Tea time

This is Titty reporting again. Auntie was not in such a good mood. Here you can see why:

She had finished John's shirt and helping him to try it on when she noticed that when zigzagging the seam allowances together in the sleeve she had caught the sleeve fabric with a fold, and then cut through the fold. She tried to undo the outer zigzag stitches to make it look OK when the truth was revealed. Well, for a couple of days John had to wear his thick wool sweater, but now the shirt sleeve is fine again. Nobody will notice that it is a fraction shorter than the other one.

See here, both sleeves are still too long, so John can grow some more!

It looks like Spring is on the way. These snowdrops came through the old snow yesterday.

The pond has been frozen through all Winter and the ice is still very thick, but now it is floating on water at least.

Susan and I had tea together. Auntie has just the one cup left from the set of 4 she had when she was little, so we took turns.

Auntie Ulla made this blouse for Susan, and I can tell you she was very careful with her scissors this time. I think she ought to sew something for me next. I know Susan needs a lighter skirt for the Spring too, but I'm stuck with a wool jumper and long trousers, and Roger could use a shirt too.

Anyway, I think Susan's blouse is pretty and I know I will get to use it when she grows out of it. Oh, I almost forgot, the "something nice I planned with Auntie" I mentioned last time, well, it is taking time. Be patient!

Yours ever,

Titty

Stash Use Report for October, and Unicef Doll Show

I had totally forgotten to write my stash use report for October, because there was so little going on. I bought nothing, which is very good. On the other hand, I can only think I used 2.5 m for the Unicef dolls I made:

I always sew on the marked lines and cut after that, so the seams will not draw and the fabric stays nicely in place. The faces are painted with textile paints before sewing and stuffing so the paints don't spread. The clothes were made mostly in November so I will count the fabrics for them in this month's statistics. These two girls are going to Germany with my sister tomorrow, for her friend's little granddaughters. I guessed right, the girls love pink and red dresses.

My other sister wanted dolls for her own granddaughters, and as I was busy with making the other dolls, I promised to make them on one condition: She will paint the faces and sew the hair on the four of them. Look at her magic touch:

Here are all the new dolls in a group photo before going to their new owners near and far:

The dolls are made like traditional rag dolls, using recycled materials and leftover bits of fabric. Each doll has the Unicef logo sewn on their leg seam, and an identity card from Unicef, filled with the doll's name and details by me. The dolls can not be "bought" but "adopted", and each of them represents a real child who is helped to a better start in life with the immunsation against deadly childhood diseases which Unicef provides for them with the adoption fee of 20 € or more. The idea and the original pattern of the dolls came from Italy, and they are made by volunteers in France, Czech Republic and Finland as well. The other half of the identity card is a postcard, where the maker of the doll can add her name and address. The doll's new family can fill in the form with information of the doll's whereabouts and family, and send the postcard to the "birth mother". Usually the dolls are adopted at Unicef events or in their shops where school classes or handicraft clubs have delivered the dolls they have made together. The makers have no knowledge of the destiny of them and so the postcard is a nice thankyou for the maker. Inventing personalities and finding suitable names for the dolls is one of my favourite parts of creating a doll for Unicef. I keep a list of my dolls and try not to give the same name twice.

On my walk last week I saw floating rocks?

No, the swan family has returned after six weeks' absence. I think the parents have been taking the young ones around and showing them possible places to stay next year when they are on their own.

You can still see how the young swans are grey and their bills are not bright yellow like the adults. This morning we had frost for the second time, but the ponds are not likely to freeze over before it gets much colder.

Raggedy & Friends, Block 3, and a challenge

Between apple sauce and laundry I have been stitching on September's Raggedy & Friends BOM, and last night it was ready.

Two stitcheries, a nine-patch and a row of two triangle squares, and the two rows of 2" squares at the top. I'm already waiting for the next block!

Today my Ann posed for the stitchery. She is a normal healthy doll so she looks a little plump compared to the model in Kaaren's drawing. We didn't have any watermelon at home so we used a wedge of cabbage instead. The little bird posing on it is a Christmas gift from Eileen, who also made my Raggedy Ann and Andy.

I couldn't let Ann sit too long on the concrete steps - the weather is a cool +8 C (46 F) - so I sent her in to tell Andy about the photo shoot. While still wearing my jacket and shoes I took some pictures of the new colours outdoors.

Blueberries get read leaves before they drop, but the lingonberries (middle front of the picture) keep their thick green leaves all winter.

The aspens often get yellow leaves, they are like golden coins. Some trees turn red, like in the first picture on the left of my quilt block.

The chilly weather and wind have brought me a cold, so I'm taking it easy and sneezing today. September is almost over, and I have used only very little fabric. I hope to finish something before the end of the week to make my statistics look nice! Maybe I'll make a little softie for the Softies for Mirabel campaign. You can read more about it on Pip's blog Meet me at Mike's.

Why don't you join me here? All kinds of soft toys are welcome, and they will be delivered to the kids for Christmas. Before that, Pip will show them all together in her shop window in Melbourne.

Taking it easy

Last Friday I had to admit that I am more like a cow than a goat when it comes to walking on steep rock paths like the ones I took last Tuesday and posted under Morning dew. I had to go and see a doctor and show him my aching, swollen, hurting knee. He gave me some pills which seem to help a little, and told me to take it easy for a week. "Only the obligatory walking, and ice packs 4 times a day on the knee." So there will be no walks this week. Yesterday, when I was in town, I didn't walk to the fabric shop, not even to look at fabrics. Instead, I enjoyed the florist's shop in the shopping centre where I have my latte or tea. When I sit in the cafe, I can see all this:


And this:




It was easy to spend an hour there, with my notebook and tea and a piece of cake. Yes, you see, when I can not get Brownie points for my walking badge this week, I can at least see to it that I have earned my tea drinking badge and cake eating badge. Every cloud can have a silver lining!


Last night we had frost again. It has been windy and the leaves are falling from the trees. After a frost it only takes a little breeze and the leaves start falling on the ground. This is a picture I took this morning in our yard. I tried to catch a titmouse in the picture, but even without it I like the pattern of the branches.



The Bergenia leaves are turning red. They roll up like this when it is cold and open again when the air is warmer. The grass looks grey because of the frost.

I have been able to finish two of my Stitchers' Angel Swap projects, and I'm going to send them to my partner tomorrow. This is the mini tote Blue Wren's Nest designed by Natalie from Cinderberry Stitches.

And this very big pincushion is designed by Karen of Cotton Spice Blog.

There will be space for all kinds on pins and needles!

I am still working on the stitching of May Britt's angel stitchery for my own bag. The Stitchers' Angels patterns are all free to be downloaded for your own use, even if you are not participating in the swap. I have enjoyed this new kind of handicraft and I think I will keep making stitcheries even after the swap. But at the moment I'm feeling the need to start a new quilt, even a little one. And I really ought to start working on my Unicef dolls if I am going to get them ready for the auction in November.

About Unicef rag dolls

This is just a little post on a busy sewing/housekeeping day. Since I have not finished anything for a while, I'll show you one more Unicef rag doll:

She is a typical Finnish girl with blond hair and blue eyes. She lives in Germany, like my sister, who has organized the international adoption of several of my dolls there. Yesterday I found the perfect place to give my yet to be made Unicef dolls. I was reading Kaija's blog and she had been visiting Tampere, my old home town where I was born and lived until the end of my studies. Tampere is a Unicef city 2008 (unfortunately that part of their website is not in English), and they have a big adoption event for the dolls later this year. The dolls will be auctioned, so there is more than the minimum fee of 20 euro to be expected for each doll. So now I have decided to make the final 9 dolls for that date, and celebrate being a "birth mum" for 50 dolls total.

After Work

Yesterday was my busy day in a nice way. In the evening I had my sewing class/group, a quiet one this week because we were just 4 and the teacher. I finished the apron I started a week ago for my daughter, and I made some doll's clothes for a Unicef rag doll. The apron may not become Kaija's favourite in spite of the tool pocket, because the fabric seems to be that awful clingy kind that forms a knot in your lap when you walk. It looked OK, thick and soft and dark brown, just waiting for hands to be wiped clean. I'll try rinsing it with fabric softener.



I have had two favourite aprons my mother has made for me of dark, thick cotton fabrics. Both have been worn until there were holes in the pockets and the strings were just a collection of threads. After having dutifully served they ended up in this:

I called this quilt Töiden jälkeen, or After Work, because it is made of men's old flannel shirts and other heavy, dark shirts they have worn to work, and of my old working clothes, the aprons. There are some bits of children's clothes as well, including our old skirt I have shown with my very first Unicef rag doll shown here. The yellow frame is the same fabric I used for Chu-Hua, the Chinese Unicef doll. The backing is new plaid flannel in beige and red. I used to sleep in a recling chair under this quilt many, many nights when my shoulder was newly operated and I couldn't find a painless position in my bed. This is my comfort quilt, and it gave me the idea of a series of other quilts I made in 2006.

Little joys

Here are the two other rag dolls custom ordered with Malila, the native American. On the left is Sini, she is a Finnish girl of about 10 years of age and likes baking cakes and bread. On the right is the Chinese girl Chu-Hua (=Chrysanthemum). She learns foreign languages easily and she is energetic. She has one long braid of hair. The front hair is too short to stay in place, and I'm not happy with her face either. I'm not good at drawing, and these faces I make with a stencil with textile paints. When I was in third grade we made a rag doll at school. We had to embroider the face, and my poor doll ended up with pig's eyes and a mouth like a hooker's, and two dark red holes for a nose. Nobody can play with a doll like that. That's why I prefer the painted faces. The white doll is made of recycled sheets, the yellow fabric I have bought. All clothes are made of recycled or leftover pieces, including their underwear.



Yesterday was a good day. First, I received my first ever Etsy purchase, hand printed fabrics from Hollabee. Second, the February issue of Quilting Arts magazine was also in the mail. Third, my daughter Kaija found a new apartment she really likes. This is really the most important one of these, but they happened in this order. I'm planning to use my hand printed fabrics for shoulder bags I make for a local handicraft shop. Now is not yet the time, they are more like summer bags when I make them of linen or linen/cotton.