Friday, November 27, 2009

C is for Circus (and Clown)

The page for C features a circus tent with a zipper for the door. I was able to locate the edge of the tent on the selvage so there is no bulk and no raveling there.

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When you open the tent you see a (very scary) circus clown with big feet and fleece hair. The face is drawn on, and gives a good indication of my drawing skill. Clowns don't usually scare me, but this one is bad.

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

B is for Banana

Happy Thanksgiving! (We will see if this works, I have scheduled this post to go out automatically.)

Here's the second page. You can peel the banana (held on with velcro). It makes a very satisfying noise, but you do need some strength to pull it.

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A is for Airplane

DD2 suggested I share the "quiet book" pages I made, and I thought it was a good suggestion, so here goes.

I started this when she was of the right age to get some benefit from them (she was around 4 years old). I borrowed a pattern book from a friend and made about 16 or 17 pages at that time. I was working away when the person asked for the book back. I tried to take some notes, and I finished up some of the pages I was working on, but this definitely fell into the WIP (work-in-progress) category. Both my daughters played with the pages I had done and everything hung around for many years. I would pull it out, look at it, and make a page and then it would sit again, until my grandson got to the age where it would be helpful (when he was 3 or 4). Then I got to work in earnest. I made up the pages for the letters I was still missing, and I borrowed a couple of books from the library for suggestions on how to put it all together. I finished it a couple of years ago, and P & C enjoy lap time doing the different activities.

I love this fabric for the front cover.

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I ended up closing the binding side of each page with a zigzag stitch after inserting tabs. The tabs are held together with stitching controlled with buttons. Most of the pages are double sided; a few are single sided if the activity goes through the page.

The first page is an airplane, and the propeller spins.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wee Folk

Salley Mavor has a new blog here. Her stuff is just so cute! Check it out. In guild several years ago we got together to make some fairies. Here's the one that sits on my phone at work and cheers me up. She has an embroidered tunic and a carnation skirt, an acorn hat and leaf wings.

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I wish I knew where the rest of the fairies are that I made. I haven't seen them for a long time. Now that I have a smalls jar, that would be a perfect place for them to live. If I can't find them, I may need to make more.

Did you see the sets Salley has for sale? I love the palette.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Lovely Weekend!

We had a lovely Saturday this week. The whole family was together, which always makes me happy, and we had so much fun! DH, DSIL (son-in-law), and P made a model of a Corvette together. It was P's first, and with grandpa's help he really enjoyed himself. I didn't get a picture, because by the time I thought of it, the model was home. DD put together a model drum kit, and C and I worked on the princess dress.

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As you can see, it turned out very nicely, except for Isabella's hair. I didn't realize she needed to get it combed every time the hairband gets adjusted. The main comment from C was "I think Ruthie (Isabella's cousin) needs a Cinderella dress!" Her mom and I laughed, we had guessed the request would be for a Tinkerbell dress, but we knew there would be a request. We will have to see if the Cinderella dress comes to pass; it would require some fabric shopping.

Later that evening I got the fabric cut out for a party dress for Isabella, and on Sunday I started the steeple on the church etui. I also got the design set for the lettering sampler (and I found some fabric for it), and I have a temari planned. Does anyone have any extra hours sitting around they don't need? I could use some extras.