Goddess of the Good Poker Hand Worked!

I finished my second doll in time for my monthly poker game last Sunday. I didn't win anything--but I only lost $1.45. What I did have was lots of good poker hands. I was having a love affair with 7s! Maybe I should have named the doll the "Goddess of the Winning Poke Hand."

The naked doll looked like spider man with the red tone on tone fabric.

The hair is beaded again. I really like doing this. It took hours--somewhere between two and three! But it was relaxing and exhilarating all at the same time. There is something meditative about retrieving the right number of beads, sewing them in place, and repeating over and over until the hair looks good.

The dress was made with a piece of fabric I painted. I used a super huge button hole to make the neck. Gathered the shoulders. Seamed the sides. Fringed the hem.

At the waist are some charms I added for luck. There's the word luck, a pot of gold, and a pair of dice. I couldn't find any charms with cards or suit images--those would be great!

Last week I also worked on making a tote bag. I sat down one evening, dug into my scrap bag, and tried my hand at string piecing for the first time. When I finished my first piece I was flabbergasted and wondered how it would ever look like anything usable. Voila, I added the side fabrics and it looked very nice. When I was done I thought, "looks like a great purse." And it is. Although small (about 9" tall and wide, not counting the handles), it makes a great little evening bag for a fun night out. It had its maiden run at dinner with two old college pals and certainly earned high marks!

Hint of the week: when knitting a piece to be felted, make sure you use wool yarn! Not acrylic yarn guaranteed to never shrink! More about that next time!

Ciao!

Red pin doll 5" tall x 2.5" wide 

In the Zone

I've started my second doll, the Goddess of the Good Poker Hand. Yesterday I spent nearly three hours beading her hair. The time flew by. I felt energized and relaxed at the same time. Best of all, I felt none of the niggling guilt I sometimes feel while creating as dust bunnies flutter about my feet and bathrooms need cleaning and laundry needs folding.

I thought it was the power of the first doll that made me feel this way. But now it's two dolls...maybe beading is yoga-like as is knitting.

I also free-formed some small dolls Saturday night. I'm thinking these will make cute pins.

I also played with string piecing. I've never done this before and have to say I am really impressed with the results. As I was doing it, I kept thinking, "this is going to end up looking nice?" But it did once it was trimmed and joined with other fabric. Not sure what it will be...but it's looking like a tote bag or purse of some sort at this time.

Working with the string piecing also made me want to work on the guitar quilt for my husband. He's made comments about not having a quilt and I've made some sketches. But now I think I'll use this strong piecing method with a curved piecing method to make it. I have to iron out the colors...alright! Fabric shopping, I'm sure!

First day of March...in like a lion here in Illinois with strong gusty winds, freezing temperatures, and a dusting of snow. Spring will not get here soon enough!