I joined a bit late, but if you are quick you can still start your charming little quilt and play along. Nothing has been sewn yet! Here is my pile of fabrics, from stash naturally:
You can also use 2 charm packs and some backgroung fabric. Last night I started cutting these 1½" x 5" strips:
Only 166 to go!
Charming friends can surprise you in a nice way. My dear friend Melanie has been travelling in different parts of Great Britain and giving beautiful travel reports on her blog. Now she has sent me a holiday parcel with all this loveliness:
Some basic vocabulary of the Welsh language on a towel and a shopping bag as well as the postcard. It looks too difficult to me, and I have no idea how it should sound, so I will not deepen my studies further.
Melanie also visited the Lake Coniston again. Last year she gave a lovely report from Peel Island, the Wild Cat Island in the Swallows and Amazons books we are reading together. That report, and all the background information she gave, woke my interest in Arthur Ransome and his books. - The Steam Yacht Gondola has been restored by enthusiasts, and it is a beautiful yacht today again. You can read about Melanie's sight-seeing tour on her at the end of this long blog post.
She also included a pattern booket of angel projects for me. How sweet can friends be?
In my stash use report for May I promised to reveal secret projects when they are no longer secret. They show how deeply Melanie and I are involved in the world of the Swallows and Amazons. I made a Coot Club flag for her and one for me for our bird protection and bird watching activities, and a small one for her Unicef doll Dot. (If you ahve read the books, you will know who she is.)
Dot also received a white flannel nightie, and I sent one just like this to her friend Martha in Germany as well.
Making those nighties I needed a mannequin to get the lenght right, so I used one of these poor things, still waiting for clothes and some hairdressing before they can be given for adoption. This is a real UFO project, because I notice I have mentioned this lot in one of my early posts from March 2008!
The clothes must be made baby-safe, without buttons or any choking dangers. Sewing velcro closures by hand on the tiny seams is not something I look forward to. The big head with thick hair makes it necessary to close the neck in one way or another. I still need to sew the black doll to complete the set of yellow, red and white dolls, as the dolls are meant to represent all the children of the world. The adoption fee, 20 € (or more, like they have added), goes entirely to Unicef, for the vaccinations of one real child.
Your unicef dools are fabulous. I think their faces will appeal to young children in their simplicity.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the bits. :-)
Love the quilt along! It looks like such a lovely design. I'm fully booked time wise at the moment though so maybe it is something I can do later.
Very sweet doll faces. Velcro is wicked stuff and I can't imagine sewing it by hand. Isn't Melanie one of the sweetest and most thoughtful ladies?
ReplyDeleteI like your Coot Club flag!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to visit Melanie after this! I've never been to Coniston, though I think Dad went one time, just to visit all the Swallow's and Amazon's places! I think your Coot Club flag is great- also your Dot doll clothes!
ReplyDeleteIts always interesting to get items from other countries, isn't it!
And I love the colours you've chosen for your quiltalong too, really rich!
The dollies are wonderful and will bring so many smiles to kids. Hope you have lots of fun with your new quilt-along :)
ReplyDelete