Well I finally finished making the quilts for my co-worker, friend from her grandmothers tablecloths. I know its been a long time. I’m back and ready to work. I’ve been doing stuff. But I’ve had fun this spring and summer. But I’ve missed you guys too. Hello and here we go. I’ve included the tablecloth pic to remind you where I started, and the dolls are made of the white tablecloth w/blue border. Their hair is ribbon yarn. Hand drawn faces. It was a labor of love for my good friend of 25 yrs. She loves them.
Rodezzy, Fiber Artist
Replies
Wow, these are great, the dolls are just too cute, the quilt is fantastic. I hopw you had lots of fun making them
Judy
Oh it was a true joy to make this memory for a friend.
Your friend looks so happy with her new friend.
She loved them.
They're beautiful! Nice to see you're back.
Jane
Oh, if we all could have a good friend like YOU! What you did is the nicest compliment to your friend and as you know there is no greater gift than the gift of your time. I do not quilt, but it appears to me that you came up with a nice original pattern to best suit the tablecloths. She could even use it as a tablecoth again, protecting it with clear plastic. Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed looking at it.
Thank you, it is the traditional "snowball" block. I got the idea from "Mary Ellen Hopkins" after I had tried to sew the cotton fabric with the heavier linen, the cotton fabric was just too thin to support a seam between the two fabrics. It would have easily broken down the cotton in the seams. The thread holes were already stressed in sewing them together.
"Mary Ellen Hopkins" demonstrates how to make the "snowball" block by sewing the smaller corner blocks (3"my choice) to the larger blocks (8" my choice); sewing the smaller block diagonally down the center, folding it up to match the base fabrics corner point, then only cutting off the middle layer which is the smaller blocks fabric.
This left the heavier fabrics' corners intact. The integrity of the seams are unstressed and the larger block corner becomes the support for the thinner cotton fabric, but gives you the design. I had been stressing over what block to use for months. The dolls came out of the fact that the white tablecloth with the blue border's lacked a printed design in the actual fabric. I didn't want to make another snowball block quilt and my batiks didn't really support a design that would have looked great, so the idea to make the dolls out of the third tablecloth was what I considered the obvious solution, and a happy surprise for the both of us. I was thrilled with myself on coming up with that idea, I knew she would love the dolls.
When I finally found the batiks that I used, I was on a roll. I was very happy with it. She can also use the quilt as a wall hanging if she wants. I didn't measure it, but they are about crib size.
As always your creations often look so happy and they bring so much joy!
Thanks for the compliment, it was fun to do and a joy to give. I love the smile on Lenores face. She was really surprised over the dolls.
You have made such special gifts for your friend to cherish! The quilts are lovely, and the dolls are too cute. I think I see a little of Miss Rodezzy in their expressions. :-) "...a happy surprise for the both of us." Serendipity--don't you just love it when that happens! Thanks for sharing.
Yes I do. When I realized that making those dolls from the tablecloth was a viable and sensible thing to do, my heart sang while I made those dolls. I can't even express the joy I had in making those dolls for my friend, and the joy in her at receiving them was more than enough to fill me up. Giving is such a great reward as the gift of having a skill you can share.
WOW...............you are one very talented lady. I have not been on this forum for very long but I find it so interesting. How very clever you are to make the dolls and quilts to match. The dolls are so cute. The faces are certainly very happy faces. Makes me smile looking at them. The looks and HUGE SMILE on your friends happy face shows she truly loves them and I'm sure you too.
Heather in Calgary
Yes, I do. When I'm on my computer looking for pictures to send to someone, I run across those pictures of my friend enjoying her quilts and dolls and smile. I was invited to her house the very next weekend, for a potluck BBQ with other co-workers and she showed off those quilts and dolls and hugged me more then she has in all the 25 years we've been friends and co-workers. That was worth it to me.
No wonder we haven't heard from you for ages - you've been a very busy girl! Your friend looks ecstatic with her dolls & quilt. What a wonderful thing to do for a friend! Everything turned out lovely. You're becoming a real doll expert - way to go!
Hi Gloriasews. It was great fun. But I haven't been just making stuff, I've been line dancing, going to lots of events here in the city, I've just started back to sewing and stuff since July actually. I've been having fun. giggle. Now its time to get back to work. My craft group and I are going to the Stitches convention in Schaumburg, IL this coming Saturday. It is a gathering for mostly knitters, and other needle arts, we are looking forward to that. I will tell you all about it next week. O.K. It's going to be fun. There's a fashion show and lots and lots of yarn and stuff to buy. Yeeeehaaa!
Have fun! You'll probably come home with lots of really interesting & colourful yarns, & then you'll be busy as a bee making Christmas gifts, eh?
Gloria
I've some things I want to make for me now. I want to finish UFO's first for others that I didn't do last year. giggle.
I'm in the same boat. Enjoy your weekend.
How wonderful! What a fun gift and great idea!
Thank you, it was a real heartfelt project.
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