Sometimes it can be a VERY long time between me considering something and it actually getting made. It might be nearly 10 years ago that I drew out a playing card lady and put some fabric together in a ziplock bag. I’m sure this lady isn’t exactly what I imagined originally but I’m happy and will work on this design some more.
My blog is 15 years old today. How crazy is that! We’ve come a LONG way together.
Here is my windy day Lady pillow doll.
She is reminiscent of this lady that I made so many years ago (April 2010!). Also, my tiny world pincushions. Someone messaged me an amazing photo of a chair with appliqued town imagery and I’d link to it but I couldn’t find any artist attribution so that doesn’t feel right. Anyway.
edited- I found it! Cityscape chairs.
She has her cashmere hat and scarf for this blustery day.
Details of the houses-
And here is one more photo from when I was working on her. You can see that I tried out some other ideas that didn’t make it into the finished piece. I was planning trees and blowing leaves but changed to chimneys and smoke.
I’m trying out a few little tweeks in my lady pillow design. This lovely Poppy Lady is in a summer dress- scoop neck and sleeveless.
She is pretty much all cashmere- everything except her hair and shoes.
It is so nice to get something finished. It has been too long!
I have visited my favorite Thrift Stores recently to check out if the rumors were true- tons of donated everything, inspired by Marie Kondo‘s show on Netflix. The pickings were excellent and I think I’m probably all set for the year now!
This time a big man in red.
Red plaid kilt and red cashmere scarf and hat.
He has a hunter on his chest. Also a cherub on his shoulder. His toile tattoos are from the same fabric as the last fellow so maybe they are brothers.
Blue eyes, blue kilt.
Dancing ladies and gentlemen.
A removable kilt- buttons and inside snap.
Ahem, what is he looking at?!
More dancing.
This is a very fun fabric with all the partying skeletons.
I’m needing a little green in the middle of January.
I got inspired to give him a head garland by this photo in Arcadia Britannica, a book of modern British folklore portraits.
He has a leaf bead and a variegated embroidered vine belt.
I’m slowly getting back into the work groove and my studio is looking much cleaner and more organized. That is always the job and the goal for January.
He’s got a little cross-cut wooden button for his belt buckle.
High boots-
I am doing a big clean-up in my studio and also trying to get some pieces moving along. Where I get tired of one activity, I switch over to the other. So, both are going slowly. Studio cleaning and rearranging is a big chore but I always find forgotten treasures and that makes it SO worth it. Anyway, HeH! I got one finished!
He is a mustache man.
So many skeletons.
I love finding the perfect antique button.
And yes, Christmas is over. Both the tree and my man are out on the porch.
It’s been a banner year for my doll-making- 166! That is a record for me!
I made 39 men- including 3 Green men, 8 Mermen, 2 Scotsmen in kilts, 6 Lumberjacks, and 1 Sailor. I’ve been focusing more on the different characters because they are more fun for me these days.
7 Tattooed Ladies and 10 Dogs.
12 Big Lady pillow dolls which I hadn’t made in a lot of years, and 12 Babies. The ladies and the babies go together in my head- both are about the wool applique.
7 Girls dolls and 29 Owls. I had fun with the girls but they were very labor-intensive. There will be more in 2019 though; I just sewed up a bunch. The owls were very popular at the shows I did and that is why I ended up making so many. Doing shows is all about having enough inventory.
17 foxes and 11 Kitties- I learned that B & W kitties are very popular.
And 21 Fish.
Not dolls, I also made 26 Tiny Worlds,
And a quilt!
It has been a very busy year for me. I know that a lot of the reason I ended up making so much was because of the shows I did- Smithsonian, ACC San Francisco, and Arts Providence. I am very inspired by a deadline.
Here are some links to my most recent other yearly mosaics- 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.