Project #3 Meet Helen

 

"May I present,

                 Miss Helen....

Lately I've been feeling a little like one of those pervy unsubs from the Criminal Minds TV show.







You see, I've been hunting down arms and legs...trolling EBay for them.

Let me clarify that a bit. China doll arms and legs... 

Let me take you back a LONG time ago.....

I grew up in mid-Michigan and where I grew up there was an historical village built with homes from the turn of the century that were transported to the village and set up. The village had it's own blacksmith shop, merry-go-round, several homes, a general store, an historic train and depot and Stanley School. Every year in my elementary, the third graders would spend an entire day going to that school so we could experience a day in the life of a pioneer child.



http://www.geneseecountyparks.org/pages/StanleySchoolhouse

We would wear our bonnets and dresses and bring a pail lunch. We would sit in a one room school house and receive our lessons from the teacher. At recess, we could drink from the pump and play games. It was great fun and I spent many a fun time at that village both as a visitor and as a volunteer.





http://www.geneseecountyparks.org/pages/crossroads

Going to the general store in the village was also a treat. While they sold the obligatory tourist souvenirs, they also had items that were for display only that would have been in the store a hundred years prior. I remember two of them very well, beautiful china doll head dolls sitting high on a shelf. One day, I said to myself, I would have a china head doll like those.





The china head dolls I speak of were the "Barbie" dolls of their day.
These were not the fancy Bru's or Jumeau's that, in general, only wealthier families would have owned, these were, instead, the common china dolls that were accessible to many families at some point.

These dolls came in two main styles, highbrow or low brow. Their hair could be blond, brown or most common, black. Our Helen is a Low brow china doll. It refers to where her hair falls on her face.

"HELEN"

About a year ago I decided I wanted to finally purchase a doll but I figured the completed dolls would probably be out of my price range so I would purchase the components and make the doll myself. So when I saw this winsome china doll head named Helen smiling back from the pages of EBay, I knew I had my head. Surprisingly these are available on EBay for not a lot of money. But then to find the arms and legs. Not as easy as I anticipated.
Finally I received them and here is how I went about putting it all together.

 
 
 





There really wasn't any "pattern" per se but, like the pioneer mother's of old, I created one.

I folded a piece of typing paper and made a general pattern shape on one side. Then I folded it and cut it. I did this for the arms and legs as well as the body. Then cut it out of fabric and made sure that the sewn pieces would fit around the china.

I decided that I wasn't going to make Helen like a typical china doll, instead I was going to give her "joints" like a teddybear. In this way, she would be able to sit up and have some positioning of the arms. I also made her with bent arms so that her hands can lay in her lap like a lady should.



After I cut out the doll parts, I sewed all the parts around leaving an opening on the torso and at the end of each appendage to attach the china legs and arms. I turned them inside/out and stuffed them using closed scissors to stuff each piece as full as possible.

The easiest and most cost effective way of making "joints" on your doll is to make "button joints".  Using two buttons per "joint", Put one on the outside of the appendage and one on the inside of the body. Now sew both button together through the thicknesses. This will allow the arm or leg some give to allow them to move as opposed to just flop.





So after sewing the main body in a bracket style to allow me the opportunity to sew these joints. I then finished the body and stuffed it.









The arms and legs were another challenge. After stuffing them they had to be attached. Sometimes you get lucky and there are little holes in each leg or arm so that you can sew through the leg to the other side and directly attach the legs. Unfortunately there is also another way which was what this was set up for where there is a 'channel' in the leg through which you essentially glue the leg onto the cloth. It's not my favorite way as I've got another porcelain doll that I bought years ago and because it's glued, her leg constantly falls off. If I was brave or had another set, I would have attempted to drill a hole through the porcelain but as I did not, I did not want to risk it.


To attach the arms and legs, you start by making a run stitch around the opening and make sure that the appendage fits. Leave a tail so that you can pull it tightly and knot it.












  

You want a tight fit so sometimes this isn't that pretty. Then run a bead of glue in the channel and place the appendage in the hole. Then pull on the running stitch to secure it and I make several passes around the appendage tying knots in the front, now the back and again in the front. Then let the glue dry.

Stuff securely.

I'm also not sure if these arms are to proportion but that is all I had so that's what we got. So after attaching these, I stuffed the body as tightly as possible as the head is going to be the heaviest part so we need to make sure that the body is going to be secure enough to hold the head.






Stuff with closed scissors. Careful not
to poke through!

Whip stitch securely.

Then we whip stitch or blanket stitch the opening to secure it.








Now for the final ta-da.... Time to give Helen a body again.

 

 
 






Her head has two little holes in the should plate to make it easy to attach. You can either use a large needle and go from to back securing through the hole and under the hole or sew in the front and back of the plate to secure it.











And now our handsome lass has a body once again and one that can move!

Our next endeavor will be to create a dress worthy our hundred year old lady. I do hope when I'm a hundred years old (God willing!) I'll look as good as our friend Helen.

Grandma Jessie's Apple Trees

My mother always said that Grandma Jessie said the best apples for pie were Northern Spies. They held their shape and tasted great so every time I can, I search out this variety.



I would love to know where this apple got it's name.









Anyway, Spring is supposedly only 20 days away in the northeast but you'd never know with the evil snow mother nature keeps blanketing us with. So I'm nestled in my warm home dreaming of warmer days of gardens, sun and warmth... and starting the garden planning for this year.

I was able to find my own Northern Spy apple trees through Stark Nursery. I bought two and cannot wait to plant them in the front yard. The apricot tree is going to get bumped off and put in the back somewhere as after ten years it has yet to produce fruit so it hasn't earned it's keep.

I have two sweet cherry trees in the back that I pray make it through this tough winter. One has already been replaced once so I'm crossing my fingers that they both make it. With as much snow as we've had, we should have a good insulated pack to keep them through.

And it is finally time to start the tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos. It takes so long for these to grow from seed that if you don't start them now, they'll never finish fruiting and ripening by the end of summer. Planting your own seeds allow you to experiment with colors, flavors and help to determine when you want your produce to be done. If you taste many different tomatoes, you'll be shocked at the differences in flavors, it's really like wine. Some may be very fruity, some more acidic and some even spicy. You can plant tomatoes in yellow, green, striped, orange, brown, purple and even black. It's so much fun to can what you've grown and see the different colors floating in the jars.

So, summer dreaming on such a winter's day.

Have faith friends, Spring is coming!

Birthday Taco Pizza

So last week we celebrated Dixmas, the birthday celebration of everything Dixon.

Like every birthday celebration, the celebrant gets to choose what cake and what meal.
Dixon chose chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and candy hearts I had in the cabinet. I put it on a pedestal and I think it turned out really nice looking.

For his meal he wanted something he has in school from time to time, something he calls, "Taco Pizza". I asked them how they make it. "Just like a regular pizza mom, but with taco meat and crushed tortilla chips.

On the night I was making it, I asked him what type of red sauce, "I don't know". So I put on my mom thinking cap and this is what I came up with. It wasn't half bad and judging from the fact that there was no more left, I think the guys agreed.

Taco Pizza  

• Pizza crust rolled out and put on a cornmeal or bread-crumbed pizza pan or cookie sheet.
• Enchilada sauce- a small can will do.
• Mozzarella

Roll out the pizza dough and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes.
Remove.

Toppings:

1/2 lb of ground beef, turkey or chicken browned and seasoned with 1/2 package of taco seasoning with 1/2 the water

Spinach, tomatoes and taco cheese

Crushed tortilla shells (I used Tostitos)

Top your pizza with the above toppings. I used spinach because I figured it would hold up in the oven better. If you want to make a raw pizza,  you could bake it off with the cheese and put on the tomatoes and spinach at the back end.

 

 

Anyway, lower your oven temperature to 350 degrees and pop the pizza back in for about
ten minutes more. When you pull it out it will be like nachos and pizza had a baby. Yummy! I can see why the kid loves this dish. Not the most figure friendly but after a long week, definitely comforting!

You Have My Heart Quilt Project #2

The Luge Tunnel that we are currently calling a road.

It's cold. I mean like yesterday's -7 degrees with a -20 to -30 windchill.

Don't think it's doing much..do you?

My poor snow fence cannot keep up and I haven't seen my mailbox in about a week. The roads in our town look like a luge tunnel.

If the check is lost in the mail, I've got proof!

 We are so sick of winter.... 












The orphan blocks...

It's the perfect time for a project, quilt #2.






Years and years ago I saw this pattern in a quilt magazine, I don't even know which one, but I knew
I had to make it.







I carefully made the blocks, realizing that these were essentially strips, sewn together and then cut with corners of half blocks. I pieced several with the intension of eventually making a quilt out of what was presented as a simple wall hanging.



Showing the strip construction.
 

.......Then I ran out of steam.












So for years these lovely blocks have been ruffled, stuffed and lived a life of quite desperation in my fabric stash. Until now.

I searched through the stash and came up with five finished blocks.

"What can I do with five little blocks?"  I thought.

Well as you see, a lot.


Sometimes having less is really having more. I decided to feature these blocks instead of making an entire quilt out of them which, while it would have been lovely, would have also entailed a lot more time inputted than I really had time to spare. Utilizing the few blocks I had, really made them stand out in the quilt and I think, made them look all the more special.

So I decided to do a diagonal set which I've never done before. After setting this I really liked it but it also created a problem, namely, I got a lot of space to fill and not a lot of one color fabric. What to do?


So I thought about it on the commute to work. And making dinner. And working. Yeah, when I have problem, I can get a bit obsessive.....

And I came up with this. I found a pattern I really liked in Eleanor Burn's Pioneer book but I figured that if I did it in reverse, it may look more like filigree and less like a block. So here is what I made for the corners. 








This is how I made them. It's one of those patterns that is actually very easy but looks so much harder than it is. Look at the block construction, it's only two different blocks set at different angles: a diagonal piece and a wild goose chase block.




















The diagonal piece is made by simply putting two squares and sewing on a diagonal . Then cut off the corner piece, bend it back and iron. I did mine in the opposite direction unfortunately but doing it three more times made it a pattern and not a mistake. I'm a big fan of mistakes.. I think some of the best things are made when something is done by accident. I'm a firm believer that brownies were developed when someone didn't add the right amount of flour to a recipe.

               ... and I love brownies.....

Then repeat on the other side.

I used Eleanor Burn's method for the Geese. She puts a smaller square on top of a larger square. I iron the crease so I don't have to draw the line and can center it.

 

 

 

Makes a line from one corner to the other on the diagonal and sews 1/4" from either side.

 

 

 

Cuts down the line, matches up the pieces on the outside of the piece, NOT THE SEAM, and repeats the process.

 

 

 

 

Then use the wild goose chase ruler to cut out.



Piece it together. Square it up with a 12x12 ruler as best you can.
 

 

Remember we are trying to use up fabric so I create this as I go. I wanted to use this cherry fabric for something else but I needed a lot of fabric for the side triangles. So I used it sandwiching it in as I went.




Then because I still didn't have enough of one fabric, I added boarders with a side cornerstone.

Out of a little, comes a lot!

Finally, last night I sewed all four corners together. I will probably add a border all the way around but for the most part we are calling this one done.













I think it came out pretty for some lonesome little blocks..what do you think?

 

 

Meandering Through Grandma's Garden.. Project 1 is Done!

 

 

Oh Bed, Forgive me! Why did I Ever Leave You?

 

January's project is done. I do have to add a border and quilt it but the top part of the quilt is done.

 

Due to the cost of quilting, I typically wait until I have two quilt tops done to make the final quilt  that is reversible.

 

While I've always liked the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, what I do not like about them is the "busyness" of the final set. There is no place for your eye to rest. So I decided to add blocks of color that are found in the blocks between the blocks. Added bonus: it makes this quilt top that much faster to put together!

 

These are not the typical colors I use but I love that they have such a "freshness" about them. Especially in January when everything looks so grey and dreary outside.

 

What makes this quilt so nice and what I love about it is that you can use small bits of fabric to put together the blocks and they have such a dramatic effect. It's the little things you know....

Guess what? Project two is already in the works. More coming later....