Hey! It’s a Giveaway!

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Do you know what day it is today? It is my BLOG BIRTHDAY! !6! Oh the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, the friends I have made, um, the stats I have gotten totally obsessed with. Yes, six years. I won’t be linking back to early posts though. Somewhere along the way, during some computer or server change-over, the early years posts are a big mess so I try to ignore them.

In celebration of 6 years of blogging and launching the fish pattern out into the world- I hope it will be finished in the next few days- I’m having a giveaway. Pick a fish! Any fish!

My school of fish is growing even larger as I work on the pattern. The winner of the giveaway will get to choose whichever one they want before I list the rest in my Etsy shop. All you need to do is leave a comment of any kind on this post. The giveaway will close on Wednesday night 2/17 midnight est. Random number generator, announce on Thursday, you know the drill. Anyone can enter the give-away, but if you win and are not in the US, I will need to ask for a contribution towards shipping which might be around $32.

Here is my desk now, as I work on the pattern-

Still taking Photoshop baby-steps.

Other news of the week- the second meet-up was just as fun as the first. There were dire predictions of snow, but none materialized. There were 2 new people- Hi Linda and Trisha! As always, all are welcome- 2nd Wed, Starbucks, Davis Sq. Somerville, 10am. Kerry’s report here.

in cotton

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a couple of things-

a nice interview with me here at Hand/Eye.

Meet-up this Wednesday at Starbucks in Davis Sq., Somerville, MA. Starts about 10 am.

And, I made 2 more fish. I wanted to try the pattern in cotton fabrics- this one has repro barkcloth for its body, a corduroy head and the fins and tails are made from cotton knits.

This one is made from quilt type fabrics- all woven cottons.

I’ve gotten started on organizing the pattern and I want to make it as accessible to as many people as possible. I am trying the design out in cotton because it it so much more available then wool. And, some people find the thickness and stretchiness of the recycled wool to be a challenge to work with. Is there anything else I should be exploring? If you were going to make a fish, what would you want to make it out of?

Cotton vs wool-

The pile is getting big!

2 more

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here are the last 2, shown unfinished in that other post.

I called up my neighbor and asked if I could take some photos in her much cleaner, whiter, brighter house. That was fun!

And she took a photo of me with the fish-

more fish

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Here is my desk this morning-

The fish in the top photo got finished before the light ran out for photos. The 2 in the next pic aren’t done quite yet.

These fish are so much fun to make. Firstly, they almost completely done on the sewing machine. My finger tips are grateful and healing from the tattoo man embroidery. Secondly, I am using sweaters and fabrics that I like, but some of them were never going to find a place in a doll- like that black and white grid and the wide stripes of the first fish. Thirdly, they are not fiddly at all. I have been concentrating on colors and shapes.

Several people have asked me about a pattern. I will give it a shot. I am also thinking about trying out the design in quilting type cotton and also recycled cotton knit fabric- like t-shirts or kids clothes knits. And, I’m going to go check out Google images for flounders as soon as I finish this post.

Yep, I’m off on a tangent here. I am sure I will get back to those tattooed men and the bunny pattern. Soon. As soon as I am done with these fish. Okay then.

visiting

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I spent the morning with Abby. It is so nice to spend time with someone who is actually interested in the same things as me- the topics of our chatter included seam allowance, stuffing tools, etsy selling, reasons for blogging, recent podcasts, pattern making, photography… we didn’t let up for a second. I’ll tell you, it is a relief- no explaining! We get to the nitty-gritty immediately!

And of course, show and tell.

I should have taken a photo of all her birds and animals, displayed on her shelves. Oops!

Later, back home to work on more fish. I’ve gotten distracted from what I “should” be doing… whatever that is! Hopefully there will be some more to show tomorrow.

and a fish

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I’d been thinking about this doll while I was making the men. It needed to be made as soon as I got them done.

Doesn’t every chair or sofa need a fish?

Some fishy love-

We had a fun dinner conversation the other night about whether I should take the information from this dating site article and use it for my photos on Etsy.

One week until the next meet-up– Everyone is welcome!

gentleman pirate

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This poor fellow has been sitting around, waiting to get made since I don’t know when in 2008. Here is the first one I made.

His hat comes off. He has a bit of (handkerchief) linen around his neck.

I made him a felt flintlock pistol.

The coat front and tail are lined.

I’ll be cutting out some more men in the next few days but have to do some more dyeing first. Also, I need to let my poor fingers have a break and heal from sewing cotton. I find wool so much easier to work with. Anyway, off to Etsy to post all the fellows into my shop.

devilish tattooed man

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So finally, some more tattooed men.

There is a pirate in my pile of wips that I cut out in Dec. ’08 and he needs to be finished. I don’t like to work on just one of anything- I think I’ve explained before that if I do, I tend to overwork the one doll. Last weekend I dyed fabric. Early in the week I cut out 3 of the original type. But then, inspired by the tattooed ladies, I started playing with the body types. That is what keeps it interesting/fresh for me. Of course when I got to work on them, the first one to be finished is the new body design.

He looks kind of devilish, doesn’t he! When I stuffed him, I was concerned that he was a little too Bobinsky, but whatever.

I love his hair. I never plan out things like the hair. It always works best if I keep an open mind and just play with the fabric.

The thing is, I had this “great” idea, in the middle of the night. I don’t know about you, but my middle-of-the-night ideas usually turn out to be totally lame in the light of day. But, that aside, I tried to make it work for a while, discarded it, went forward on a completely different hair direction when… somehow that night idea and the hair I was putting on came together and he has his little hair horns. And he has a sewn and stuffed moustache (a first for me).

And here he is, lounging around on the sofa.

I will put whatever men I make in my Etsy shop on Monday, probably around noonish est. There, now I have a deadline for myself and I need to get back to work!