GingersDolls

New necklace

2011-07-25T07:41:00.001-07:00

I made this while in Idah

2011-07-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a necklace for Betty. This is a fringe beaded necklace. I have been looking for a nice distraction that was limited in space for the supplies and love making jewelry so picked it back up. When I was very young in the 1970s I made quite a bit of it. I have now discovered the wonderful new creations by others and several nice books.

Priscilla

2011-06-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

Marice

2011-06-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

Maurice in the making. I was challenged to create a doll from a little known movie called "The Triplets of Bellville" and Maurice came out. And He was such fun. Standing at 35" he is fun.

Butterlfy quilt top

2011-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

This is a quilt top made from my butterfly designs that can be purchased at http://ww.victorianbathdelights.com under Embroidery Work. There are 16 designs and I loved doing then in black and white.

Beaded Collar

2011-06-03T06:39:00.001-07:00

My current project in beading. My dear friend Maxi made 2 of these and I so enjoyed them that I just had to try to make one. It has taken me a long time to get to this point and hope to complete it this summer.

Saroyia

2007-06-09T15:46:00.001-07:00

This is a mermaid I designed she stands 28" tall.

Cat

2007-06-09T07:37:00.001-07:00

This is my cat again in another piece.

2007-06-09T07:34:00.001-07:00

This elephant piece was fun to work on. It is framed by wrapping it around a canvas frame.

I so love to play with fiber arts.

Tranquil Egrit

2007-06-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I just finished and had framed.

MF Machine Felting a Giraffe

2007-06-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this project for some time.

The watercolor I did in 1978.

The background is handpainted and 60" X 64"

When combined they are very impressive.

My next step is to machine quilt it for the show in May 2008.

ME quilt block

2007-06-09T06:27:00.001-07:00

I know that I have not been on here in some time but I do stay very busy. The newist thing is a class in quilting with the Embroidery Machine. I thought I would add this to my blog for those who would like to see the process.

First of all I went into Illustrator and created a design to digitize in the software that I have for machine embroidery (ME)

After it is digitized and I stitch it this is the first step in making the block. I stitch the complete design in a contrasting color onto muslin so to help me in placing the different pieces.

*** The supplies for this project are as follows:

The first step is to assemble your fabrics and press them.

For each block you will need the following cuts:
1 = Triangle 2.5" (take a 3" square and cut in half for triangle)

2 = 2.5 " by 3.5" strip

3 = Triangle 2.5"

4 = 6.5" by 1.75 " strip

5 = 2.5" by 4.5" Triangle

6 = 8" square of muslin or stabilizer

Set the muslin and stabilizer into your 4" hoop and stitch all the areas on the design for a base for laying up your patches usinga contrasting thread. It should look like below without the
numbers.

Placement of each part is very important. The #1 triangle is positioned just so. Make sure you have a .25" seam then place the #2 into position as in the next photo. Always press the seams to set them then fold the fabric over and press then into position before working the next stitch.

Place #3 the second triangle on the #2 piece and let the machine stitch it into place.

This process is continued throught the block until you get to the last stitching that will put in the inner stitch to hold everything into position. I do not use the contrasting thread after the basic outline.

This is all done in the hoop and designed for a 4" hoop.

Trim the block to .25" outside the box so you can

put the pieces together into a quilt.

Enjoy the fun.

This pes file can be purchased from me for $3.00 at www.victorianbathdelights or by e-mailing me for instructions on how

to get the design.

2006-12-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here it is another year close on our heels. Merry Christmas to one and all and I hope that all of you have a very Happy New Year in 2007.

I will try harder to put info into this blog next year. I am trying to do more journaling and keeping a record of what I do so that others can see the things I am up to as well as give hints and tips for those of you who want to do some of the same things I am doing.

If I forget and have not noted on this site in a while please feel free to note me to remind me to take the time to send you a note here. I get so busy learning new things that I loose track of time.

Ginger

It is late November where has the time gone?

2006-11-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

I just looked up and the year is almost over. I get so involved in making dolls and things that I loose track of time. My year has been very busy. I hope to focus on one theme this coming year. “At the Beach” I travel there often and love all the peace at the ocean’s edge. I have begun by designing 2 dolls that are Beach related and sketched a couple of places I love to visit. I need to prepare several pieces for a show in the Spring of 2008 and thought that a theme might get me started in the right direction.

Several wall hangings are finished and I have 3 dolls I feel might fit the bill. With dabbling in Fabric Postcards and other fiber arts I hope to have 50 pieces for the show.

I grew up with a very talented Mother who loved crafts and was a great artist as well. My Father also was an artist in his own way so I have come by the passion naturally. The first big thing I remember doing was when I was 9 and Mother let me draw on one wall of my bedroom. Like all crazy people I went big. I mean really big. I graphed off the entire wall and proceeded to draw the last supper in life size on the wall. This was a help to Mother as it kept me very busy for quite some time.

I paint anything that isn’t nailed down and many things that are. Painting from fabric to stone is a passion. I use watercolor, oils, acrylics, various inks and stains on all sorts of materials that they were not meant to be used on. I also sew most anything. Basically if I have seen it and liked it I could recreate it. I hate to try and create something on demand. If it comes out I will work with it but I am not good at taking orders.

There are several places where a person can see they work I do and I will list them here so that those reading this can look if they like.

http://www.victorianbathdelights.com/

http://gingersdolls.blogspot.com/

http://www.picturetrail.com/glxmas

http://www.ancestraltracks.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dollssocool/

These are my favorites as they are my pages. My husband Cliff is so good at working on the web page design for me that I just play and he puts things up online.

Another Week Gone

2006-09-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

I have played away another week here at home and most of it was running around to setup classes for the Fall at the local shops. Here is the lineup:

Sept 5th 2006 Polymer Clay Buttons and Mold making at A Common Thread qult shop 1:30 - 4:30

Sept 8th 2006 I am taking a class at Creative Fabrics in Wheeler on the Easy Elegant Lone Star and will post the photos later.

Sept 16th and 23rd I am taking a doll making class with Patti LaValley in St. Helens.

Sept 24th and October 14th I will be teaching Cross stitching with beads at Bodacious Beads in Reedville 12:30 to 3:00

Sept 30thand Nov 9th I am teaching again at Bodacious beads this time it will be beaded doll face pins from 10:00 to 1:30

October 21st I am teaching Polymer Clay at the Reigning Dolls and Bears Doll Club in St. Helens 5:30 to 8:00

October 26th Hillsboro Vac N Sew I am teaching the machine embroidery spiritdoll in a hoop.

October 28th will be Vac N Sew again for the 20" dolly in a hoop for machine embroidery people.

Nov. 18th Vac N Sew class on Spiritdoll in a Hoop 10:00 12:00

Feb. 15th 2007 MEOW The Mouse Connection I am teaching 3D machine embroidery

That should keep me out of trouble for a while.

I have designed Dottie which is a machine embroidery doll that can be made into a doll or used as a stand alone embroidery design for quilt blocks or just embellishments. Dottie is in 17 different outfits and I have hopes to design accessories for her like purse or even cat or dog for her to have along.

I made 2 Canarby Cat dolls for an exchange and 1 polymer clay face for another exchange. I really love making things to send away because this house is getting full of my play things :o)

I managed to get the last of 10 charity quilts quilted and put together a quilt "French Braid" and have it ready to quilt when I get back from vacation.

Along with all that I am getting the motor home ready for a week of fun and play.

My intention when I first set this up was to try to journal my activities but they are so much fun that I am too tired to type when it gets to be 10:00 pm or so and I just goto bed. I wake up at 5 everyday.

Serval in pes format

2006-08-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is what I was doing today as well as creating the Autumn Leaves fabric that is on my Yahoo Groups site. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dollssocool/ I hope you like it. It is meant to be stitched in redwork style on an embroidery machine.

Edith

2006-08-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have spent most of the day writing a pattern for Edith. She is a complete machine embroidery pattern for those who want to do something different. All her parts and sewn on the 5x7 hoop then assembled.

I hope to have the pattern finished by the weekend. Writing a pattern is harder than I planned when I set my goal this morning. I had hoped to just write one off of the Angel doll but found that I needed to take photos as I progressed to help the person using the pattern so had to make another whole doll. Now I have Edith.

Wedding girl

2006-08-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday: I just finished the bride in colors and the last running stitch is off on part of the design so I will have to redo it. . . . It is finished. The black lines are for those that like redwork or what is called one color work. See photo at ( http://www.picturetrail.com/glxmas )

I'm sure my Hubby is happy that the machine is no longer chattering away.

Journaling

2006-08-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

I suppose I really should start journaling in this thing.

I will start by covering the past two weeks. My home is very small and I have a lot of stuff. I cleared out a room (10 X 10) to free up area for my computer away from the sewing and crafting area. What a nightmare that was. When you have a room piled to the ceiling where does the stuff go?

I began by putting it on the patio under cover in hot weather. After I did that we got heat to 108 and I could only work out there for 3 hours a day. I did have this empty room so in the 3 hours I sorted out what should go back into the room for an office. Well that was a chore as well. After I got the room looking like an office (with some crafting items in it). I invited Geoff over to help me clear out the garage to give Hubby more room for his hobby.

Geoff found after 3 hours of hard labor that it was too much work so he called in two friends to help. Well I guess what I did I organized their work and set off to the computer and began designing a doll. With two at 15 and a 17 year old on the job it only took 2 more hours. NOW all I have to do is sort out the patio. Where the boys put the stuff from the garage along with my store room stuff.

For a week I spent 3 hours on the patio sorting and separating things in the mornings and then putting the things away that I brought in be for the heat hit in the afternoon, every day. It is 2 weeks later and I now have only a small amount of stuff to sort and put away on the patio.

This work only took up 5 hours a day so I played the remainder of each day. I managed to put the Embroidery doll together and paint her after teaching a class on fabric painting that took up 5 hours of my day in the Lake Oswego area. One of my passions is teaching people how to play. I also designed and put together several Spirit dolls and while showing one off I was asked if I would teach a class on the spirit doll so now I need a pattern and instructions written.

Another afternoon writing the Spirit Doll pattern and I am ready to begin. On Monday this week I received a call from a friend that she needed some embroidery designed for a girl's 15th birthday so I put together a few ideas and she came by. They were okay she said but she wanted something a little different and could I make something that looked like the invitation? I agreed and proceeded to make the bride design she had shown me. I worked up a prototype for her. Also another friend called that afternoon asking if I could print off 100 invitations for her 50^th anniversary.

Tuesday I began to make the angel doll. This is a rescue doll from the Goodwill store near me. She had a soiled body and one broken foot. She came with no hair and was a fright to see. I love a challenge so I tore her apart and disposed of her old body and leg. Now I have a fresh canvas in which to paint on. I designed a body and legs for her and upper arms. Instead of having her standing as so many of my dolls do I wanted to be different so I thought she should be flying. The easy part is making and stuffing the doll. The hard part is embellishing the doll and figuring out how to hang her. You can view all the photos at my site on Picture Trail. (http://www.picturetrail.com/glxmas )

It took all day to design and stitch the wings. I began by drawing one wing in ink so that my scanner would pick it up. Next I scan the drawing. Then I bring it into the software for the embroidery machine (Palette 6.0) and convert it to stitches. This may sound easy but I really have to re-draw it in the computer software so that it has no broken lines. Then I have to create a running stitch of the complete wing so to have one that I can use as redwork and then another with the satin stitch so I can use it for appliqué work if I need it some day. Why do it twice. The next step is to create the fill stitches for the wing to make it look more 3D. After all this I bring each step into the main program in the size of hoop I desire. As a designer I make it in 4 sizes ( 2x2, 4x4, 5x7, and 6x10) that way I can have it available for any size hoop. The stitching takes 4 hours per wing because I placed two parts together and glued pipe cleaners between the layers to make them bend and stay in position. Now I have stitched 2 sets of wings and glued them. I mane a mirror image of the wing to create the second one so they look alike. That took up my day after my 3 hours of sorting on the patio in the morning.

I printed out the invitations and called the lady on the artwork for the pillow for the 15 yr old and managed to get those orders finished on Wednesday.

I got up on Thursday, mixed and poured the plaster casts of 4 doll heads so I could try a new method of Felt doll making. Then I cleaned off my quilting machine. I had found 4 wall hangings that had not been finished, while sorting the patio so now was the time to stitch them, and out comes the thread and batting and I work them up. One piece I did up months ago looked rather plain so I laid it aside for further thought. Not a bad days work after sorting more stuff on the patio.

On Friday I got up and painted that wall hanging I had not finished on Thursday. It is called Illusions of Shore Birds and I quilted it on Friday. What with errands and shopping my day was rather full.

Here it is Saturday and I am stitching out the bride in colors. Pics will go up when she if finished. Hubby is home today so heaven only knows what we will manage to do today. I still have some sorting to complete.

Next week I have a Quilt and Textile show in Tillamook where a dozen of my dolls and one wall hanging will be seen.

2 wings

2006-08-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

This project began about 7 am and now it is 8 pm. Who would have guessed that it would take so long to deaign and make 2 wings. Well the great thing about it is that I have them designed for anyother project I want to use them in. I will have the pattern available to those interested for the embroidery machine in .pes for the mega hoop.

First wing

2006-08-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here is her first wing. It took me all morning to design the wing and 4 hours to stitch only one on the machine. The second wing is sewing right now.

String Blocks

2006-08-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Making a string block is fun and easy. All I did was to draw a design on a piece of wood and then spray the block of wood with "3M 77 spray adhesive, then placed the string on the block following the design I drew. After the adhesive dried I used a brayer to roll the color on the fabric. The results were great. They can also be used as a rubber stamp would be. If you can draw it and lay string over the drawing you have a stamp. "Cloth, Paper and Scissors this month's issue.

Student's work on Painting class 1 Aug

2006-08-01T18:19:00.001-07:00

This is Betty's painting in my class today. The teacher will have to take lessons from this gal.
We had loads of fun creating great fabric for back ground work. We are part of the MEOW called the Aristacats.

Student's work on Painting class 1 Aug Caroline

2006-08-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is Carolines painting in my class today. We are using acrylic paints in a wet wash style. We are part of the MEOW called the Aristacats.

2006-08-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

The process begins on this Embroidered doll. She has hair and after my class on fabric painting she has a new look. I will work on her and embellish her as I go. I will keep you posted on her progress.

Machine Embroidered Doll

2006-08-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the lay-up of how I made the doll.

Embroidered doll

2006-07-31T19:35:00.000-07:00

This doll was built on the maga hoop of my Embroidery Machine. I got up early this morning and started creating. This doll is the resutls of that time well spent. I drew up the doll then illustrated it in the computer before bringing it into my Embroidery software. Then each section was designed as redwork sothat it could be stitched on the machine. I used dark thread to better photograph the steps then assembled the doll. She needs to be hand stitched but other than that she is a working pattern.

Concept of the Spirit Doll

2006-07-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

When I was given the challenge of making something with a flat quarter of Christmas fabric I was stumped for two weeks. On Tuesday I just decided that something had to be done with the fabric. I pulled out a sheet of paper from my printer and started cutting a paper doll. This doll started to take form deep in my memory. Somehow I remember always being fascinated by Archeology and the discovery of old things. One of those things was a stone carving of a lady that was somewhat rounded and pretty much like the what I came up with. Then I needed to make it into a Christmas theme so I called it a Christmas Spirit Doll. This was two fold as my name is Christmas and the fabric was from the Christmas collection found at Jo Ann's Fabrics. As I worked on her I thought that the arms needed defining and so I placed an angel button in both sides of the doll and then the legs needed forming. I hand stitched this in and began putting beads on. The face was one that I made last week and was going to make a doll pin with. That changed when I put it on the fabric it sort of brought personality to the doll. I brought the doll to competition in one day. The people who know me know that I work in only one mode and that is non-stop when I get an idea. Before I went to bed I had created the doll and written a pattern for it.

Now I need to consider what to charge for the pattern and if I will put faces in the pattern packages. Then today I showed the doll along with the 4 others I built since Tuesday to a friend and she asked what I would ask for a doll that has so much bead work and time in it and I just did not have an answer. Before I left her home we had talked about creating the doll and putting it in a kit with various things to be added by the buyer. This would make the doll into the spirit of the buyer and not mine. As a crafter I feel that when someone invests time into something to make it their own it is better appreciated.

Today is Friday and now I have a Mother and baby made. The fabric is Batik but i used discharge paste to discolor parts of it. This was done by applying the paste to a rubber stamp and then applying it to the fabric. When the paste was dry I steam ironed it and it took the color away. The test piece was so good I used it to make the pouch for the baby to ride in. The stamp was of bamboo.

What are your opinions on these thoughts?

Spirit Doll

2006-07-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

This Spirit Doll is made of a scrap of fabric from the thrift store.

Christmas in July Challenge by Judy Ward 2006

2006-07-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Judy challenged us to make a doll with some fabric she gave us and here is my doll. It took me most of the day to design and make this doll. I hope Judy likes it.

Topsy & Patsy 1890

2006-07-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

I had an oppertunity to see a doll from the 1890's last year and photograph her. Then I re-created a doll like it. Here is the results.

Emma Elizabeth

2006-07-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Emma Elizabeth is my first Hard Surface Doll. She has a Kidd body and her dress was made from a pattern book on clothes from the 1890's. Assembling this doll was a challenge. I am so used to making the face and hands that I had to learn how to put her together.

Indian Doll

2006-07-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

I used the pattern La Feme to creat this doll. She just screamed to be an indian and when I found the boots I had to make her some buckskins.

Aunti Faye's new kitchen

2006-07-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

I have a new kitchen for Auntie Faye. After finding the Stove and Table I made the cookies, bread and Pie from polymer clay.

She was so happy to be cooking.

Geoffroy

2006-07-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

My Grandson Geoff is helping make dolls for the children of Katrina last summer.

I created the dragons for my grandson Geoffroy to embroidery on his clothes. After I made a stuffed dragon he began sewing and re-designs the pattern, now he is making his own dragons and designing his costumes for school plays at age 15.

Second side of MB-RR

2006-07-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

This side is done wwith one of the dragons I designed and created in machine embroidery. As an artist I explore all avenues of the field.

Meandering Book RR cover

2006-07-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

I have made the cover for the meandering Book Round Robin. My theam will be "Expressions of Fantasy" This is my first cloth book RR.

Face is beaded on in brickwork and looping of the beads. the button I made in a calss last month.

This is side one.

Ocelot needlepoint

2006-07-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

I made this in needlepoint from a black and white photo in 1975 by using verigated threads cut into sections to match the true color of an Ocelot.

My first quilt frame

2006-07-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

I was desparate to frame a small quilt to work on so I created this one in 1999 to finish this quilt for my Son's first child.

Beaded Doll Pins

2006-07-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

I went through a beaded pin phase and made 5 or 6 of them one week-end.

Auntie Faye

2006-07-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Auntie Faye is one of my favorite Dolls at this time. Each Doll has personality and this one is of my late Aunt Faye Reasoner. This is how I remember her from my childhood days. I located a cast-iron stove and country kitchen table to put with her and she will be on display at the Tillamooh County Quilt Guild Quilts By The Sea show August 19 and 20th 2006.

GingersDolls

2006-07-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am new to this and wanted to see what it was all about. Please help me through the beginnings. I am a crafter and doll maker and want to correspond with other people like me from all around the world.