Meet Betsy

I'm please to share Betsy with you.  She is my second Izannah Walker doll made during the Dixie Redmond on-line workshop.  The dress pattern is Dixie's, but I made the pattern for the pinner apron myself.  Betsy's chemise, pantelettes and petticoat are made from a linen like fabric - left over from my kitchen curtains!  I suppose that Betsy will be a thrify one!

October's Small Quilt of the Month

My October Quilt has been finished since before Hurricane Sandy, but the sun never wanted to come out for me - at least not when I was home and could take a photograph of it to share!  I enjoyed hand quilting this one - it brought back pleasant memories of making hexagon flowers while vacationing on Oak Island last summer!
October's Quilt is from Kathleen Tracy's book:  The Civil War Sewing Circle and is called "Hexagon Flower Quilt."
I saved the cardstock paper hexagons - there could be another variation of this one in my future some day!  I'd love to do it in Civil War reproduction fabrics!

September Small Quilt of the Month

For September, Kathy Tracy's SmallQuiltTalk Yahoo! group made quilts based on a single quilt block called Dove in the Window.  Once again, I was able to make the quilt using fabrics from my stach.  I picked the fabric for the large squares first, and then picked fabrics that I thought would work with it.  My husband helped me decide on the borders after I had narrowed my choices down to a handful.  I was really happy with how it turned out, so I decided to hand quilt it - nothing fancy, just 1/4" from the seam lines, like I learned to do more than 20 years ago!  I finished the quilt on a rainy weekend, so getting a photo in good outdoor light was delayed even more!  

My October hexagon flower quilt top is done - just waiting to be basted, quilted and bound!  I hope that I can finish it within a few days of the end of the month - November will be busy enough without starting it already behind!

Meet Ailene

I have finally dressed my very first Izannah Walker inspired doll, using the pattern as given in the Dixie Redmond workshop.  I trimmed the neckline using some very old off white rick-rack that was in my grandmother's things.  I've named her Ailene.  It means "Little Eve,"  which I think is a very good name for the first Izannah Walker inspired doll I've made.  I may make her a necklace, or maybe a kitty - I still feel like she needs a little something.

Almost There

My 3 Izannah Walker web-workshop dolls are nearing completion - they now have pantelettes, chemises and slips.  I've signed and numbered each doll, along with the year, on the bottom of their "chest plate" on their backs.  They are getting a bit tired of being called #1, #2, #3 - they are a bit too old-fashioned to find any similarities with Star Trek amusing!    I think the first (far left) looks a bit pensive, maybe a touch sad.  The second looks like she is thinking some happy thoughts and the third looks like she is thinking of some very grand, intellectual thoughts.  It is fun to see how these all emerged so differently.  When I do this project again, I think I will focus on only ine.  While doing three has been a great learning experience, I do think I would have taken more time to get her just right.  Three was more tiring.  Somehow, not one of these dolls ended up looking straight ahead.  I guess they are mirroring my busy, distracted mind, finding it hard to just concentrate on what is right in front of me!
So, they would like names...what do you think, should I name them alphabetically?  Agatha, Betsy, Clara...?
Know any other good, old fashioned names to suit these young ladies?

Onto dress making!

August Small Quilt of the Month

I finished the August Small Quilt of the Month on September 1st, but the rest of the Labor Day Weekend was rainy and dreary, so taking a photo was put off until today.  This one is called Charming Quilts Doll Quilt and the pattern is in Kathleen Tracy's book:  Remembering Adelia.  There are 72 different fabrics making the little rectangle coins.  I used a quilt stencil and a mechanical chalk pencil to mark the quilt, before machine quilting it.   

The September Small Quilt of the Month is a pattern that Kathy put together for her Yahoo! group, using the Dove in the Window design.  I cut out the pieces for the block today, but while I've selected the fabrics for the borders, I'm not cutting them out yet, until the center part is pieced.

Hanging Out in the August Heat

We were at my brother and sister-in-law's house earlier this month, and this squirrel was relaxing in the tree in front of their house.  There is a nest in a near by branch, but apparently, it is cooler to hang out in the trees. He was sleeping, but I think he heard us talking about him, and decided to watch us, like we were watching him.