Fun Dolls in the Afternoon

It's late in the afternoon, humid as can be, with storms called for in this evening's forecast. I've been doing the worst thing a woman of my age can do on a humid day.....scrubbing the kitchen floor!! It's not that I wanted to do it, however, had I not done it...I'm sure the health department would come in and get me. I'd like to use the excuse of being ill for weeks as a good reason to have a really gross kitchen floor. It would be a lie, of course, I should have done it before now. And, I wouldn't mind saying the housekeeper just couldn't get here to do it. Another lie...there is no housekeeper here. Well, except for me. The truth of the matter is...I HATE cleaning the floors. Mine are old, not so pretty and don't cooperate with me much. No matter how hard I scrub...they still look old and not so pretty...just a bit cleaner. Today I went for cleaner!! And, they are. The only problem is... now all I can smell is bleach. Don't you hate that?

Trying to get that smell out of my system, I walked around outside for a bit. The temperature is warm...there was a slight breeze, but now it has gone and the humidity is on the rise. That storm is coming, which prompted me to come out to the Nest to see what I could show you today before all heck breaks loose. I suppose after cleaning floors, one should have some fun, so I took at a look at these little ladies and decided you should see them. A bit of fun on a humid afternoon!

First, we have a Flat Girl I made from a cereal box during one of our Knot work days. We all made one and they were such fun. I love this one. The only thing I wish I had done is give her movable arms. She's kind of stiff. But cute!!! I used some of my quilting fabric for her dress and a vintage dresser scarf for her wonderful apron. I LOVE the apron. My friend, Jim, gave me some tatting his grandmother had made years ago and that is the trim on her dress front, sleeves and hemline. There was just enough. A few years ago, I bought this little crocheted nut cup for 5 cents. To me it looked like a perfect tote bag for this little lady. Her "stockings" were done with paint and her shoes with a black permanent pen. Now, why spotted stockings, you ask? Because sometimes I make a mess and when "inking in" her shoes I accidentally touched her leg with the black PERMANENT pen. So, to disguise that (which you can see if you really try) I just used paint to distract your eye. I used a strip of the dresser scarf fabric to make her hair bow, permanent pens for her face, beads for buttons, and wouldn't you know....ravelings of fabric for her hair. Ravelings...you know...when you tear fabric you always have lots of loose threads...sometimes I save them and use them for doll hair. As I did here. Too cute, I say!!!

Next is my Vintage Napkin Doll. I wanted to make a small doll to pin to my tote bag when I went to Houston in 2006. Our "Quilt Arkansas" retreat was scheduled for the next fall, so I decided my little doll would be carrying a tote bag with "Quilt Arkansas 2007" on the front. I filled it with fabric swatches and a long, handmade bead which kind of looks like an embellished quilt rolled up in the bag. The entire doll and tote was made from a vintage embroidered napkin. In one of the photos you can see a napkin similar to the one I used to make her. She is wearing a pretty little blue plastic button for a pin. Her face was done with permanent pens. I took leftover strips of fabric...strings, really, and tied them in knots. They were about two inches long before I tied them and sewed them to her head. That's her hair. Lots of different colors. Well, she's different...isn't she? (Be yourself, I always say!) And, she was a hit at the quilt show too! What FUN!!!

Last, but not to be left out, is the Purple Lace Girl. She was made with a wonderful piece of purple quilting fabric for her body and arms, and a different piece for her legs. Her skirt is a length of painted lace...oh, gosh...love this stuff!!!! I crocheted the flower she's holding. It has a glass bead for a center. Her necklace is from a bag of broken jewelry I bought at the flea market. Her face, also, was painted with permanent pens...love her little heart shaped mouth. And that hair...gosh, that hair!
Made with some of that fantastic yarn used for knitting those funky scarves everyone loves to wear...and multi-colored at that. I have pins on the back of the two small ones, so you can wear them or pin them on a bag as I did. The Vintage Napkin Doll is 6 1/2 inches tall, the Purple Lace Girl is 9 inches tall and the Flat Girl is 17 inches tall. They usually are "hanging" around the Nest making sure I do what I'm supposed to do and offering their opinions when I least want them. They're fun though, so I put up with it.

Right now they are telling me that I am behind in the work going on in the Nest. They are right, too. But, as I said, storms are supposedly coming, so, I think I'll gather a few things together, go into the house, and get that supper ready....I'll leave the girls out here "in charge."

Hope you are all well. Take care. Pat