this is the crafty part of the trip.

First project, I made a new Purl girl as a store-warming for the new space-

She was sitting in the window when I left.

Second project- one I’ve been thinking about for a while.

I’ve been wanting to use my Spoonflower fabric to make something to wear at shows. I’d been aiming to come up with something before Renegade, but the trip to Purlsoho gave me a chance for a first try. I made 6 tabs out of the figures- 2 facing front and one facing back.

And attached them to the bottom edges of a length of Japanese linen. It worked out very well, although as I was trying to put it on, I was tempted to google “how to wear a scarf” … unfortunately, no internet at the hotel so I had to wing it. Really, I ought to dress up more!

It worked out perfectly. No need to try to explain what I do/ who I am. Phew. My usual experience is that telling people I make dolls is the biggest conversation killer imaginable. Also, I know that saying it ALWAYS gives the person the wrong impression.This way, visual aids.

And third-

I feel jumpy if I don’t have a project at hand. This is how I organize my travel projects-

Applique projects work well for traveling. Before I leave, I lay out all the pieces and then baste them in place. You can see that the face piece is pinned on- don’t do that. I end up jabbing myself numerous times as I reach into the bag- silly me! Then I pick out all the threads I might want. Everything goes into a bag- zip top or cloth tote. If I am bringing more then one project (which I usually do), they each go in their own bag with the threads. I put a small pair of scissors and a selection of needles into a separate small bag. I took three babies down, worked on 2, and maybe got those 2 about half done. Now that I am back, they will get finished very quickly because I’ve already made all the difficult design decisions.

And in less then 2 weeks, I am off to Minneapolis. Busy, busy times!