Generations - Lizabeth

 Hi there and thanks for dropping by. This month we are debuying our beautiful Lizabeth, the next figure in our Generations Paper Dolls. Lizabeth stems from the 20th century wearing a slightly shorter dress and socks with her shoes. In her basket you will find her daily purchase from the fresh market. She also has beautiful highlights showcasing her lovely hairstyle.

As with all of the figures from the Generations series, you can mix and match the head, body and dress of all figures to create new ones or customize your favorite components.

Thanks for dropping by. Don't forget to check back on December 31, 2021 for the new Fairy 2022.

Generations - Clara

Hi there and thanks for joining us today. I would like to present the newest figure in the Generations Paper Dolls series featuring 6" x 12" historical foundation paper pieced figures spanning centuries of inspirational female heritage. 

Clara is the newest figure in our series. She is one of my favorite figures with her wrapped and belted shawl. Her delicate hands are folded in front waiting as if she is reflecting on life and its tiny little challenges. She wears a full sized bonnet. This figure resemebles a 18th century figure, don't you agree?

Includes Two Versions of FPP

All of the figures in this series are at an intermediate sewing level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). The hardest part of this figure is the shawl collar and the shawl front. Other than that, the figure is rather easy. There is an additional, simpler foundation pattern included for the shawl. It allows an offset of matching seams. I found the above version a little tricky and wanted you to have an option for an easier, forgiving version.

You could also imagine she is a pilgrim helping out with a large village Thanksgiving celebration. She and grace would make lovely friends for a festive fall wallhanging or table runner. The two together would make up a 12" block.

18" Pillow Idea

If you would like to sew the figures in this series, you can find the patterns on Etsy. Here is a design idea for a pillow. Simply add borders to the outside to get the size pillow you desire. This one measures about 18" when finished. It has two additional borders - the first at 1" finished and the second at 2" finished. Don't forget to add additional measurements for seam allowance. The fabrics used in the illustration below come from the Tilda Collection.

Thanks for dropping by. Another Generations Paper Doll will be introduced on December 15, 2021. Please check back for more information and bi-weekly blog posts.

Fairy of Gratitude - Onoka

Hi there! Thanks for joining this very special post between X-Mas and the New Year! Wow! What a year 2020 has been! There have been so many ups and downs and downs and ups this year. And many of us are still struggling.

I admit, this year has been very hard me as well. In April we all thought we had COVID-19 but were already under lockdown self-quarantining and decided not get tested. Six months later, I allowed my blood to be tested for antibodies that tested neagtive. 

Did we have it or did we not? It doesn't really matter anymore. Life is turned upside down. Interactions with friends, family and acquaintances has been extrememly limited this year. My business has suffered. My phsyical health and mental health has suffered. I know I am not alone in this boat, but it is really hard to see the postive. I've always tried to be open and honest about my feelings and life. Some may see it as a weekness, but there are others out there too struggling just as I am. When we open up about the truth, we might just be able to help each other.

Something that has always allowed me to refocus is to design. I decided to design another foundation pattern - a new 16" fairy to fit the collection and welcome a better new year 2021. This year, Onoka, the Japanese Fairy of Gratitude was created. 

  

What am I grateful for?

I am grateful for so many things in life and wish I could express myself better sometimes. I am grateful for the friendships that I have. I am grateful for my home for my family for my knowledge. I am grateful for the generosity of friends, family, acquaintances and customers. I am thankful so many people are interested in my patterns and classes. I don't express it nearly enough! I am truly thankful and grateful for all of those things. What are you grateful for?

Since Onoka was not designed as a mix and match fairy to mix with Marissa, last year's fairy, I tried a different foundation construction method for her. She still has the y-seam, but the instructions on how to do this are in the pattern and are fully illustrated.

For those who are new to foundation piecing, the larger size of 16" rather than 12" is easier to work with although some of the pattern sections may seem too large. 

The Enchanted Paper Dolls are 12" and completely interchangeable with mix and match segments. 

 

 

The Fairy of Gratitude, Onoka cannot be mixed with segments from Marissa, the Fairy of Good Fortune. Onoka is taller and constructed through triangles rather than vertically. You can, however, still add, remove or change some of the lines on the foundation patterns to change the look of Onoka. I also constructed her to have the least amount of intersecting points to releave headaches. The fairy with the pink wings will be easier than the fairy with the purple wings to make.

Onoka would make a lovely pillow case. Just use 2" border strips to outline the block. Make a quilt sandwich, quilt and cut to 18 1/2" and your favorite pillow case tutorial to finish.

 Use contrasting piping or binding for an extra, special touch.

Of course, you can make a quilt from just the one block, adding, changing and highlighting different segments of Onoka or even flipping the blocks by tracing the segments in reverse. The shown quilt below uses a 2" finished inner border and a 4" finished outer border. The quilt would measure 60" x 76" - a great quilt for a special girl in your life. Have fun exploring the different colorations.

If you want to mix Onoka and Marissa, this is a fun design you might like. This quilt uses a 2" finished inner border and no outer border, just accent binding. This quilt would finish at ~ 52" x 68".

Thank you so much for joining me. Hopefully you've been inspired to make something beautiful with one of these patterns You can purchase them in my pattern shop on Etsy.

 Please check back soon for more fun patterns and designs. Wishing you a Happy New Year 2021!

Lots of catching up . . . help is on the way

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog today. There is so much to catch up on since my last post in February 2020. I had big plans for the blog with new and exciting posts, but one thing led to another, and we were all plagued by COVID-19 and the ramifications. I will admit, it wasn't at all easy for us. We were thrown quickly into a lockdown in early March and lasted for a good six weeks. My teeangers were stuck in "home-office" as well as my husband, and I was, unfortunately, thrown into the traditional role of a happy housewife catering to my family.

The first couple of weeks during the lockdown, we had (what we thought were) really bad allergies. My husband and I both suffer from asthma. I had a routine checkup the beginning of March and was in better shape than ever, seriously. This is what I use as my baseline. Then, two weeks into the shutdown, my lungs starting closing up, I started coughing a lot with a really deep dry cough and sore throat. I felt warm but didn't show any signs of a fever. I would grab my emergency spray more often than usual and would lose my breath several times during the night. Now, these are common symptoms of COVID-19 but they are also known and manageable symptoms of asthma. I am used to dealing with them. We were uncertain if they were simply "normal" asthma flair ups or something else. We had no fevers which was the most common symptom of COVID-19. We chose not to get tested, because it if were just allergies, we didn't want it to become worse by catching the disease, and we were already in lockdown, self-quarantining.

After we recovered, I tried to get tested for antibodies at my house doctor, but they stated those tests weren't as accurate as you would think, and they didn't know how long antibodies would last if any. So, once again, we may just be one of those "uncounted cases."

For the most part, we have recovered. Then, a couple of weeks ago. I started having more lung problems again, feeling like a boulder is beging pressed against my lungs. It brings you down quickly stealing your energy too. Sprays don't help. It happens a couple of time a week which is manageable but still scary. Who knows what the long term complications for people of have contracted the disease will be?

We are still are taking all precautions`, though, just in case we were not infected. We wear our masks, wash our hands regularly and keep a safe distance from others. It really is a wild world out there. I crack up watching smokers pulling down their masks to smoke. I am a former smoker myself. My asthma finally got so bad, I couldn't smoke anymore. I am grateful for that. Yes, I am grateful. I quit smoking 18 years ago! I was able to quit but my parents weren't. My father contracted small cell lung cancer several years ago and died and my mother had COPD. Let me tell you, as soon as you go into a lung doctor's office  due to symptoms, you start to rethink everything! Please quit smoking! I read that more than one million people in England quit. You can too.

Enough of those stories. Please don't take pitty on me or worse, claim there is not COVID-19 out there. I am just recounting my experiences. Maybe you, too, went through the same thing?

On my good days, I started working on some really cool foundation patterns for medical occupations. I started out with a vintage candy striper that never made it to an actual pattern. Who knows, I might make her into a free 12" block pattern.

I worked on the figure with different dresses and styles throughout the decades until I decided on a vintage nurse from the 1950's. I named her Nurse Nancy. She has a lovely, California coppertone tan as my husband said. And with a vintage nurse from the 1950's, there had to be a strong doctor to support her. My daughter said he looked like former President Obama. I had a lot of fun designing both characters. They are a bit larger, measuring at a whopping 16". It is very hard to get a lot of detail in with the stethoscope at 12". I wanted to make both blocks relatively simple to make. The 16" size is perfect for pillows and gifts.

A good friend of mine was kind enough to test Nurse Nancy for me. She used FPP text from another designer and wrote "Danke" on the left side which means, "thank you," in Gemran. She gifted the pillow to a nurse who loved the idea and made one herself. That was so clever, kind and generous of her. You can see more images here from Ines @naehzimmerplaudereien.com.

 

Here is another beautiful Nurse Nancy created by Ulrike @ulrikebrauns. These ladies really know how to doll Nancy up. She looks striking with brunette hair too. The cross is a little tricky but so worth it.

You can also take a look at the hashtag on Instagram to see more beautiful Nurse Nancy figures. We had a few testers on this pattern and they all turned out wonderful!

Physician Phil was a bit trickier. It was one of the first real men in the easypatchwork paper doll collections other than Santa and his elves. I learned that men have wider shoulders and are taller than females. 

This was my first attempt at sewing Phil. That THING on his head is a light reflector if you just didn't get it. : ) I added the medical bag to his free hanging arm to allow him to appear more vintage.

There is a lot of bonus material with Physician Phil. What gave me a lot of problems with this figure was his arm with a strip of background fabric showing through. It makes it harder to sew, but it gives more depth to the figure. It is okay to omit the sliver of background fabric between the arm and body to make it easier if you choose. 

He also comes with Pharmacist Freddie. You can change up the hairstyles on him for a more mature doctor (bald, balding, receeding hair) if you prefer. More hairstyles are included in the pattern.

There is one image that is not shared in the pattern that I would like to share with you here.

I proudly present Grocer George. He is slim, trim and ready to help you with your groceries, ladies (and gents.) These are the colors of my local grocery store - V-Markt. Feel free to use your own store colors. Our grocery clerks are heroes too, keeping our shelves stocked with all of the necessary goods to keep us happy.They greet you with a smile and yell at the shoppers if they aren't wearing their mask and keeping their distance.

If you want to surprise your favorite "seasoned" medicals with a couple of 16" vintage blocks, you can purchase and print these beautiful blocks directly from my Etsy shop. You should have the latest PDF viewer to print from home. Please check the scaling before sewing too.

Thanks again for dropping by. Let's applaud all of the brave, selfishless, and inspiring individuals that help us stay safe and healthy! We appreciate your kindness, your sacrifices and your determination to keep going. Thank you!!

Oh, and a little side note, I am having a lot of trouble with the new Blogger interface. Where in the hell did the spell check button go? And these new templates are giving me a headache. Anyone else having problems here?