I am trying hard to get back into the doll sewing groove after spending August working on other things. My garden is looking MUCH better after hours of weeding. Of course that job is never finished. The main thing I focused on during my doll break was this-
Yes, I made (most of a) quilt! The way I ended up doing this is so classic me- I was doing some attic cleaning on one of the cool days (the weather in August was all over the place!). I came across a small plastic bin of wool triangles that I cut out when? Maybe early 80’s? I brought them downstairs to deal with- decide if I would move them along or what? I started playing with them and then… they caught me! I had been planning on working on the quilt I started last summer but, oops.
Here is the bin-
Now that I’m done, I think I still have enough triangles to make another full size quilt! I didn’t use any of the darker greens and very few of the bright plaids. My entire plan was alternate rows of cool and warm colors, light and dark triangles. Pretty simple and it came together very smoothly. Here are my strips, laid out on the ironing board.
Then laid out on the bed, sewing the strips together.
I had to move down to the dining room table because I was causing destruction in my studio. My work space is not set up for large projects!
And, the top, all sewed together with border.
I sewed together a backing and sandwiched it with a wool batting. It is now all basted together and rolled up in my studio, ready for me to decide how I will quilt it. I am very happy with how it looks, and it was fun to work on something that was just about color. Kind of funny that what I did on my break was a different kind of sewing- a busman’s holiday, right?
Other things that happened- a day at the beach, a trip to Sturbridge, MA for the Vintage Fashion and Antique Textile Show where I found lots of great little buttons for my creations, freezing peaches, and not enough attic cleaning but really, who wants to do that anyway.
I am trying to get back to work. I’ve been fussing with a few designs- a mermaid that I had to put aside when I was so so busy. I made the mistake of not making a test design when I cut out pieces to dye. When i sewed up the first one, I was not at all happy with it so put all the pieces aside for later rework. Now is the time. Also, I have been thinking about a new way of making the lumberjacks so I wanted to test one before I start cutting out a pile. So far, so good! When I am prepping for a show it can be difficult to slow down and backup and figure out what is wrong. I am in a good head space for that right now.
And 2 more things. My Etsy shop is chock full of all kinds of goodies so if you’ve been thinking you’d like a man or a fox or an owl, there are lots to choose from. Secondly, I am thinking about teaching 2 classes at my house this fall- tiny worlds and owls. I will post more in a separate post this week. Stay tuned :-)
