Fabric Addict

She’s arrived…at Kindred Spirits..you can see her in person there. She will be a class this fall offered for all the die hard doll fans, so that you can get your fix. Super cute, super (fairly) simple  and designed by Amy Bradley.

She has such detail…from her beaded earrings, to her shopping bag, her slippers including socks, her purse, even her little bra and panties and all this while standing on bolts of fabric.

Don’t get your knickers in a knot!

A new doll class is coming to Kindred Spirits….we are constantly asked… “When is Leslie teaching another doll class”. Well I could not take the pressure any longer and bought this wonderful Fabric Addict doll pattern designed by Amy Bradley. Oh she’s adorable…complete with bra and panties. She even comes with a cute little Fabric Addict button for her dress.

I love this little button too, and recently at Quilt Canada I was able to purchase a couple of extras…..I just can’t decide which one she should wear.

Doesn’t take much to get me inspired!

I received an e-mail from Michelle of Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. telling me about an adorable little bunny pincushion called Beatrix from Just Another Button Co. Michelle is always looking for new things for me to teach at her store. Beatrix is adorable, but I would not have had time to order the pattern in and have her completed by Easter. We’ll have to remember her for next year at the store. I thought she was adorable and was inspired to do a bunny up for Easter. I was pretty sure that I had a book in my stash with a bunny in it and sure enough came across this little cutie from the book Sew Sunny Homestyle.  I had a stash of velveteen as well so I was good to go.

Beatrix

I think my little Easter Bunny worked out perfect. The book also comes with instructions for a little mouse and squirrel as well.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 9…Santa Stuffer

Even with the holidays I am managing to finish up some UFOs. I had this kit half started for the last couple of yards and finally was motivated enough to take it out and finish it. So glad I did…as he is so cute. The pattern is from Threads that Bind. It came as a kit with almost everything you needed. Although he is relatively small, only about a foot high, it seemed like I stuffed and stuffed and stuffed this little guy….I thought it would never end… It really should be called One Fat Ass Santa instead. This guy would never get down a chimney…. for sure, one to many cookies.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our house

Day 2.....Snowmen melt my heart
Say hello to “Gus”. I made another one of these little guys at a class a few years back and put him out on display for the Christmas season. You know how this works….youngest daughter comes over and falls in love with it and wants one of her own for her home. So out comes the pattern and fabric again to make another one. This one will be my daughter’s Gus. They really are quite easy and quick to make and they really do look quite sweet on display. I love the socks on the line with the little pegs…too cute.

Were you naughty or nice this year?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas...

This is a sculpted Santa that I made a few years back. Still one of my favorite things to display at Christmas.

Dresden Girls

These are the Dresden Girls....dolls and class participants...There's Barb, Andrea, Gladys and Barb with their completed sweethearts. See the eyelashes all sewn by hand. So sweet and we had so much fun during class. I was astonished to learn that Barb was a glue gun "virgin"...oh the things you learn at class.

Mascara would have been so much easier

These are the ladies in my "Dresden Girl "doll class, tediously sewing individual false eyelashes onto their Dresden Girl's sculpted face. Each eye gets a total of five eyelashes which are each sewn on one at a time. Do you know how tiny those things are!  She is lovely when she's all complete, and I promise to show you all their final girls complete. I am really inspired at how well they have done with creating the doll as they are all new to doll making , except Barb who is an avid bear maker. She has also taken another doll class with me. I think they have all done fabulously!

A face only a mother could love

These are a few of the ladies in my doll class. We had so much fun, as you can see. Everyone is at  work sewing feverishly to finish Patches the Wrabbit. I was amazed at how wonderful they all turned out. Very talented doll makers I must say. Some of the ladies in my class are on their fourth class with me having previously made Garden Annie, Stitch the Witch, Holly the Christmas Angel and now Patches. Some are first time students with varying degrees of doll making experience. What ever the background, the classes are a delight to teach and attend. This is Sherry's Patches...she bought different teeth than supplied and he is adorable..I love the teeth!

Dresden Girl

This is the latest doll designed for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Store for their doll classes. I've called her Dresden Girl. Her face is lightly sculpted and colored with pencil crayons. She even has individual fake eyelashes sewn in. Her skirt is a Dresden plate gathered up and attached. Her face forms the centre of the flower and she stands on a vintage candlestick.  

Dresden Girl on the make

This is the making of Dresden Girl. Kindred Spirit Quilt Co. likes to have a new creation 1/4ly for the doll class they offer at the store. Each 1/4 I try and design a new doll pattern that quilters will enjoy and that in some small way has a quilting technique involved. This is the start of Dresden Girl, isn't she pretty. Her face is sculpted and colored with pencil crayons along with individual eyelashes sewn in by hand. The face then sits in a silk flower, her face as centre. She will stand on a candlestick in stead of having legs. She has a dropped waist dress and the skirt is made with the Dresden template and is gathered up around  as her skirt. Too cute, I'll keep you posted as she pulls herself together.  

FiFi Lapin...the french Easter Bunny?

Is there such as thing as a French Easter Bunny....I believe there is....Meet FiFi Lapin. This is my newest designed doll for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. We are just finishing up with Patches (previous post from February 16th) and since I demo the class on a sample I sew along with the class, it seemed appropriate that I make a female to accompany Patches. I had quite a laugh when my daughter saw FiFi for the first time, she asked me where she got her black eye from...did Patches give that to her?....she asked... I think she turned out cute with her little beret, and her appliqued carrots. She even has matching legwarmers.

Patches the Wrabbit

Patches is just hopping by to say hello. This is the fourth doll I have created for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and he is so cute in flannels. His body is out of brushed cotton and his clothes are all out of flannel. He is right in time for Easter at the store and will be offered as a class in the next few weeks. I love his buck teeth and his little glasses. He looks so dapper in his Sunday best complete with a carrot tie tack. I had so much fun designing him and making him. He is quite simple to make and the face, paws and feet effects are done with simple sculpting of needle and thread.

I better "hop" to it

"Patches" the Wrabbit is well on his way to making his debut at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. store. He just needs to pull himself together, get dressed and hop over to the store for the spring doll class. I have been designing dolls for the doll class at the store each quarter for the last year and this is "Patches" the design for the spring class. I thought it would be fun to have an Easter type bunny with the season fast approaching. He's made out of brushed cotton and dressed in wonderful flannels. Well, don't want to give away too much before he is totally finished. I'll share the little guy with you shortly once  I  he gets his ____ together.

Something Bunny going on

I've been designing doll patterns for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. over the last year to teach at their quarterly doll class. First there was Garden Annie, then Stitch the Witch and lastly Holly the Quilter's Angel.
Well, we are into a new quarter and guess what...I need to come up with a doll for the spring class.
I thought with spring and Easter coming quickly, a bunny might be a nice option. These are the fabrics I've chosen.  Michelle has wonderful flannels in the store so what would be nicer than a flannel bunny......He's still a surprise and I'm still finishing off the details and the pattern. As soon as he's complete, he'll hop onto the blog for you to see. 

Cutie Quilter Doll

I designed a doll for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. before Christmas called Holly the Christmas Angel. Instead of making the same doll again when I taught the class I thought it might be nice to change her up a bit. I had this cute sewing themed fabric that I got during the summer and thought it would look sweet on her. There are 3 inch quilt blocks around the base of her skirt, 1 inch squared patchwork wings and I added an embroidery hoop with "I love Quilting". Her face is sculpted and painted with permanent marker. She has notions added to her hair and I think she turned out nicely. She stands on a wine bottle so that was a unique twist to a doll pattern.

I believe in Angels

Here are my angels.....Sharon, Fran, Charlene and Nancy. These ladies took my recent "Holly the Christmas Angel" class offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It was a sculpted doll with quilting and patchwork featured clothes and wings. They worked very hard at getting her pretty little "angelic" face just perfect. (you should have heard some of the comments....the pearly gates would have closed up permanently with Charlene's alone..LOL). They all looked so individually beautiful and will be a wonderful addition to their homes over the holidays. The doll was anchored on a 1.5 litre bottle of wine which was to accompany them to class empty. I think that the ladies would have preferred to finish the bottle off during the face sculpting class instead. Way to go ladies, and thank you for making it such fun for me!

So much fuss over Gus

Recently I had the opportunity to join Maureen Augerman at her monthly doll class. It was so much fun and we each made this lovely little snowman named Gus. The pattern is from Threads That Bind and he was super easy to make with his unbleached cotton body, sew on buttons, pipe cleaner and pom poms for the ear muffs and the cutest little clothesline holding his stockings. Maureen's daughter Karen made the little noses out of moldable clay and baked them. There was a little hole at the end so you just had to sew it on...brilliant. I love him! He's a keeper.

Holly the Quilter's Angel

This is the latest doll in a series designed for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. for classes at their shop. The first was Garden Annie, then Stitch the Witch and now Holly the Quilter's Angel. Each doll has been designed with quilters in mind. Holly has patchwork wings and 3 inch blocks bordering her skirt. Her face is lightly sculpted and painted with fine tip permanent markers.
She doesn't necessarily need to be made in Christmas fabric, she could be done in sewing themed fabric and given to a quilting friend to watch over her while she quilts, making sure 1/4 inch seams are perfect and all points match. Patterns are available for purchase. If you're interested, just drop me a quick e-mail and I'll provide you with details.

Witches...not them...the dolls

These are the ladies from the Stitch the Witch doll class I taught showing off their finished creations...how cute and each one was a little different. I designed the doll as a fun project at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and geared the pattern to include some quilting features. "Stitch" had prairie points around her skirt and a little pocket that reads " I love quilting" as well as a little strip vest. The ladies did an amazing job and they were finished just in time for Halloween. Here they are stuffing body parts and sculpting hands and faces.