New Obsession - Cloth Dolls

Ok, so I have developed yet another crafting obsession - making cloth dolls.  My mum bought me the book "Introduction to making cloth dolls" by Jan Horrox and this is my first attempt at making one.  She is a woodland nymph and I've called her Mahala, after my nan.  I really enjoyed the whole process of putting her together; from painting her face to the free motion machine embroidery on her arms and legs.  I need to work on shaping the nose better next time but for a first effort, I was happy with the end result.

On another note, my "Night Before Christmas" quilt is coming along, although I haven't worked on it for a week or so because I got side tracked with the doll!  I'm kind of waiting until The Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August before I do any more to it, in case I find some fabric there I want to include.

Bethany finished playgroup this week - I admit I did shed a tear or two (what am I going to be like on her first day of school?)...so I probably won't get a whole lot of free time in the next couple of months.  I'll have to get my crafty fix from the children's centre sessions we'll be going to!!!

Ok, so now I have another addiction...

Since I made my the T'Shirt quilt for Bethany I have become addicted to the idea of quilting.  Ok, so this is a little out of seanson, because we're in June but....

a couple of years ago I bought a design pack from Embroidery Library when they were having one of their fantastic special deals - "Night Before Christmas".  This story has been part of our family Christmas tradition since I was a child and I finally feel like I'm ready to have a go at making a quilt with the designs.  I know its going to take me a lonnnggg time (there are 30 embroidered blocks without counting any of the extras in the pack) so I wanted to start now in the hope that I would get it done by December!  

I've been trawling the web looking for Christmas fabrics to use in the quilt.  I have to say, I can't believe how much cheaper fabric is in the US.  A lot of the fabric I found was the same price in dollars as it is in pounds in the UK.  So I have ordered some fabric from America, because even with the postage cost, it works out cheaper than buying it in the UK - how crazy is that?

Anyway, I'm really enjoying the process at the moment.  I try to get one block embroidered a day - 10 stitched so far so I'm on target.  I can't wait to get my parcels in the post! :) 

T'Shirt Memory Quilt

This week I have been working on my first ever quilting project.  For a very long time I have been attracted to quilting but didn't know where to start and was quite overwhelmed by the thought of it.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it.  I had been saving loads of Bethany's pretty T'shirts since she was born and I wanted to make them into quilt that she can use now but them pass on to her children.  I was surprised at how quickly it came together.  I enjoyed each step, even the hand stitching on the binding (I'm not a fan of hand stitching because I get a lot of pain in my wrists).  I can definately see how addictive quilting could be and it has given me the confidence to think about a bigger project.