Weekend Activities

On Thursday afternoon, Mimi came over to drop off my half of a wholesale order of buffalo batt superfluff (that means 10 bags for me!). My dream of a polyfill silo out back is nearly a reality now. We had a lovely time looking at Japanese craft books and fabric and buttons. Mimi is really an accomplished doll maker and I feel like she has become somewhat of a mentor to me. She looked at my dolls and softies and helped me figure out how to resolve some problem spots. She also brought me the most stunning alium seedpod, a pile of vintage cotton prints, and she even let me borrow this issue of Cotton Time.

On Saturday evening I cut out six lambs to be sold at the craft show I’m doing in November (I’m a work ahead kind of gal) and stuffed them while listening to a lovely podcast interview with Heidi Kenney on Craftsanity. I like how she talked about letting the texture and color of the fabric guide the project. She will see a particular fabric and say, “Wow, that looks like the texture of a banana,” and then make a plush banana from it. I usually approach projects the opposite way, hunting down the appropriate fabrics to fulfill an idea already in my head.

And on Sunday morning while Charlie took Roxy to the pool I did some fabric dyeing. I have had this big pile of white flannel and cotton and wool to dye sitting on my craft table for weeks now and I am so happy I finallly took the plunge.

I did some orange, some blue, and most importantly some peach (great for skin tones). I also overdyed two patterned pieces – one white on white floral that is now white on blue and a piece of a floral bedspread from Mimi that is now orange.

I’m working on a custom doll for a little girl and on a new big-haired doll that is a bit different. Okay, that is 8 projects at once. My desk is a bit of a mess.