madebymaisie

Off to Kentucky

I'm not off to Kentucky any time soon, rather these sweet little ladies are...

Big Sister Maisie (above) features the last of my white Scotty Dog (or is it a Westie Dog?) fabric.

 
Miss Maisie (above) was requested to have brown curly hair. Hmm...a lot of thought went into how to achieve this. Miss Maisie ended up having her hair 'set' around a couple of metal cake skewers and whole head placed in the oven. Pictures of this procedure are just too gruesome to share. 

I had to tell my husband that he must wait a little while longer for the apple crumble I was about to bake. Maisie's hair needed to be set and I couldn't have it smelling of apple pie! 

After a short absence, my Kokeshi Dolls are again in production. After running short of one of my favourite Japanese fabrics (Kokka Yugyoku), I finally found it at Superbuzzy.  I can't believe that I didn't search Superbuzzy first!

Have fun in Kentucky!

x Catherine 

Maisies go to the Stitches and Craft Show

On Saturday I ventured out to the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show. I thought that I would go by myself so that I could peruse the stalls and activities at my leisure. However, little Betsy and Mei-Ling Maisie dolls insisted on coming along too.

A couple of my fellow BrisStyle girls had stalls in the incubator.

Helen from Ruby 2 Go Go had the most delicious ruby red themed stall.

 

I have never seen Helen without her smile!

 

I bought a Ruby 2 Go Go t shirt transfer. Hmm, must consider Maisie Doll t shirt transfers. Or even gocco images on shirts.

 

I had lovely chats with Christine from Little Diva.

Also met the very sweet dear fii.

I finally got the chance to see documentary Handmade Nation.

You simply must see this film. Take your friends, take your family, take your work colleagues...so they can finally understand what you are all about as a crafter. Being able to see this film was worth the admission price to the Stitches and Craft Fair, alone. So inspirational. Can't see the movie?? Buy the book!

This encouraged me to spend some time at the 'Why Don't You...Tell us your Craft Secret?' wall, reading all the serious and not so serious craft secrets.

 

My craft secret is not so secret...but I had to contribute.

I purchased some lovely Japanese fabric from Amitie for more Kokeshi Dolls.

 

Lastly, I had the pleasure of volunteering on the Mixtape stall. Justine trusted Mei-Ling, Betsy and I to sell subscriptions to her fantastic zine as well as selling lots of other nice things on her stall.

 

Fabric covered buttons/badges were very popular.

 

It was a good day all round. The little Maisies were very well behaved and very polite to all customers!

Fun times.

Queensland Quilt Show 2008

Yesterday I went with some friends to the Craft and Quilt fair in Brisbane. I had entered a quilt in the Queensland Quilt Show presented by Queensland Quilters Inc. As mentioned in a previous post, this is the first time that I have entered a quilt for judging at a show. What a buzz to see my quilt hanging. What a bigger buzz, to watch other quilters comment and photograph it.

   

I am not a big fan of crowds, so we decided to start with the quilt show and then work our way back against the flow of craft frenzied women through the merchant hall.

My favourite stall was Be Be Bold Japanese Textiles. I have been coveting Kokka fabric for some time now. Finally, I gave in to temptation and bought a piece of Kokka fabric.

 

I also bought a cute bag pattern which I will make up with my Kokka fabric. I also got some charm squares to make a doll quilt.

 

I couldn't resist this piece of Alexander Henry fabric - for obvious reasons.

 

After a couple of hours snaking our way through the stalls, buying bits and pieces along the way (cheap ric rac and ribbon), stopping and watching a couple of demos at some stalls - we decided to call it a day...

...That is until we rushed back to where we started and bought some more at Be Be Bold Japanese Textiles. I purchased a 'quilt as you go' baby quilt kit. It was full of Kokka and coordinating fabrics. I generally don't buy kits, but this one is beautiful - in a minimalist Japanese style. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Parcels in the post

Well, what a week I have had. I have received so much fabric that I don’t know which project to start first.

 

   

 

Firstly, a nice little charm square set of Aunt Grace spots turned up in the post. I won them on ebay through this store. They are just the perfect size to add to my stash of Aunt Grace scraps. I am making a cute hexagon quilt out of my scraps. Stay tuned for more on this project.

 

 

 

Secondly, my parents-in-law returned from their UK holiday and presented me with one of my most desired fabrics. They picked me up some beautiful strawberries on bright blue Cath Kidston oilcloth. Cath Kidston fabric is a little bit on the expensive side (but the fabrics are beautiful), not to mention the freight costs to Australia, which their stores charge. So, when my mother-in-law asked what fabric I wanted picked up this time, I jumped at the no freight charge. I want to cover my sewing table like this. The nice 1.5m length should do the trick.

 

 

Also, I had some Cath Kidston fabric swatches arrive in the post (left hand column). And, my parents-in-law got some more swatches for me while in the UK (right hand column).

Thirdly, I am in sewing mode making lots of custom order dolls, dolls to sell on etsy, and dolls to sell at an upcoming local craft market. I was feeling the need of a new injection of colours to my stash.

 

So, this is what I ordered and received from Dutchland Quilt Patch.

 

 

 

You might notice a tendency toward Aunt Grace fabrics here, but the cute small prints are perfect for my dolls.

 

This is what I received from Mama’s Log House.

 

 

 

Finally, I have wanted to put a name tag on my dolls to identify them as made by Maisie. Well, they have finally turned up and just in time for my big sewing bee this weekend.

 

 

 

Now… if I could just find out how much longer my sewing machine will be away being serviced for…