Pin Cushions 2

I was not able to blog yesterday.  The computer was tied up and by the time I was able to get access, I was too busy to stop and get on the computer.  So I am blogging on Monday instead of Sunday.  Despite appearances, I have been getting somewhere on my projects.  In the last week or so I have been working on the pin cushions.

The pin cushions are not finished yet.  I have not even finished stuffing them yet.  They take a long time to stuff because you have to stuff them until they are very firm in order for them to hold pins effectively.  It takes about three to three and a half hours to stuff one large, one medium, and one small size of the cushions.  At this point, I have nearly nineteen hours into these pin cushions when you count drafting the pattern, cutting out the material, sewing them and then stuffing them.  There are still two more sets of each size to stuff. 

None of these pin cushions are finished; they are only stuffed.  They still have to be embellished.  Each of the indentations will be tied with thread, which will help compress the pin cushions and make them a little firmer still.  Then a circle or other interesting shape is sewn over the area where the cut was made to stuff the pin cushions and where knots are tied from the thread.  After that, I will be adding some further embellishments.  You will see photos of the embellishments once they are complete.

I guess some of my readers are wondering why I have gone overboard on making pin cushions.  They are a project for my quilting guild.  Not everything we do is a quilt.  We have numerous projects throughout the year.  I am really spending a lot of time on guild projects rather than my art at the moment.  I am almost at a stopping point on that.  After these pin cushions are completed, I will be ready to move on to working on my Flamenco Dancer doll.

Fingers crossed.  I hope to have a new blog post on Thursday.

Pin Cushions - the Beginning

I have a number of projects going on just now.  Few of them are at a point of having photos taken.  Either they are at a point where the project is at a complete beginning stage, or at some point in the middle where the next part of the project has not yet been started.  Some of the projects need some material or hardware parts that I have not yet made the purchases.  However, one way or another, I am making some progress each week on one or the other.

This week I have been working on pin cushions: lots of them.  I saw an article in a Better Homes and Garden Holiday crafts magazine, and thought I would give them a try.  The magazine is several years old.  I have kept it around because "one of these days I am going to do something with that."  As usual, I always plan on adding my own twist on the craft.  The initial pattern is the same as in the magazine though.  I am making several of them so I can experiment with different techniques.  I will be blogging on the additions to the craft when I have photos of the stuffed pin cushions.

I have cut out the pieces, and sewn them together.  There are eighteen pin cushions, six in each size.  This is one of these projects where the time needed to make the project is deceptive.  Making the shapes did not take long, but sewing them on the machine took almost half a day.  I could only go a few stitches before I had to stop the machine and pivot the material to follow the curve of the form.  My sewing machine is an older model and does not have the stop with "needle down" function.  That meant I had to adjust the needle by hand each time I stopped the machine.  It took quite a bit of time.

At this point, all of the shapes are sewn right sides together.  They are as flat as pancakes.  I guess they are something of a flower shape.  They have die cut machines that can make this shape in a matter of seconds.  I do not have one though.  I cut out all the shapes by hand.  A small hole will be cut in the top piece and the shapes will be stuffed.  Decorative string will be added going from the center of the pin cushion through each indentation.  Then the hole will be sewn shut and covered with a piece of material.  The extra piece of material will also cover the knots tied in the decorative string.

I hope to have at least some of the pin cushions stuffed by the next blog post.  If I do not have pin cushions stuffed, I will have photos of the latest update on the Leaf Quilt.  Check back on Thursday for the next blog post.

First Sketch for the New Doll

I am slowly making progress on a number of projects.  Most of them are not at the point of having photos taken yet.  I expect that this will change in the next week as the projects progress.  The only project that has much to show for it is that I took the time to make a sketch for my next doll, a Flamenco dancer.

I have spent a week looking at photos and trying to get a feel for how I want to portray the doll.  I want to show the doll as if it were in motion.  That is not an easy thing to do since a doll is still.  I made a sketch, which in no way does justice to what I want to do to the doll.    Unfortunately, it is not very dark and does not show up well in the blog photo. 

This is the first sketch.  I use the first sketch to look at it and say what is wrong with this picture.  Then I make another sketch to try to refine what I want.  It helps.  In this case, I want to change the doll's left arm to have more of a bend in it rather than being straight.  I also want the right arm to be more forward with the doll's head looking up towards the right hand.  These refinements will help the movement look more lifelike.

There are a couple of small sketches of the underlying support system.  I plan to try a new method of support for this doll.  This doll will be larger than some of my other dolls, so it will need a support system that will support the weight.   I will be blogging more about the underlying supports as the project moves along.

As usual my complaint is that I wish I could draw better.  I don't spend enough time learning how to draw.  I took a drawing class a few years ago.  It helped some.  The main thing that I need is time.  However, if I spend my time drawing, I don't have that time for making anything else.  So I do the best I can with what I can do.  At least I am moving forward on the project.  

Check back on Sunday for the next blog post.

Leaf and Star Quilt Update - Photos

First piece of the outer border has  been added.

This week the weather has been wonderfully springlike.  I admit that rather than staying in the studio, I was out side enjoying the  warmth and sunshine.  I was also out and about, which means I did not get anything much done in the studio.  Sometimes you just have to drop your plans and go with the flow when an opportunity presents itself.  It is supposed to be very warm again today, so I plan to be working outside.  After today, cold weather will be closing in again, so I want to make sure I have plenty of time outdoors.  I have been on the go so much that I have not even started on refurbishing the Jupiter Sphere as I blogged about last time.  Getting all that old paint off the ball is on my agenda for today.

I did spend some time researching for my new project: a doll that is a Flamenco dancer.  I have been looking at photos trying to get a feel for the pose I want to use for the doll.  Flamenco is a very dynamic dance.  I hope to capture the energy of the dance in this doll.  That can be hard to do in a static object like a doll.  I am starting to narrow down the options for the pose.  Once a final decision is made on that, I will begin making sketches and figuring out the support system.

What I did work on this week was my king size Leaf and Star Quilt.   I blogged about this quilt last at the end of January.  At that point I showed that I had completed a row of blocks.  I can't believe how much I have completed on this quilt top in the last couple of weeks.  I am adding the final border.  I have completed adding the border piece on one side.  The other side is half-way finished.  After that, I only have to add the top and bottom borders and the quilt will be ready for adding the batting and backing.

I did take a break for a couple of days on that project.  This quilt has been pieced by hand.  My fingers were getting sore.  Sometimes it is better to rest for a few days rather than try to press on when inflammation gets started.  A badly inflamed joint can really set you back for a while.  Today, my hand feels better.  I will be back to working on the quilt this evening.

I hope to have some progress on my various craft projects this week.  I will have new photos on Thursday.

On to New Projects

I just completed an experimental doll project.  It was a lot of fun in that the medium was papier mache'.  I really enjoy the experience/sensation of working with the paper and paste.  Now that the project has come to an end, I am ready to move on to a new project.  Getting started on something new is somewhat like an artist staring at a blank canvas or a writer staring at a blank page.  I have to pull myself away from staring blankly and start finding my way to filling that space.

My two big projects for the year were to be a large doll that is a Flamenco dancer.  The other project is to create another walking stick.  The problem is that I just completed a doll and I am not that enthused about starting another one immediately.  The primary problem with working on a walking stick is that I generally work on them outside to keep the mess in my studio to a minimum.  Right now it is just too cold out to be doing fine work outside.  I need to have my hands gloves free to manipulate the tools well.  It is hard to find the motivation to get started on something.

One of my plans for the year was to enter some more competitions in the State Fair of Virginia again.  I was on their website this morning.  I wanted to find out what competitions were available this year and what the guidelines might be.  So far, they have not posted the guidelines for 2017.  Presumably, they should not be much different from 2016, but I don't want to start a project only to find that it does not conform to their guidelines.  I had to table that for now.  I will contact them and see when the guidelines will go up.  I hope to have some information soon.  I work on my projects when I have time, and it takes me a long time to complete a project.  I hate to have to be rushed to complete a project.

To give me a little break before I begin my Flamenco dancer doll, I plan on reworking my Jupiter Sphere gazing ball.  As I wrote at the beginning of the year, my gazing ball that had been painted with acrylic paint to look like Jupiter had faded in the sunlight.  I would like to refurbish it in some way.  That will be a relatively short term project.  It will give me a small break from working on dolls so that I can start fresh the new doll with a renewed outlook.   

I plan to use a wire brush to remove all the old paint and repaint it in oven bake enamels.  This ball is small enough that it will fit into my dedicated toaster over.  I have a wire brush already.  I will need to bestir myself to go purchase some more oven bake enamel paints.  What I have is old and dry.  It is not worth using at this point.  I should be able to begin the project within a couple of days.  It will be fairly warm today, so I should be able to work outside on removing the paint.

 I also have another ball waiting to be decorated.  I have been holding off on it because I had a plan in mind that needed a special piece to go with it.  So far, I have not found the piece I was looking for.  I finally have come to the point of saying that I need to come up with a different idea for the piece.  I will be addressing that also, but maybe not right away.  It depends on how I feel after I finish refurbishing the ball.

In the mean time, I will be beginning the sketches for the Flamenco doll.  I plan to experiment with some different materials for the support system of the doll.  I will need to have the pose of the doll figured out before I go shopping for materials.  The doll is the second of two projects are in the works.  I try to keep it to only three projects at a time.

The third project is a quilt project.  A couple of blog posts ago, I showed a quilt I had recently started.  I have made some progress since then.  I will be blogging about the quilt in a few days.  It will be an interesting diversion while I am getting the other projects started.

I try to keep no more than three projects going at one time.  I usually quilt or hand sew items in the evening while sitting down to watch television.  That project does not generally interfere with my daytime projects.  I usually have two projects going on in the studio so I can work back and forth in case one needs some drying time or one can be worked outdoors rather than indoors.  It keeps me from sitting there waiting for paint to dry and I still have something to do in case there is bad weather.  That way I stay busy.

Check back on Thursday for the next blog post.  I should have some info on the progress on the Jupiter Sphere then.

Doll Experiment Completed

I started this project to experiment with a technique I saw in Art Doll Magazine.  An article showed that a doll artist had used an existing doll as a mold to make other dolls using the strip papier mache' method.  I decided to give the technique a try, but added further challenges of my own to up the ante a little bit.  Aside from using an inexpensive doll as a mold, I also challenged myself to change the pose of the doll so that it was not an exact replica of the original doll.  The original doll did not stand on its own.  It used a doll stand.  I wanted to see if I could change the doll enough to make it stand on its own. 

I am happy to say that I was successful in all three challenges.  I was able to create a papier mache' doll using another doll as the mold.  The original doll had stiff arms and legs that stuck straight out.  I changed the pose of both arms.  The doll was weighted to help her stand upright.  Even with the change of arms and some very heavy hair, the doll is able to stand upright unaided.  (I did have her braced while I was taking one of the pictures because I kept bumping the doll and knocking her over.)  Anyway, I feel that all the challenges were met.

Because this doll was more about being an experiment on a technique than a planned doll, I had only given partial thought as to how the doll would be finished.  I began with one idea, but decided that the doll was so rigid that it would not express the idea as nicely as I would have liked.  I decided that I would hold that idea for another doll and just come up with something as the project moved along.  What I came up with is a doll named Barbara. 

Sometimes doll makers say that a doll talks to them and informs them of what it needs.  It is projection of course, but at the same time, there is a feeling of communication between doll maker and doll.  Barbara reminded me of my teenage years.  I lived in a beach community.  I spent many hours at the beach soaking up the sun and playing in the waves.  Everyone had a deep tan and sun bleached, tangled  hair was the general appearance of people coming off the beach.  Even the sarong style dress was a beach ware staple of the era.  The hair reminded me of one of my friends, Barbara, and I am guessing that is where the name came from.  The name actually popped into my head before I remembered the friend from decades ago.
I guess those memories are still in there somewhere, waiting for me to access them.

The dress and tangled hair may not tell much of a story to someone that has not spent a good bit of their time on sun and sand.  To tell a further story for others, I added a mirror.  Barbara gazes into the mirror.  I had a dickens of a time trying to get a decent photo of that.  I practically turned myself upside down trying to shoot in between the head and the mirror to get a good reflection in the mirror.  I finally settled for a photo of her gazing into her eye.  I will let others project their own stories as to what that might mean in the context of the doll.

At one point, I considered changing the doll into some other accessories to tell a different story.  But the more I looked at the doll, the more I liked that she actually reminded me of point in my life.  So I guess she will remain forever Barbara.

Readers can scroll back through the posts about the process of making the doll by going to my blog page folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com  and scrolling through posts for the last couple of months.

My next blog post will be on Sunday.  I will be blogging about my new project.