More pictures of my Mystery Doll

I have done some more work on my doll. Actually, I did this quite a while ago, just never published the pictures. I have the red overskirt pinned on the doll now, I need to make the top first, which is half done.

Skirt

Overskirt-Front

Overskirt-Back

I don't necessarily like the overskirt as it is. It looks very plain. I may turn up the points to show the light blue silk lining and then secure it with a bead. I have to play around with that a little to see what I like. She is coming along. Just have to get more in the mood to sew.
Although I am really excited to finish this doll, I want to see what she is going to look like when finished.

December's Doll Club Meeting

 Our December meeting was a time for change for the club. The space we were using in Akron didn't have it's lease renewed so I'm in the process of finding a new place to meet.
Pam Rowe who started the club with myself is moving in a few weeks to Denver. I'm sad but very happy (and quite a bit envious) for her. She is        

moving on to the next chapter in her life and we all wish her the best and much happiness in her new home.
We had a great meeting as usual, we did round robin, boy are our dolls getting super embellished! I'll post before and after pics when we are finished, you won't believe the difference.
We had a needlecase exchange for our Christmas gifts. Only 5 people were able to participate. We lined the packages up on the table and the

 people who were participating drew a number and that is the gift that they received. The top picture is the needlecase that I received. You can see from the picture it is sideways but when opened it is long. That is great for putting in the doll jointing needles. Deborah made the needlecase that I received. The outside is made from a paper bag. It is so beautiful, it looks like embossed leather. The inside is great, lots of compartments for all kinds of things. I love it.
                                                      The pictures below of the white needlecase is the one that I made. Pam

     happened to pick that one. I made it from felt and lace and buttons and
    did a lot of hand embroidery. I loved the effect of the white and cream
      colors.
    Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the other needlecases. Sometimes I wonder where my head is at. There was a lot of excitement though.
We had a potluck of goodies. It was a lovely day.  

Working on Mystery Doll Part 3

 I've done some more work on my Mystery Doll. This doll is a lot more detailed than I thought.
Her shoes are red dupioni. I added a piece of venice lace that I had cut out from a larger design.
Her crinoline is red batik with 4 wire hoops. Now that was time consuming but will be well worth it. It will make her skirt sit beautifully.

Mystery Doll Part 2

I finished Part 2 of my mystery doll by Colleen Babcock. I previously showed her head, which is now attached to her separate neck which was attached to her curvy body. Then the legs were wired and attached. She then got some pretty stockings and some pretty bloomers.
Making the doll for me is somewhat of a chore, although I do enjoy it. But I really love making the clothes. So I am now interested to keep going.
I took a workshop with Barbara Willis the weekend before last. That was a great workshop, Barbara is so sweet and a wonderful teacher. The High on Dolls doll club sponsored her and they always put on a great workshop, it was a lot of fun. But, that leaves me with yet another half finished doll. I am motivated to keep working on these 4 half finished dolls that I have staring at me, not to mention the 2 online classes that just started. Everything will get done when it gets done.
                          Eating my elephant one bite at a time!

She's back!

She arrived home yesterday. This is the doll I made for the Gypsy Challenge at the Houston Quilt Show this year.
The fabrics were sent to me by Treasure of the Gypsy's Pamela Armas and I made a more modern take on a Gypsy doll. She is a charm seller, she has her treasure chest of charms to sell.
It is a challenge for me to come up with a doll, this one was made from 4 different designers pattern pieces. I designed her arms and hands and her outfit.
It is always fun to participate and know that a lot of people from all over the world will see my doll.

What will she look like?

Colleen Babcock is offering her new pattern on a Yahoo Group. She is a mystery doll. 5 weeks ago, Colleen put up on the Yahoo Group the first part of her doll with a picture of that part which was the head. Each week since Colleen released the next part of the pattern with a picture of that part. I have completed part 1 - my head! Since I am so far behind I do know what the finished doll will look like and I must say she is fantastic.
So, I will post each part as I finish her and hopefully you can enjoy this doll coming together piece by piece.
If you are interested in making her yourself you can go to Colleen's web site - www.themagicbean.typepad.com and purchase the pattern for $6 until November 3rd and get access to the Yahoo Group.
I've picked my fabrics out, she is going to have a winter theme and I can't wait to finish her.

Workshop with Christine Shively

It's been a while since I have written on my blog. It has also been a while since I completed a doll. After coming back from Denver in August I worked on my "Challenge of the Gypsy" doll for the Houston quilt show. I believe that starts next week. When the show is over I will show a picture of that doll.
After she was sent off to Houston, I was doing my pre-work for my workshop with Christine Shively. Our doll club, Time For Dolls, brought Christine in for a weekend. I was lucky enough to have Christine stay with me, she is such a lovely woman. We had such great talks, some about doll making and some about her life and her family, especially her nephew Alex. He sounds like a real character and a total delight!

Well, I don't have a doll that is even close to finished to show you, not sure when the doll will be finished but I can show you a picture of Christine's doll! Isn't she lovely?

 I am making mine in black, white and gold. She will have a white painted face and have a theatrical look.

This is an example of how the face can be painted.










It was a great workshop and everyone had a great time. I can't wait to see everyone's completed doll - especially mine.
Christine is a great teacher and her creativity is amazing. My husband and I totally enjoyed her company.

Ling Li

 On August 8th Pam and I traveled to Dever, CO to take a 3 day class with Leslie Molen. We took her Ling Li class, she is the sister to Chun Woo. I took the Chun Woo class in April. We also took the class for her carrying case. The case isn't quite finished yet so pictures will follow.

It was a great trip. Ed and I moved fromthe Boulder/Denver area almost 9 years ago (so hard to believe it has been that long!). It was amazing to see the changes in Denver and in Boulder.

We met Leslie's "Denver students". What a great bunch of ladies, they were so welcoming and kind. Then the 2 days after class, Leslie was so kind to take us around to her favorite fabric stores and some new ones also. Those days were great because I was able to get some beautiful fabrics that are very hard to find around here in Ohio. I got some lovely sheers and silks as well as some great trims and ribbons.

It took me a while to get over the jet lag so I haven't worked on the box yet, hopefully next week

Now I am working on my Treasure of the Gypsy challenge doll for the Houson Quilt Show.

Doll Club - August

I see that I haven't written anything in a month. But, I have a good reason for that. I'm going to save my excuse for my next post.

We had a great time at doll club yesterday.  We started off with our round robin dolls and everyone explained what they did to the dolls. They are coming out great, our members are so creative. I will post pictures of the finished dolls but I don't think that will be until January.

Then we had our show and tell. I brought in my marionette and my Chun Woo doll as did Pam. Paloma brought in some cute bead dolls that she made and Mickey brought in this great 3 piece art quilt of a doll figure that was a round robin at one of her other doll clubs. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of either of those. But Sue made an adorable doll and I did take a picture of that. Isn't she darling?

Then Carolyn headed up an activity that was so much fun. She made 10 dolls in different shapes. Everyone chose a doll by grabbing it from a bag. Then you had 7 minutes to decorate the doll, anyway you wanted. After the 7 minutes was up everyone passed the doll to the left and then you had 7 minutes to decorate the doll you received. This went on until you got your original doll back. It was so much fun! Here is a picture of my doll, then a group picture of everyone's dolls.

 

Carolyn did a lot of work on making and stuffing all these dolls. Thanks Carolyn, great job!!!!

Vera came by to say good-bye. She has decided to leave the club and dedicate her free time to quilting. We will miss her sense of humor.

Doll Club - July

A week ago yesterday was our July doll club meeting. We met at Paloma's home and she taught us a very cute bead and wire doll made with polymer clay. Now - I'm getting a little more familiar with beads, they still scare me a little though, but polymer clay? Haven't got a clue. So, my doll is not great or even good, but she sure was a lot of fun to make. The first picture is of all the dolls. The second 2 are of my doll. I forgot to bring something to use as hair so I had to finish her up at home. 

We had a great day and a lot of fun. Not everyone was able to come, and summer is a busy time for people but it was great. Pam and I brought lunch and it was delicious. When we were finished, Paloma's husband played the organ for us. He plays so well! I really enjoyed that a lot, as did everyone else. It was a great meeting.

Marionette Pictures

Pam's doll

Here are the pictures of the marionettes as they were just finished in the classroom before they were strung. At the bottom are pictures of the marionettes, strung up and on display. The last day of class at JCC, all the artisans meet in the main room and display their work. It's a great way to end the week

Kim's doll

Jennie's doll

Mary's doll

Marty's doll

Judy's doll

Gayle's doll

Jill's doll

Charlie's doll

Joann's doll

Kit's doll

Debbie's doll

Marionette's on display

Marionette's on display

Marionette Class

My last posting I told you about my trip down to John C Campbell Folk School. I didn't write a lot about it then because I got sick when I was down there and sicker when I got home. So, I'm not functioning as well as I'd like to be. I woke up Wednesday morning feeling like I was swallowing razor blades, it was awful. And, everyday there I felt worse. Then on Saturday on the way home Pam and I stopped in Beckley WV for the night and Pam took me to an urgent care. They said I had strep throat, gave me a shot of anti-biotic and a prescription for more anti-biotic. After a couple days no more sore throat. But I developed a cough and I was driving myself crazy. On Thursday I called the doctor, couldn't get in to see my doctor but saw another one that is in the practice. She put me on an electric inhilator with medication because she couldn't hear anything in my lungs. That helped after a few minutes and she sent me right down to x-ray. She called the local pharmacy and ordered a z-pack and an inhilator. They called the next morning and no pneumonia thanks goodness. I haven't been sick in over 7 years so it hit me pretty hard but another week or so and I should be back on my feet. Enough about me!! I meant to include these 2 pictures of JCC in my last posting but... here is a picture of the path we walked everyday from Pam's and my room to the dining hall or the main house then back again to class, then back again to eat and back again to class, etc, etc, etc.



Path between dining hall and room



Wild rhododendron on path



Leslie's marionette


This is Leslie's marionette that she taught at John C Campbell June 10-16. It was a wonderful class for all the usual reasons, Leslie is a great teacher, the people were so nice and it's always so much fun. But I thought it was wonderful because this doll was so different. Her body, arms and legs are wood pieces held together with ribbon.

Inside my marionette





 

Leslie getting ready to teach



Les applying glue to mask

She is such a ham!!



Leslie's mask with fabric attached

  









These are my body parts made of fabric, from the top: boots, boobs, hands and ears 

Body parts









This is my head with her first round of coloring. 



My head



Leslie demonstrating how to string the marionette

Mary Annette

And this is my finished doll. My friend Judy Brown suggested her name, I thought it was adorable. Just like my doll!

Mary Annette-close up



Leslie demonstrating how to walk the marionette

Another post to follow with pictures of everyone's dolls. Is it just me or does anyone else who uses blogspot have trouble posting their pictures? It makes me crazy. It used to be pretty easy, now nothing goes where I want it to. Oh well.............