Dec 14, 2012

Doll Quilt

I made a doll quilt to go with the doll bassinet and the dolly diaper bag that I made for my 2 l/2 year old grand daughter Maisie.
I wanted to keep it simple, so I sewed 9 charm pack squares together.  I quilted it with swirly swirls :)  It's a good way to practice my machine quilting.


Whenever I bind a quilt, I put the leftover binding in a box.  
I use the leftover binding for doll quilts or for a scrappy binding.
There are four different fabrics used in this leftover binding.
I just attach whatever binding fabrics I think look nice together.


Do you see the four different prints in the binding?
I think it adds interest to the quilt.


I hand sewed the binding to the back of the quilt.
I made a little pillow that fits into the doll bassinet perfectly!
I just cut two pieces of fabric, sewed around the edges making sure to leave an opening.  I stuffed the pillow with fiber fill and sewed the opening closed on the sewing machine.  Very easy!


I don't have the doll to show you how he looks in the bassinet.
I used a porcelain doll, but she's a little long.


You get the idea....
I would have loved a gift like this when I was little!
I wish I could watch Maisie open her gifts on Christmas morning.
I would love to see her reaction :)



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Dec 12, 2012

Dolly Diaper Bag

Well, it's Christmas and there is so much to do!
I made a dolly diaper bag to go along with the doll bassinet and the baby doll for my grand daughter Maisie.
Here is the link to the tutorial, it is on my pinterest board, stuff to make for the grandkids.


The diaper bag is the perfect size for a 2 l/2 year old little girl :)
Isn't the print cute, sort of vintage looking?

I made a little burp pad for Maisie's new doll, so she can feel just like a real Mommy!


I bought a little snack cup with a lid and a spoon, and a teether for her diaper bag.  I even bought two doll baby bottles, one with milk and one with juice.  When you feed the doll, the liquid actually disappears.



I forgot to mention that I added two pockets on the inside of my dolly diaper bag.  One is on the side and one is on the center panel.

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Dec 10, 2012

Doll Bassinet



My husband and I bought this cute doll for Maisie, one of our grand daughters.  It is a Corolle doll from France and has a soft bean filled body that is fun to carry around, hug and snuggle.  The doll always smells like baby powder too, even after being thrown in the washing machine.
Maisie's baby brother was born eight weeks early in September.  He is a little over nine pounds now, but we thought it would be fun to get her a doll that looks like her brother Benjamin.


I made a doll bassinet for three other grand daughters last Christmas, you can see them here, in an older post.
The bassinet takes a little time to make, but is still quite simple.
The tutorial tells you to machine quilt the body of the bassinet, like the hatching on Moses' basket.  These are all the pieces used to make the bassinet.


The tutorial can be found at Pinterest, on my "stuff to make for the grandkids" board, found here.  The link for the tutorial can be found here.  I made a mistake and quited the bassinet like a quilt.  I had to cut extra fabric for the lining again and resew it!!!  I was watching Hallmark Christmas movies and got distracted....Lol....




This is the finished doll bassinet.  I really like the baby blue rick rack trim instead of lace.  I think it is more baby boyish :)  I will show you the rest of the accessories I made for Maisie's baby boy doll in my next post.  Stay tuned!




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Dec 7, 2012

Reagan's dress

I made a dress for one of my grand daughters.
I chose this Pink Fig pattern.


Reagan just turned 2, and I made the dress a size 3T.
I'm afraid it is going to swallow her up! I will probably have to take the band off the hem and resew it on.....I hate having to redo things like that :(


I was looking for a white shirt to put under the jumper.  I think I hit the jackpot with the aqua one.  I embellished the sleeve with a small yoyo and button.




I added a red crocheted flower to the bodice.  I like the ruffled lace.


I bought some red sparkly shoes and little red heart tights to match.


i can hardly wait to see what Reagan looks like in the little outfit I made for her ♥


Here is cute little Reagan in her new dress.  It is a little big, but she will grow into it :)



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Dec 5, 2012

Chalkboard Gifts

I ordered these wooden plaques from "Pick Your Plum".  
They were engraved with the names of all of my grandchildren, except for Benjamin who was born after I ordered the plaques.  Benjamin would be too young to play with them anyway....
I sprayed the first set with black chalkboard paint.
It dries really fast.
I used paint markers to highlight their names.


I sprayed the second set with green chalkboard paint.


The names looks so much prettier after they are embellished.


Before you write or draw with chalk on the boards, you have to shade the whole surface with chalk and then wipe it off with a dry cloth. This enables the chalk to adhere to the surface better.


I made a set of chalk holders for each grandchild.


Don't they look pretty all packaged up with a mentos treat?


I'm hoping they will be a big hit!

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Dec 3, 2012

Mandarin Oranges and Pomegranates and grandchildren

While our family was visiting, we went to a mandarin "satsuma" orange grove.




I had never seen mandarin orange trees until I moved to California.




We took some photos while we were in the orange grove.  Notice how Kennedy has her leg lifted?  That means she is very happy!  Whenever she gives her family a kiss, her leg goes up....lol!!!



Kennedy loves to pose for photos, she wants her arms around Bridger and Charlotte, but Charlotte is not cooperating and Bridger is trying to talk Charlotte into keeping still!  A rare occurence.....that little 2 year old is always on the go!


Charlotte won't cooperate, but Bridger will!  Bridger is such a good sport with his sisters. By the way, that is Bridger's "smile" for the camera.  He isn't being impatient or anything, I think that he thinks that he is smiling naturally for the camera :)




Kennedy adores her big brother, he still has that fake smile!




Finally, a natural smile from Bridger :)




There were even some pomegranate bushes!  I have never seen one before!  Most of the pomegranates were cracked like this but we were told that they were still perfectly fine to eat.




The lady who worked at the grove told us to immerse the pomegranate in cold water and scoop out the seeds.  The juice won't stain your skin and the seeds float to the stop.  Good to know!


























We have been eating a lot of mandarin oranges, they are sweet and juicy.

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Nov 30, 2012

Paperdoll Finishing Kit

Every Friday for the past few months, I have been blogging about my paperdoll quilt.  I have finished appliqueing and embroidering all of the blocks.  Now it is time to put the quilt together.




This is the basket I have been keeping my goodies in for a couple of years now.  
The stars and dots fabric is the border and the gingham is the binding.  The little white pom poms are sewn next to the binding.


This is the fabric that will be on the back of the quilt.
Really vintage, it looks like Betsy McCall!
 Does anyone remember her?


This colorful jellyroll will be used to sew the sashing.


Look at the sashing!!! It's tons of little squares!
I can hardly wait to start working on it.


Unfortunately I won't be able to begin putting the quilt together until the new year.  The Christmas season is always so busy, a fun busy!  I will continue this paperdoll adventure on the first Friday of 2013. 

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Nov 28, 2012

My Wedding Dress

Kennedy is such a sweetheart.  She is my 5 year old grand daughter, and Kennedy was my maiden name :)  Kennedy Grace (Grace was her great great great maternal grandmother's name) loves trying on my wedding dress, it makes her feel like a princess.




Wouldn't you have wanted to try on your grandmother's dress when you were a little girl?
Isn't Kennedy precious?
She asked me in a quiet, shy voice, "Grammy, do you still have your wedding dress?  Can I try it on?"




This is what I looked like in the dress 32 years ago!
Both the dress and my husband's tuxedo were featured on the cover of a bridal magazine in 1980.  Yes, the hat with the veil was in style back then.  Ha ha!!!


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