last Saturday, I broke down and got myself a subscription to Embroidery. I was so excited when I got an envelope in the mail today- 2 magazines- yippee! And another thing- I am having problems with my comments and email. I am not getting emails when someone comments so I have to go check things out regularly and when I email back, it might look a little odd. It all has to do with over-zealous spam filters or something… arg!

this is to show Carley-

oh those awful hippie colors!

today I’ve been working on catching up with all the email correspondence- I’ve been terrible!

Also, I’ve meant to give some great feedback for Dollmaker’s Journey for fantastic service. I needed some special fabric for a class I’m taking- I ordered on a Saturday and had it on the Monday- wow!

Here is a not doll project I did yesterday- new placemats.

Yeah, I’m finally using some of the fabrics I’ve bought recently! I love cotton prints, but they don’t really fit in much with the dolls I’m doing these days. The back (or maybe they are reversible) is linen from IKEA a few years ago. Here is the great insight of yesterday- I struggled through sewing 2 of the mats with a million pins and still getting puckers and tucks… all of a sudden I remembered my walking foot- that amazing tool that came with my sewing machine but I had never yet tried- well, guess what- it really works! The 6 that I did after that came out much better!

Here they are on the table, along with some of my old art i.e. my pottery that got broken and turned into a mosaic hot dish holder.

And a picture of the kitchen window on a spring evening-

I liked Jess Hutch’s post on old projects- ghosts of crafty past. I have been seeing a lot of my old projects surface while clearing out my parents’ house. It is usually a great relief to heave them into the trash, although a few are special to me. Over Christmas, when I was down in Connecticut again and visiting a very dear friend that I’ve known from childhood, this appeared- yikes! I made this as a beach cover-up in 1970…

When I got back home I had a package from Australia waiting for me. Aren’t these the best!

Thanks Hil!

Then, today, a mystery! A package with no return address and no message inside…

Thanks so much, whoever you are!

Have a Happy New Year everyone! I am looking forward to a very good year ahead!

I found the buckle I wanted and finished up my bag. So far, so good- it is working very well.

I am back from a few more days at my parents house, recovering from an overdose of cleaning, sorting and organizing… I ought to be doing that at my own house. This time I brought home some of the the Japanese dolls that my parents recieved as gifts over the years. They are beautifully made and I’ve been looking forward to having them for years!

They need a little cleaning and grooming. I will have to be very careful not to damage them. The fabrics are a bit faded but they are somewhere between 25 to 40 years old and considering that, they are in good shape. These other dolls are washi dolls- they are made of paper.

I also brought home some of my pottery that I’d made and given to my Mom years ago.

On the drive home I stopped for a little retail cheer-up therapy at The Wrights Factory Outlet. These are the ribbons I bought-

I love these ribbons with words. My favorites are ? and !

Loobylu has a Month of Softies project that anyone can join in on. This months theme is vintage catwalk. I have been thinking about participating this month.

Over the years I have done a lot of “cat art”(?)…
on hats-

sweaters-

pottery-

I am going to try to knit a kitty- knitted stuffed animals always have a vintage look in my eyes.

I was really pleased to find this image-

in Meggiecat’s blog… which I found through In a Minute Ago- a treasure trove of valuable links and information! The blue sweater is excellent!

We have pulled out all the Christmas stuff… so many memories. These broken little angels are from my childhood. My family had a whole group of angels playing instruments. They were part of the creche scene. They haven’t survived very well- they’ve lost arms, wings, haloes, instuments… one has even lost her head, but I can’t bear to part with them.

Unpacking the ornaments is full of memories and artwork of friends. So much stuff that has no other place to go gets put in with the Christmas stuff.

this is a perfect example- a project I did many years ago. It was my (rejected) entry into a show called the cone box show… I filled the little box (approx. 3″ x 3″ x 6″) with clay babies. There were more… these are what are left. Sometimes we have tied them onto the tree.

Here are some doll ornaments. I made the angel for Eleanor’s first Christmas. The other 2 dolls are from the early 80’s, made by Martha Heller. I was at a friend’s house over the weekend and she had some of Martha Heller’s dolls also- a supergirl and a ballerina.

The tree is up and decorated. The kids have made treats. Julian’s specialty is chocolate covered pretzels. Eleanor made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

And then there is all the other stuff going on…the washing machine broke and I am working on felting presents- ahhh- disaster!!! Ben to the rescue! Read about the washing machine repairs and also our fun with mushrooms over on Ben’s blog.

We had a great Thanksgiving- 12 people at the dinner table. The turkey was delicious- it was brined for several days before cooking- Recipe!
Holidays are the only time I seem to take my pottery out anymore- here is one of my serving bowls. It’s funny that many of the ones I own were the seconds- since they had flaws I couldn’t sell them in the galleries.

Now that I’ve finished Autumn, I have gone to work on what I feel I ought to do instead of what I want to do- that means make some stuff that is likely to sell during the holiday season. I have to support my bad habits after all! So, I am starting with the bug pins. I want to have a bunch for Open Studios this week-end.

Even though I’ve been really busy the last few days I haven’t been neglecting my blog reading… although I have been neglecting answering my email and it’s piling up… well, anyway, I got a very nice comment from Michelle at Another Knitting Blog. I had a great time checking out her knitting projects. I especially loved these bears! I have always liked knitted toys, though I haven’t done much. I am always looking out for examples and patterns. Below are 2 projects from the past. The dog was something for one of the dolls to hold- didn’t actually work out too well, and the other was a little purse/necklace I made for my daughter when she was almost 4 (1988) and having a bad time at nursery school. It is a floppy princess that holds a Chapstick.