Category Archives: other projects

the little stuff

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I’m leaving for Brooklyn tomorrow. Renegade, here I come!

I get all kinds of crazy stuff done when I am getting ready for a show.

I made some decorations for my booth-

I love the dots so much, I might have to make a ton more when I get back.

Earrings-

I’ve been wondering what to do with those charms for a LONG time.

An apron from my Spoonflower fabric.

I wanted to make a shirt but couldn’t come up with a good idea for how to use the fabric. And then I ran out of time.

I’ve also got 8 new sets of magnets and some of the old ones too, all put together and packaged up. And postcards from photos of my dolls. I am hoping to have hard copies of the patterns- we’ll see where I am tomorrow morning before we leave. Every step of the way has ended up being a “challenge”. Much more frustration then you would think possible. Insert scream here.

And a new tent. I am very excited!

working on…

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Packaging up the new magnet sets. Until I ran out of bags. Now I am waiting for new ones to arrive.

Hard copy patterns. I still have to make the cds. Each step is a learning process, including getting my files to the printer.

And the dolls. In progress and also a few are being re-thought and tweaked.

Countdown to Renegade.

travel projects

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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!

wips

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I’ve been working on basting the quilt together. It progresses slowly. I have an idea now for how I’m going to quilt it. But, on the basting- I collected all of my almost empty spools of thread and some random bobbins with thread but no sewing machine to use them in, and used that to baste the quilt. It is so satisfying to be finishing up all those last little bits of thread!

My desk, this afternoon-

And today we had our Patriots’ Day parade. This is Mass Ave in Arlington, about a half hour before the parade started. Sort of eerie.

And this group made me laugh-

Hope you had a great weekend!

more tiny worlds, fantasy islands

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I would really like to be on one of these right now-

This was the first one I got started on. The blue-green swirl glass was obviously perfect for a water scene, but the clear cup was a challenge to design around.

This second one is made on a cup I found at the Goodwill on Wednesday. Liz and I went there after the meet-up. Now, I know that you need to approach thrift shopping with an open mind. If I am looking for something in particular, I can be sure I will never find it. Something else wonderful, but never that thing I “needed”. As I walked into the store, I said to Liz, What I really need is some more teacups that don’t have flower designs because I am working on water scenes. Well, that should have killed any chance of finding what I need. So, imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two of these pretty celadon cups with a goldfish embossed into them. Perfect, and a thrifting miracle!

And one more-

These are going into my shop now.

another tiny world, books,

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and some other notes.

One more tiny world done-

Another meet-up this morning and it was fantastic! Thanks for showing up ladies- Liz, Crystal, Louise, Linda, Lisa, and Kerry! Next one is April 14. Hmm, the day before taxes. Wonder if anyone will show up?

And, a book report. I bought myself a book about the circus. It is gigantic!

I’m not sure how I first discovered it. Maybe an Amazon search? I discovered that one local library has it as a reference book so I went to look at it. I literally gasped when I opened it. 600 plus pages of inspiration. But… wow, it cost SO much. It took me over a month to decide to buy it. First I thought I’d wait to see if I lost interest. When I didn’t, I checked out all the used book sites, watched on ebay, and then discovered there is another book of the same name by the same author but smaller… That was when I finally decided to just go for it and buy it on Amazon. I am not sorry.

and like I said, 600+ more pages!

And another book- this one I got out of the library, but I think I’ll be looking for a used one online.

Someone posted about it on their blog a while back- sorry but I don’t remember who. When I saw the book, it brought back a flood of memories. This book was the one I was using back in 9th grade when I made this sampler-

It is so much fun to page through the book and see how it influenced me. It is inspiring me once again – this time I am using the stitches on my tiny worlds.

a class yesterday

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well, I think I have all the proof I need. Working messy is contagious. People catch it from me-

first hour-

later-

We had a great time and here is where everyone was at the end of the day-

There were 2 last minute cancellations so there were 6 instead of 8, but we managed to fill the table. I love seeing the different ways that people approach the same project. Endless variations.

I want to do a fish class next but have to find a venue for it. It needs a bit more space since it involves sewing machines and a larger finished project. I will try to figure out a date for a next class- whatever it turns out to be- in the next week, and post about it. I am thinking late April.

New York trip report

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We had a great trip- short but I managed to get everything done that I really wanted to do and ignored what I sort of wanted to do. Long post ahead…

It was pouring rain on Tuesday- we seem to specialize in that weather when we visit NYC. Wednesday was foggy and drizzly and actually very photogenic. I’ll post more ny photos in a separate post.

I went to the Jane Austen show at the Morgan. I had read some reviews of it and was therefore not at all disappointed with how little there actually was. It was amazing to see the neat handwriting, read her words, see her scratched out and messy draft of a manuscripts. Little windows from 200 years ago. I am glad I got a chance to go.

When I finished at 37th St., I walked over to the Fashion District. I stopped into Tinsel Trading for a while, enjoying all the goodies and especially all the containers they put those goodies into- old file drawers, book shelves, thread racks- eye candy, everywhere I looked! Then onto M & J Trimming for some more notions overload. Everything is so delicious. You might find this hard to believe but I bought NOTHING! I went into both of the stores having decided that I would wander around and only consider something that jumped out at me, I was sure I didn’t already have, and I couldn’t get locally. So, nothing.

I continued downtown toward SoHo, on foot and by bus. By the time I got to Purl, I was in desperate need of a sit-down, a cup of coffee and a cookie. Luckily, they have those on Sullivan St.  Sometime a cookie can be a lifesaver or at least it seemed that way at the time!

I knew what I wanted at Purl- more of this Valdani embroidery thread. My new colors (including variegated- swoon!) will soon be put away with the rest of the embroidery threads.

But wait *Look what they just got in*

That is ALL silk embroidery thread!!! I couldn’t let myself go there- maybe next time. *Update- HERE is the link.*

Wednesday morning was spent back in the Fashion district- it is just so much fun to window shop. I spent some time at Mood Fabrics– I just had to see it live after watching all those Project Runways. There was a gaggle (giggle?) of little girls doing a class project while we were there- so entertaining to see a kindergarten class learning about fabric.

And then to Brooklyn and lunch at Etsy. So Amazing! I met up with Tara who did the Handmade Portrait last year. I got to meet everybody including- who knew- the Etsy dog! I think they told me her name is Dot… but I’m very bad at names so I might be wrong…

I got to see the quilt that my friend Kiki of All the Numbers was part of. Gorgeous!

There is so much energy, such a buzz at Etsy. The new office is beautiful. I left feeling very good about the direction things are going. Full steam ahead!

Now, onto the weekend and my next tiny world workshop. I’ve got to pack up some orders and go to the post office, clean the house and make my samples and here I am on the sofa… yes, time to get on that.