Hungry Animals Quilt

I've taken a short break from doll clothes
to finish the Hungry Animals baby quilt that's
back from the quilter.  I had enough of the
backing fabric to make a small pillow case.
The book was also a panel.

It has such bright colors and of course the illustrations 

are a hoot.  It's lots of fun trying to find everything 

in the picture that starts with that letter!

clock 
cabin
chinking
cane 
clouds
checkered cafe curtains
coffee pot
cake
cup
cherries
cow
chaps
calico cat

 

moose

moon 

mountains

milk 

muffins

marshmallows

mask

mittens

What are those blankets called?

What am I missing about the chimney?

 

sheep

salt shaker

shutters

snow

sugar

spatula

stove

sunflowers
salt glaze crock

suitcase
stripes

spoon
saucer

sink
shelf

saddle oxfords

socks
shoelaces
stool
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silly, but fun!
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Easton Alan

Annabelle Lea & Maddy Josette- Martha Bishop Dolls

I want to introduce my 2 newest dolls

made by Martha Bishop, tiny Annabelle 

Lea & Miss Maddy Josette.  

They are right at home sittin' on my

Grandad's whittlin' chair, under the

print of Martha's prim painting.

I now have several dollies with no clothing,

so it's time to get busy.  I'm am concentrating

 on undergarments for the girls first.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've visited the Kansas City Toy & Miniature

Museum several times.  They have a lovely

Izannah Walker doll there named Miss Mary. 

 She and her extensive wardrobe were featured in 

the March 2006 issue of Antique Doll Collector.

She is my inspiration for little Annabelle's clothing.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Annabelle is only about 8 inches tall.

Making a low cut chemise with set in sleeves like

Miss Mary's for such a tiny doll took some 

teeny stitches and a bit of patience.

The antique glass doll buttons are 3/16 inch.

The bloomers are 3 1/2 inches long.
 

Because this is pleasure sewing for me,
I have treated myself to some silk thread.
Silk thread never tangles & it's so nice to
work with.  My eyes will never be the same,
 but Annabelle is very happy in her new duds.

Maddy will be next to get some undies.

She's a much larger doll and I have some

special things in mind for her.

This is the bottom ruffle from an antique nightgown.

The original garment was literally in tatters, and

 this was the only salvageable section.  I've been

saving it for something special.  It's just the right 

size for Maddy's petticoat.

It's quite thin and fragile.

Someone carefully repaired it.

 Ever mindful of the importance of historic preservation,
let me just say, I would never cut up a fine antique garment

just to use the bits and pieces in a doll.  Nor do I purchase
items "cut" from garments.  Having said that, I see nothing
wrong with using the good bits from a garment that is destined
 for the trash heap.  I am quite comfortable giving new life to
 some one's fine work when I know it's history.  Besides, it
would be wasteful.  Nuff about that....

Maddy gets a homespun flannel petticoat too.

I doubt I'll cover this wonderful hair with a bonnet.
It's so soft.  The photo does not do it justice.

Looks like I will need to learn shoe making,

such a shame to cover these cute toes.

I love her applied thumbs.

Thank you Martha for these special ladies,

I am blessed to have them.  Thanks for the 

much needed kick start back into dolls!

Here's a link to Martha's blog. 

 Martha's Dolls

Quilt from Cinders

I received a beautiful quilt in the mail from my girl friend 

Cindy.  When we had the last girl's get together, Teresa

gave her some quilt blocks & quilt tops she purchased 

at a farm auction.  There were several hand quilted 

blocks in the Tree of Life or Pine Tree pattern.  Cindy set

 the pieces with green borders and blocks in a wonderful

 brown fabric that looks vintage.

The back is the same brown fabric and it's bound

in the green fabric.

She hand quilted the Tree of Life blocks 

in a matching green.

The brown blocks are hand stippled in a lovely

brown.  Cindy wanted them to have texture that

simulates tree bark.

The quilt is so soft and looks antique.  It's 

just beautiful.  She's done a wonderful job.

I will cherish it always, thank you so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinders age 8.  What a cutie!

 

I have 2 new special dolls made by Martha Bishop

that I will introduce in my next post.  Can't wait

for you to meet them!

Raphael Tuck's Toy Rockers

These Tuck "Toy Rockers" attributed to artist A. L. Bowley

 (unsigned) were sold in Britain as a set of 6.  This artist
 was featured in my Christmas post.  I love his work.
Certainly some of these postcards traveled the big pond
 and made their way into American mail boxes.
They're just adorable.......a perfect accessory for dollies.

 
 
Happy cutting!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 FYI, the images on TuckDB Ephemera and 
TuckDB are of items/postcards that are over 100
years old and are now in the public domain.
Raphael Tuck Data Base

A Is For Annabelle Books-Finished

The A Is For Annabelle books by Tasha Tudor
are finally finished. 

  I am very pleased with the machine embroidery,

it was worth the wait.  I'm glad I decided to hand 

quilt the pages too, it took a long time, but they 

look like little quilts.

 I sewed a binding on the book covers just like 
I would a quilt.  Ava's in blue, Audrey's in pink. 
How To Make A Scrappy Nine Patch Dolly Quilt

I securely hand sewed the silk ribbon into

place, within the fold of the binding, 
on the underneath side.  

The first and last page finished. 

Just like the other fabric books, I sewed the pages

 together with all six strands of a coordinating color 

of embroidery thread.  I marked the cover and center
 page with synchronized marks, carefully aligning the
 interior pages in the proper order.

These books are thick, so I used a small pair 
of pliers to help pull the large needle through.

 

The front and back cover.

 

 

The center interior pages.

First page.

Ava's birthday's this month.

Audrey's special day is in May.

 

The girl's are very small, perhaps I'll put the books
away and work on a couple of Annabelle dolls.
(Great idea Mary!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabelle Book-Part 1 

Annabelle Book-Part 2 

Annabelle Book-Update 

 ~~~~~~~

My 83 year old stepfather has been in the hospital 3 times 

since Thanksgiving with heart issues and a nasty bout of

the wicked beast, pneumonia.  With lots of TLC he's doing

 very well and we expect a full recovery.  Our daughter
is here for a 2 week visit. (break time at the theater)
We shall enjoy her visit.  Sewing is on hold for a bit.
Look for some "unusual" postcards in my next post.