Little People

Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara's on Thursday. Carol had an interesting quilt.

Carol's quilts are always interesting and lovely. 

Barbara had finished a quilt for her great...um...well, he's three, and an I-Spy quilt is perfect for him. This one has his name on it, too.

If some of the fabrics look familiar, they came from my stash. One great thing bout having a quilting group like this is, when you have to make an I-Spy quilt, you have lots of stashes to draw from.

I worked on hand-quilting my Delectable Pathways, aka "Sistine Chapel," quilt.

I had finished Vroni's Kitty Cat 1 cardigan, and as promised, here it is.

I had made it before holding the Palette yarn double, using a yellow color, with the hat to match. It came out a bit stiff, so this time I made it with a single strand, and I like the result better.

I originally bought Vroni because I thought she looked like me when I was little. This week I made her a dress I thought would work out in B&W as a good stand-in for the dress I wore for my second-grade photo, back in 1949.

This is why I couldn't dress myself without help.

My dress in the photo was brown, but I figured this red gingham would be OK in B&W. If you squint, Vroni almost looks like a Mini-Me.

The outfit Vroni normally comes in is a Dirndl. Because she came to me second hand and was wearing a lovely smocked dress instead of the Dirndl, I thought she needed a Tyrolean coat, so I'm using the Kitty Cat 3 pattern, which is a hooded cape in two lengths, as a jumping-off place for the coat. The coat pattern will be Jacknits Town and Country Coat Sets.

She will have a Tyrolean hat, as well (also in the Jacknits pattern), so she doesn't need the hood unless it's really cold.

The cape still needs blocking, the the pattern recommends against blocking the hood, because it needs to curl around the face.

Charlotte will be joining us sometime in the "near" future, so I decided she needed a dress from the same fabric as the two sundresses I made for Mandy and Vroni. Here's Mandy modeling the dress.

Mandy is wearing the yellow cardigan, so I don't feel cold every time I look at her, but Charlotte will have one of her own, probably in the same green yarn I used for Zoey's cardigan.

I think I finally have the pajama pattern altered to my satisfaction. It was a struggle, because it was designed for American Girl dolls, who are plus-size, and the Gotz Happy Kidz and Classic Kidz are slim.

The fabric is white, not yellow, but I couldn't get the color right without making Vroni look as if she were about to vomit. So take my word for it. I think the PJs make the girls look cuddly, even though their bodies are solid vinyl.

The photo shoot was going well, until she spotted something on the ceiling. Probably a spider.

Park City Singers has begun practicing for the Holiday Concerts. That cuts into my free time.

What's on my needles: Still the iPhone Tote for my niece, Vroni's Tyrolean Coat.

What's on my Featherweight: Um…doll clothes?

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Murder in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer, one of her mysteries, full of humor. Then I listened to The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry. Then I downloaded Kill Me Again, by Rachel Abbott. (When I want to get a lot done and avoid waisting time, I start a Rachel Abbott or Dean Koontz novel. Difficult to turn off.) Still a couple of chapters into Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon. Not fantastic, but cheap.

What's my tip of the week: If you're making clothes (doll clothes especially) that call for gathers between two dots, it's soooo much easier to run the basting stitches from one edge of the fabric to the other, rather than starting at the dot and sewing to the other dot. When you have the edges pinned, put a pin in where the dot is, pull out the bobbin thread basting stitches between the edge and the dot, and you're good to go. (I like to chain piece, so starting at a dot isn't convenient.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Grandmother's House

The Little Red Riding Hood costume is finished:

Here’s the back.

Another view:

The cape pattern is Kit's Christmas Cape by Cathy Bird with adaptations, mostly for length. The yarn is City Tweed HW in “Romance.” You can get more information on my Ravelry page for the project.

I’ve always seen Little Red Riding Hood in a dirndl, although versions the fairy tale appeared in many European countries. I couldn’t find a dirndl pattern I liked, so I had to improvise from a free overall pattern for Pocket Dolls (of all things) and the blouse from The Best Doll Clothes Book by Joan Hinds, but without the collar. For the skirt and apron, I just cut a rectangle (WOF x 11” for the skirt, 19” x a little shorter than the skirt rectangle for the apron). After hemming I sewed three lines of basting at the top of each on the right side and gathered by pulling the bobbin threads. I didn’t remove the threads after sewing the bodice and sash on, but tied them together and cut them off short, so the gathers show on the right side. The bodice opens in front, with an overlap and a placket opening in the skirt.

The dress fabric came from Connecting Threads and was a clearance fabric that seems to be no longer available. The apron fabric was a fat quarter from a quilt shop. The apron and blouse fabrics came from some long-forgotten quilt shops.

I haven’t done the staging for this project yet, but I already have the basket and the wolf. I’m waiting until I can get this doll. I’m not sure the dirndl will fit, because I haven’t been able to find her measurements, but there's some room in the waist. If It doesn’t fit, I’ll just have to make another one. Oh, darn!

I plan to make a Regency costume for Dolly, so she won’t have to stand there nekkid after I send the clothes to Miss Daphne for her birthday.

I needed a project for Dolly while waiting for the Ravelry Forum “American Girl Knitters” February KAL to start on Monday and the Spin Along on Friday. Soooo…I had to CO this dress for her. It’s supposed to be a flower girl dress, but I think it would be a nice Easter outfit. I'm using Stroll in "White" for the contrast color and the main color is Stroll Tweed in "Bare" that I dyed pink with Kool-Aid.

Vintage Stitchers met at Diane’s on Thursday. She had this quilt mounted on the wall in her stairway. She told us all to take a look when we used the powder room.

Brenda is working on this flannel/wool project she had started a long time ago.

It's "Primitive Gatherings" from A Primitive Garden. (No, it isn't upside-down; the plants are hanging.)  Julie is working on this sampler.

I couldn’t find a link for it. Maybe it’s too new. However, I did find this link to a kit Julie bought from the same company, but hasn't started yet.

She participated in a workshop during a quilt retreat recently, where they all had to bring strips of cloth in different sizes. They passed out the strips, and each person took some strips out to sew together. Then they passed what they had sewn to the next person, sort of like musical chairs, except that no one was left out. She ended up with this:

Julie has finished her Cathedral Windows pillow cover.

She has the binding on her flannel/wool felt wall hanging.

Julie also took a class at the quilt retreat where they made several different kinds of blocks. This is a something-halo. (I’ve forgotten the rest of the name.)

I think this is a dahlia.

This flower will be appliquéd onto a background.

She also brought us an old quilt top from the 1950s with a plain acid-green background. It belongs to someone else, so I didn't take a photo. She wanted to finish it, but first she needed to see if she could find the green in a quilt shop. It had a border along one side. Either she needed to remove the border or match the green and finish the border on all sides. I came across her after the meeting at a nearby quilt shop, and she had found just the right thing. It's a very unusual color. She's going to finish the quilt, quilt it and give it back. What a nice friend!

Remember those hexagons Rebecca decided to appliqué onto a background? She has lots of this great fabric to use.

Barbara has finished two identical Cactus Flower wall hangings.

Marilyn made this table runner to replace the one she gave away to Rebecca:

...and this Sparkling Gemstones quilt from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. (You may remember that several of the members, including moi, also made this quilt.)

Our hostess has finished this poncho in City Tweed DK. She made it according to the directions, but left off the optional cowl collar. She made it according to the directions, but left off the optional cowl collar. That makes her the third I know person to make this project.

Sundance is over. I had a great time, serving four shifts. Got to rub elbows with a few celebs and saw a few great films. I also got some knitting done while waiting for duty and guarding a door. This cold chap gave me an icy stare as I was leaving. I guess the people in the wait-list line got bored. 

He was almost gone by Saturday. It rained down in town on Friday night, although it snowed at our place. I think he melted because someone reminded him to "stay hydrated" because of the elevation, and he overdid it in the rain.

The snow continues to fall. And fall. [Sigh!]

Spinners, don’t forget, we’re having a Spin Along on the Knitting Community if anyone wants to join in.

Where? Right here, in the Knitting Community Spin Along.

When? Noon next Friday, February 5 until noon on Monday, February 8, 2016, in whatever time zone you're in.

Equipment: Spindle or wheel. (If you want to use the pencil method to spin, that's OK, too.)

Materials: Any spinable fiber. (Dryer lint, anyone?)

No prizes, no pressure, just spinning together and sharing what we’re doing.

What's on my needles:  “Time for Tea” party dress for Dolly. The Trickle Socks, waiting.

What's on my Featherweight: Doll socks, tights and undies.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Final Empire by Bandon Sanderson. I really enjoyed this one. I expect to read more by this author. Then I read Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen and narrated by Katherine Kellgren, who also narrated the “Bloody Jack” series. (I checked after I finished the book. One of the accents she had to reproduce rang a bell.) Speaking of bell, I’m now listening to Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz, his latest novel, which came out in December.  Finished The Other Harlow Girl by Lynn Messina on the Kindle app. It was entertaining, but sometimes you feel like the people in it are from today, and they got sent back in time. Now reading A View to Die For by Richard Houston. Not too far along yet, but it seems interesting and occasionally funny.

What's in my wine glass: Trapiche Malbec, 2014. Lovely.

What's my tip of the week: If you visit a location with a high elevation, do as Mr. Sundance Snowman did: avoid exercise, get plenty of rest, limit alcohol and stay hydrated until you get acclimated to avoid altitude (elevation) sickness. How long this takes will depend on your fitness level and the elevation where you live.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.