A new addition to the family!

No, not Tie Breaker (aka known as grandchild number five.) My friend V over at The "Bearister" Bookcase has been a bit busy of late, making Dotee Dolls. She made thirteen and has been gifting them away. I just happened to be the delighted recipient of one and she arrived safe and sound all across the country.

It looks like she's just a tad tired still after her long trip.

She does look a bit Asian in her pink outfit. The odd thing is that I just finished listening to a book on tape - The Shanghai Girls. Hmmmm - eerie.  I thought I'd name her - Cherry - short for Cherry Blossom.

Anyway, she is not alone. Her long lost cousin is here - she too is tired. Must have been all that excitement of finding a long lost relative.

Then there's the old witch but she's really quite benign. She makes sure that no evil befalls her friends.

Aren't they a happy pair?

Here's Ron Slippers with his teeny tiny friend (another gift from V.)

And here's the family - all together. Cherry fits right in - doesn't she?

Sock dolls and Ninjas visit

These are a couple of dolls that my daughter Maili made from a pair of socks each. She wanted the Ninja theme, and the one on the right actually has knee pads and a shuriken or, as they are more commonly known here, "Ninja throwing stars" - except his is made from felt so I don't think it would cause anyone harm.

She taught me how to make them.

Here's a close-up of his double button eyes. I like hers better.

A bit of spring and mail came

The past weekend, while we were getting some errands done, we dropped over to the St. Lawrence Market and this is what my daughter bought and gave me.

A gorgeous punch of spring colour (could've said "bunch of spring colour" too.) Purple and yellow tulips brighten up my kitchen. Thank you, Maili.

And this is what came in the mail yesterday.

 

Isn't she cute?

Here's the back view.

And a close-up of the crocheted trim.

 Hand made by Kay from S'Mockery SmArt. Here's a link to her Etsy store.

I have loved her work for a while and just decided to buy this little one when I saw her.

Here's the card that she enclosed with it.

So, you see, Kay is also an accomplished artist in other mediums.

NOTE: My little doll is not a bug - I do believe Kay called her a winter spirit or a winter goddess. I think of her as a winter spirit doll. The bug is just the card...

Spring Fling dolls

Look what came in the mail.

I belong to a yahoo group called Decidedly Different Dolls and we have challenges and swaps. This was a Spring Fling swap. I thought at first that she was a tulip and called her Tulip girl but then I looked closer and thought that perhaps her maker, Therese, made her as a Rose. So, I asked Therese which one was she. Here's what she said, "She started from a rose pattern, but I think her finished look is more tulip and I was inspired by a yellow and red tulip in my garden. So I'll name her Tula." All swaps are to be 4 or 5 inches in height and Tula is exactly 4 inches.

This is Sunny. I made her for Brenda but shhhhh - I don't know if she received her yet. Little Sunny has a worm that she caught. She has to keep up her strength since she is expecting twins.

This is Sunny's nest. On the left is the inside of her nest and the right shows the outside.

Here's Sunny's back view. She stands at 5 inches on her own. If she is sitting in her nest, she is a bit taller.

Quilt guild meeting

Addendum: See below at the last photo.

Last week at the East Toronto Quilters' Guild, we had a wonderful speaker. Cheryl Smith is a quilter and doll maker and brought some of her work. Below is a small sampling. The photos were all taken by a member of the guild, Rosemary Hamlin and early on in the evening I asked if she would be kind enough to send me the photos so I could post them on my blog. I, of course, am still not in the habit of bringing my camera with me wherever I go.

 

These were some of her dolls. I have a pattern for the one on the right left (mixing these up is one of my quirks along with east and west.) It's on my 'to do' list. There is so much embellishment on them. Click the photo so you can see them better.

The Ancient Mariner

 

Toucan Talk

 

Spirit Dance

"Aquarius" made with 10 thousand one-inch squares.

Solitaire

"Hue Drops" which can be hung vertically or horizontally. I love the colours and simplicity of design. Sorry that it's a bit blurry but visit Cheryl's web site to see it up close and personal.

I forgot to mention that Cheryl loves beadwork and this is what she is currently working on. I don't think it has a name. Cheryl said that she is obsessed with beading.

Her latest cloth doll. (That's me to the left, in the background.)

 

Here I am with Cheryl and that's our president, Dale Tomlinson on the right. 

Cheryl has a website called  Magpie Artworks    http://www.magpieartworks.com/    and she also has a blog    http://magpieartworks.blogspot.com/    so go over and visit. Both sites have many more photos of her work.

Many thanks to both Cheryl Smith and Rosemary Hamlin for allowing me to do this post - and many thanks to all of my readers.

*****I totally forgot to show this photo. Click to see the doll close up. Her face is beaded and Cheryl did it at a workshop.

Everything old is new again and more diversions

This is a picture of Maili, my middle daughter, who used to live and work in California. She is wearing a sweater/shrug that I purchased eons ago. Her little sis found it in my closet and confiscated it one day and then it sat in her closet. Maili found it and now it's 'cool' to wear. I thought, when I bought it, that it would have made a nice little sweater for special occasions like a wedding and seeing as how there is one that we are attending this weekend, I may just borrow it back.
Maili is the one that put the faces on the heads I made. I have been busy with the things below and so the bodies/body have not yet been made.
My quilting buddy Judy and I decided to exchange paper-pieced animals. They had to be North American mammals and we eventually will make a Canadian-themed quilt. Judy, of course, is further along than I am. I have to make one more of these little blocks - a lot of work.
Since Maili has been going to parties (it seems there are a lot of birthdays this summer,) she has been very creative and making cupcakes to bring with her. I will post pics of horses, owls and hamburgers just as soon as I have them. This little apron above is one I whipped up for one of her friends as a b-day gift.

Another diversion

Ok, so I did it again. I deviated from finishing the little quilt. I just had to make these little heads and since neither myself nor my daughter have ever made a doll's face, I thought I would make a few in case of 'accidents.' Actually, I asked my daughter to draw them - chicken that I am.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win another giveaway. Felt from Felt-o-rama. I have plans for some of this stuff but I have a few other things to finish up first.

This lovely piece of fabric is the backing of the little quilt I am working on. I bought it on sale a while ago. I figure it would come in handy one day for something I would make for my eldest daughter and her husband. They are the outdoorsy types with all the toys - boat, ATV, snowmobile. They always try to make time for fishing and are always willing to take family and friends out. Their recent purchase of a house in BC had a few things going for it - loads of property and right on the river.

Mail came and a new tote

Since I didn't win Natalie Ross' dear Aggie in a giveaway and I was going to get her anyway, I decided to go ahead and order her - from Fabric Patch (please excuse the blurry photo - the other one was too dark.) Well, then I saw Melly & Me's Florence. I had been thinking of buying her too since I absolutely love flamingoes. They came today and now I can make future plans to get them made.

If you are interested in free stuff - tutorials and patterns, here is at least one site for you to check out. I decided to make this really easy tote bag from Imagine Fabric, a link on Freebies for Crafters. It was very well explained and the photos were good. I am saving it for a gift for one of the girls (young women actually.) It measures about 15" across and 20" down and is fully lined. I just wanted to try out the pattern. I think I will try making a few other bags that are online freebies now. This one was nice because I got to use some of my stash. Quilters may be familiar with some of the fabrics - they are old.