A Recycled "Rag"

This doll turned out to be not as "dark" as I was striving for. (I have another one in the works with a scowl on her face).

Her body is made out of an old dish rag that I was going to throw away because it was getting stained and parts of it were threadbare. Then, just for fun, I thought "I'll save the better bits and see if I can make something out of it". And so, here it is.

My cousin in the States phoned me yesterday to let me know that her Aunt Ellen died. No one had spoken to or seen Aunt Ellen in a few days. A neighbour got concerned and called the police. They went into the house together and found her dead on the floor.

Aunt Ellen is the sister-in-law of my favourite aunt who passed away in this past November. The last time I saw her was at my aunt's funeral. Although not directly related, Aunt Ellen was a wonderful lady who my family saw many, many times over the years. And now she is gone too. I am shocked at the number of people I know that have died in the last few years.

Joy(ful)

Meet Joy. A good name for her since she's so bright and colourful. The new doll I'm working on is "dark" - something a little different for me.

Other projects in the sewing pipeline include some clothes for my trip to Estonia in May and some quilt blocks. It's been a while since I've done any quilting. I like scrap quilts with lots of different fabrics and colours. I get too bored making the same block over and over again. I must have variety to keep me interested.

Prairie Girl

Above is my newest doll. Her simple calico front buttoned dress and her long hair make me think of a Prairie Girl from a long time ago.

Today, hubby and I went shopping for a few small items and ended up buying a couple of easy chairs. Recliners. He's always wanted one. To put in front of the TV. So hubby can fall alseep in comfort. Man happiness. Sigh!

"Oh, oh, are we gonna fly, down in the easy chair"
-Bob Dylan (You Ain't Goin' Nowhere)

Pay It Forward, Part 2

A year ago, this Pay It Forward challenge was making the rounds in the blogosphere. I decided to participate and received a response. I had 365 days to make a gift and as usual, I left things close to the deadline.

But, I can now reveal that the recipient of my gift is Judy Merrill-Smith of Cheery Tomato Productions. For Judy, I made a doll named "Gwendoline." I noticed that Judy has had a few posts on her blog relating to world peace, so I thought it would be appropriate for Gwendoline to wear a peace symbol. The batik fabric puts me in mind of the tie dye fabrics that were popular in the 60s, along with the peace symbol.






















The maker of my Pay It Forward gift was Maggie Robinson of Magpies Collectables. Maggie and I are both Dempseys (her maiden and my married name). Above is the beautiful brooch that Maggie made for me, highly detailed with beads, textures and shades of purple.

Mary

I call her Mary because I was listening to the haunting contralto of Mary Fahl of the group The October Project as I stitched this doll. The doll is very simple but she absolutely sparkles with gold sequins and a glitter finish over her face.






















I have been making little dolls for just over a year now. I am pleased with the progress I have made. It makes me want to keep on. Compare the Icicle Doll made last January (out of the same fabric) to today's effort. I hope that I can say as much this time next year.

Lisette

My sister and I went to another live Metropolitan Opera broadcast last Saturday. We saw Puccini's rarely performed La Rondine (The Swallow). The two female lead characters are Magda and Lisette. I've named this little dolly after Lisette because to me she looks more like a Lisette and than a Magda.

There were some technical sound and picture glitches in this broadcast which were distracting and occurred at the most inoppertune (pun in there?) times. The whole first act appeared in sepia tones which at first I thought was intentional because the setting was in the 1920s. But when Acts II and III were in full colour, I realized we had been cheated out of seeing what must have been glorious colours of the opulent First Act set and costumes. Considering that the cost of admission was way more than the price of a regular movie ticket, I wasn't pleased.

But the people at the theatre were great and gave each one of us, as we were filing out, a free admission pass to the next opera broadcast. That made up for everything.

I had no travel plans for this year but life has a way of interfering with plans and non-plans. We are going back to Estonia in May to see my half-sister, who has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. We are hopeful that she will recover. If she doesn't, I would not want to miss the chance to see her again.

It's supposed to be very cold for the next few days. I won't want to go out anywhere. I would just like to relax in the warm house and stitch up some new things.

A Cat, Sort Of.....

This is my first attempt at making a cat. Not really knowing where to begin, I went and stared at my cat Zoe for about 15 minutes while she was trying to nap. Poor kitty. I think she was annoyed with me because she wanted to close her eyes and I wanted her to keep them open.

After studying Zoe, I went back to my studio and drew my first cat face. I realized after I sealed it that I forgot to draw whiskers.

This isn't great but it's a start. There are a number of refinements I will make so that the next one will be better.

I had a lot of fun, though. :)