I am not ready to think about winter yet, that’s for sure! Only fantasy winter.
In my not-art life, I am enjoying our first fall weather. The dahlias are thriving, the sedum are blooming and covered in bees, and the asters are starting to show some color. I hope everyone is safe from any hurricane weather.
By pure happenstance, this dahlia (which was simply labeled pink) is matching the hydrangea that I planted it next to!
First is Bluebell Cottage; or Harebell, which is what it says on the bottom of the saucer. But Bluebell sounds so much better.
And then Violet House-
It is pretty clear that someone in my area had a collection of violet-themed teacups. I found a number of them at 2 separate local fund-raising sales! Lucky me.
A castle with some topiary. A close-up-
And a hand for scale-
And here I am, sorting through all of my tea cup collection, looking for the ones that spark an idea.
Two lighthouses for the end of summer.
I bought a whole box of cups, saucers, and 2-handled cups (?) in the below style so there will be lots of future scene in them.
This cup and saucer make me think, rough seas ahead!
I have pulled out all the tea cups. Let’s see what they become!
Here are the first 2-
Yes, one is quite a bit bigger than the other.
And a reminder- if you want to make your own pincushion, the pattern is here.
Besides the quilt, I got 2 shirts finished up. This butterfly one-
Quilt-weight cotton fabric, designed by Lizzie House. I don’t think she is designing fabric these days, but I have loved her prints and this is at least the third shirt I’ve made using them.
And this dark blue linen shirt which feels so nice to wear but I made kind of a big mistake.
You know how buttons are on one side on a woman’s shirt, and on the other for a man’s? Yep, I got it wrong. After I had it all finished and buttoned up, trying it on for the first time, I looked down and thought to myself, Something doesn’t look right here! Oh well, it is absolutely not fixable so I will enjoy it as it is. And yes, pockets. All my clothes have pockets.
Other than sewing, I’ve spent time in the garden. The flowers are beautiful this year with all the rain. This hydrangea is looking especially gorgeous right now.
I am back to work, putting together some new mermen. Nothing will get finished until late next week at the earliest as I am off for more road tripping this next week. Busy summer!
I haven’t been finishing any dolls in the past few weeks. I had a few other sewing projects that I REALLY wanted to finish up before the end of July. I didn’t quite make it by that deadline but I did finish them. The big project was a summer quilt. We had the wool quilt on the bed since I finished it last fall but I wanted a cotton quilt. And here it is!
Here is the back-
I only used fabric that I already had plus reclaimed fabric from several of my me-made clothes. It is approximately 90″ x 90″ and goes on our queen size bed. The batting is wool. I hand quilted it. Here are some in-progress and detail photos.
Finding a space and table big enough to sew on the binding.
Step 1 of the binding- the machine sewing.
Step 2, the hand sewing.
After the binding was on, I threw it in the washing machine, delicate cycle. Then dried it outside for a few hours. It was still a bit damp and I put it in the dryer. I didn’t notice any shrinkage but it was certainly wrinkled after it’s wash and dry.
And here is a pic from my first night, test run. It was perfect!
The other sewing I worked on was 2 shirts and I will post them next.
These 3 are designs that rely heavily on the cup. The snow scene can’t be made on a flower cup, the barn needs a special look- kind of country?-, and the night tiny world needs a dark cup. Searching for just the right cup is so much fun.
I’m behind on my posting. Between being sick and some rainy weather, I have a back up of photos to post.
I have collected a terrific selection of tea cups over the winter. Lots of variety to choose from in my box-o-cups!
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.