DECEMBER WAS BUSY

Having 8 great, granddaughters that I wanted to make doll clothes for and teenager grandchildren who wanted Angry Bird? hats made December a little more busy than maybe I had planned but I enjoyed being able to complete something for each.

The sewing and construction were done during the day on the girls' & doll clothes and furniture - crocheting the Angry Bird hats, newsboy caps, scarves, some doll clothes, and fingerless gloves at night as we watched tv. Busy? yes, hectic? no. My fingers seem to always want to be doing something so they were ecstatic.

Many of the crochet patterns were downloaded from www.FaveCrafts.com or through links on the site. I have so many patterns in my crochet notebook there is not enough time in my lifetime to complete but they are ready if I live to be 450 years old. The newsboy caps, some of the doll clothes and the fingerless gloves came from my cruising FaveCrafts. I did have to wing it making the Angry Bird hats and some of the doll clothes.

www.FaveCrafts.com features what it calls a blog hop every month. This month's theme is "Love is in the air". I am including this post for that theme because I put so much love into each thing I made for each of my precious children. I so enjoy being a mother, a grandmother and now a great, grandmother. Follow the link below to see what other crafters have done:

Here are some of the things that kept me busy and out of trouble. Am I proud to have accomplished so much [well for me it was much]? No, not proud-so very thankful. Thankful that I am able to do what I do, thankful for the talent God has given me, thankful for all the tools I have to use, thankful that I can go get that skein of yarn to make that special hat for that special person and so very, very thankful for the good health He lets me have.

The Angry Bird hats, I made 8 of them. After others saw these, I had to make 4 more.

 Some of the doll clothes, some are sewn, some crocheted, some a combination.
A couple of newsboy caps with matching fingerless gloves, scarf and matching mittens
Other crafts

Great, granddaughter, Jenna, with her doll and the bunkbeds that I designed and made. They are wearing their matching gowns. Little brother ,Kendall, didn't get doll clothes.

 McKenzie and Ashlynn's doll furniture that I designed and made. I hope to have instructions and patterns available soon for all the furniture and clothing.

 The canopy bed is the first piece I made. This is Hannah's. I think the bed is worth all the effort. I love it.



So these are some of my labors of love. I have several things I want to make for myself but don't know when that is going to happen. They are on the list. The patterns are in the crochet notebook but first the houseshoes for Mom need to be finished, all that stuff that I pulled out to use in crafting needs to be put away, the sewing room has to be reorganized so I can get back to work, etc., etc., etc.

Dr. Joyce Brothers was asked "How do you stay so happy?". Her answer was "I just don't do anything I really don't want to do and don't associate with anyone I don't wish to be around".  That was quite a while ago and I decided to follow that philosophy as closely as I can. I choose not to be coerced into doing things I don't really want to do anymore that take my time from things I want and need to do. I enjoy doing things for others but I will choose what and when. I choose to be busy and there are times I just want to sit and do nothing. Housework needs to be done that I don't necessarily have an affinity for but I choose to do it because I feel so blessed to have my home. I don't know how or why I got on this subject other than some don't understand the sometimes chaos around here when things are so piled up with my crafting  and I am on a self inflicted deadline to get it all done-I am just doing what  I choose to do, I guess.

God bless you and happy crafting
Carolyn Wainscott

MY CHALLENGE ENTRY

Here is my entry in the Box o'Scraps challenge sponsored by Sissy's Sewing on Facebook. Since I had been making doll clothes for some months, I just stayed in that mode with the scraps I received.

The www.FaveCrafts.com blog hop for this month is "Love is in the Air" and I have decided to add this post because all this doll paraphernalia started with the love for my great granddaughters. I plan to add another post showing some of the other things I was busy making for Christmas. I have 8 great granddaughters and wanted each of them to have several outfits for their dolls including at least one matching for each with her doll-and I did get those done including some furniture for each. So go to www.FaveCrafts.com blog of the month to see what other crafters have done:

  

My how to video on  www.FaveQuilts.com demonstrates how to make continuous prairie points much easier, quicker and more accurate than using the traditional method. Since I was in the continuous prairie point mode, the doll's headpiece just had to be a prairie point crown with hot melt beads to match her gown.

Here is my challenge entry into the Box o' Scrap challenge by Sissie's Sewing on Facebook.
 It is called
"Going To The Patchwork Ball"
I reworked the pattern pieces I had designed to create a gown and robe.
The scraps were sorted into matching groups.
Fabrics for her gown and train are patchwork created from swatches from one color group. [swatches were machine felted onto a scrap base].

The challenge allowed a 1/2 yard we could use from our own stash. I chose  the blue gingham in the sleeves, the crown and the lining for the robe.

Decorative stitching was meandered all over the patchwork. Lace added for ties and hot melt beads for embellishment. The lime green ruffle is one of the scraps, some swatches were also added in the patchwork.

Designing and making doll cloths, accessories, furniture, etc. was the farthest thing from my mind several months ago but it has been an almost full time obsession at times with so many ideas piling up on other ideas. I like simple and easy and plan to get them into pattern form. I have shown many children how to craft and sew. My goal is to keep things simple enough that they can be part of and proud of their own creations, without too much frustration. 

God bless each of you, I hope you enjoy crafting as much as I do.
Carolyn Wainscott