Projects

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of my many projects. Sorry it took so long. And this is going to be a long post to make up for it. Very long.

First, Christmas.

Dolls: Here are some pictures of the dolls I made for nieces and nephews for Christmas. The girls got cute girl dolls, and the boys got cute alien dolls. The practice ones I kept--so these two are mine and Ben's. Do you recognize us? The girl dolls were meant to be like the nieces--same hair and eye color.



Here is a picture of Cameron Doll (light brown hair)and Audrey Doll (dark brown hair) together:



Dogs: I made Schnauzer dogs for Mom and Grandma Brinkerhoff. Mom got two dogs (black for Gretchen and red for Katie) and Grandma got one (for Max). This one is mine (again, the first one I made).

Other: For myself I also made this pointy eared kitty. I guess it wasn't really for Christmas.


Here they all are living on their shelf together, along with a little birdhouse from Carolyn and a Baxter kitty from the McCollums.


Next, my new projects.

My little bird project. I found pictures in a quilting magazine of a vintage quilt with little birds appliqued on it. It was a 1930s applique pattern from Nancy Page. They were really cute. I wanted to make something like it. So I traced the pictures in the magazine, made a pattern for each piece, and got to work. There are 5 different birds, and I made 3 of each. I am keeping some. Some will go to Mom and Carolyn, and perhaps some other people who would appreciate them.

A hooded warbler, but I didn't do a hood.


A Cedar Waxwing.


A Hermit Thrush.


A Jay.


And an oven bird.
But I saw it more like a robin and put a red-breast on some of them.

Weird dolls. Sometime last year I saw a picture on a blog somewhere, and saved it because I thought the dolls were cute. A few days ago I finished my little birds project, looked for a new one, and choose to try to make some dolls like the ones I saw. I think the ones I mimicked are actually much larger, but I saw these as small, hand sized dolls. From head to toe, they are approximately the size of my hand from fingertip to wrist. Aren't they cute? I am making lots of them for no particular reason.

Finally, bunting. For our HFPEnrichment meeting in March, we are celebrating the birthday of Relief Society (Of course. So is everyone else in every ward around the world. It is the only activity specifically outlined in the Church Handbook). We want the ladies in the ward to feel like the activity is amazing, and part of the amazement for any activity is about the decorations, right? So we are going over the top: Seiko is making two pinatas, Jo is making special tablecloths and centerpieces, and I am making something like 500 feet of bunting (Made from fabric so that it can be reused at future parties, and it won't rip, unlike stupid crepe paper streamers). We are also going to have balloons, Christmas lights, a fantastic cake, and we don't know what else yet. Hopefully the dinner and games will be as amazing as our decorations. Anyway, here is a picture of a section of my bunting. Imagine it strung back and forth across the cultural hall.

The greatest thing about the little birds, weird dolls, and bunting projects is that they are using up scraps. I have only had to buy thread. Everything else, including all the fabric, I already had.

On a side note, I've made a few rules for myself about projects. First, I have to finish one before I can start another. Second, I can't really buy anything new, except for thread. I have to use up my scraps, buttons, beads, ribbon, embroidery floss, and whatever before I can buy new stuff. I'll keep that rule until I run out of usable fabric. I am not sure I will run out of buttons or beads anytime soon. That being said, my boxes of big pieces of fabric are quickly becoming very empty, and my boxes of tiny scraps are becoming very full. I think this will lead to some unusual and creative projects. As soon as I finish my weird dolls, I will start something new. I don't know yet what that will be. But here is a picture of my sewing corner of the office. You can see my inspiration corkboard is full of ideas of things to make.


You can also see my new sewing machine (cheap and meant to last until I find a good one), and some beautiful gifts from Carolyn. She made aprons for us for Christmas, and you can also see a cute little bag she made for me for my birthday.

So I hope you enjoyed this super long (and long overdue) post. Ben keeps telling me I need to be better at posting things. I guess now that I am trying to do at least one project per month I will have something to write about.