Wee Wonderfuls

happy halloween!

i like orange

from the most amazing new book I found at the last book sale, What is a Color? by Alice and Martin Provensen, c. 1967.

I love the text littered with little drawings. It reminds me so much of other books I had in my childhood. It's giving me quilt ideas.

friday flickr favorites: pointy kitties

I'm awful at keeping up with these on a certain day things. I realized this morning while trying to figure out what to blog about that it's Friday so here are some flickr favs from the pattern pools. The pointy kitty group is especially awesome these days. Here are just a few, click thru and give them some love. Check em all out here. Make your own here.

rosie kwan's paddy

hitaatkiireet's milla-kisu kiipeää

amy jamie's kitty

june carter's kitty face

sarahohe's polka dot kitty

my models

Here are the gals with faces and finished outfits. The plan was that they, along with 2 dolls yet to be made, were to be models for a new set of Patchwork Set cards. I'm undecided. Think I'll sit on it a while. Someone asked in the last post how long it takes me to make a doll. Really not sure since I make them in 15 minute increments here and there. These gals have been in the works for quite a while. Glad to have them done!

I've got no clever segue here but be sure to catch Jen's excellent post on the Japanese quiltmaker Shizuko Kuroha.

the hold up

The part that takes me by far the longest to complete when making a doll is the face. Not the hair or the outfit or the stuffing, but the darn face. Blondie here just had her third removed and Red's is coming off first chance I get. These are tough. Might go with felt eyes instead of just embroidered. I think linen was a mistake for their heads, too puckery.

the leaves were eavesdropping

I was just remarking to Tim the other day that all the trees were still green and thought they were late this year. I just forgot how fast they flip. This is the week!

it's that time of year again

Fleece time! The only time of year I'm not totally irked that the chain fabric stores have bolts of fleece piled to the rafters and little else to offer. Costume-making time. The stuff is perfect for Halloween costumes, warm but not stifling, soft but holds a shape, easy to work worth, not so expensive that winging it is out of the question. It's fun to go to the fabric store this time of year with everyone in the cutting table line talking about their projects. I was in line with an underdog, a jasmine princess, betty rubble and someone who needed what looked like 20 yards of black polyester. Haunted house perhaps. This is our pile, can you guess our costume?

Another part of new home nesting for us is trying to figure out where the holiday decorations are going to go. This year we've added a bit of plastic (pumpkin lights) to the front yard, some Martha Stewart bat garland is waiting to go up and these have been up since Renegade craft fair, our Owly Shadow Puppets bats. We love them because as Sarah pointed out to us, they are four and we are now four.

I think that's going to be it around here. I'd love to do this or this if I have the time. Right now I'm nursing a cold and not feeling too ambitious. But feeling crappy has me grateful actually, remembering how this time last year I was seriously suffering from all-day morning sickness. I remember taking a very excited Oscar out trick or treating and all I wanted to do was lay down right there on the sidewalk. So happy to be done with that!

bonneted babies

I played the Phoebe card to get me out of yardwork on Sunday and was able to do a little gift sewing. I made these little wool babies in bonnets dolls for some new babies, Louisa and Frances, and while I was at it, two more for a couple not so new babies, Phoebe and Lydia. I found lots of great bonnet inspiration in one of my new favorite books, here.

the gnomes made me do it

Honestly! It was not my idea to go buy a gazillion really heavy bushes that need to be planted this weekend. Really, why would I sign myself up for this much work? Why would I sacrifice an entire weekend to dirt shoveling. This is not my style at all. Next thing you know we'll be borrowing the neighbors rototiller to dig up and level the entire back yard. Damn gnomes!

consulting an expert

Phoebe is asking the garden gnome all our questions about Fall planting. He is being very helpful and we are learning a lot. Like when the temperature drops 40 degrees in a week you'll lose all that gardening energy and start to worry about more proper concerns like Halloween costumes and Christmas presents.

and that gnomes do in fact have unibrows!