I'm the big Wiener!!! (I won a prize!)

Well how's this for a little bit of awesome?

I won a scrap pack from Fabricworm for participating in the And Sew On Paper Piecing BOM over at Quite Play.

Yes!  Just for trying my hand at paper piecing I won a prize.  I have to say, it does encourage me to keep trying paper piecing.

SO. . .guess what arrived in the mail yesterday.

My scrap pack!

Time to show off the goodness.

The colors are much nicer in person (of course).  I think I have some of the print on the left (big flowers) in another colorway.  The pattern looks familiar.  Either way, I like it so it's welcome in my stash.  The middle fabric is a great gray shade and I love the flower print (the flowers are just a bit funky, and I like funky).  The right side fabric is polka dots and I'll never turn away a polka dot.

These three match each other a bit.  The top one is a brighter blue, the middle is a more muted blue/green and the bottom one. . .LOVE IT.  I really like wood grain prints and this one is extra fun since it's boards.  It's a muted blue.

But the best of the bunch is. . .

YES!!

Really, I said "YES!" when I saw it.  I have wanted some of the Saltwater Octopus print ever since it first came out but I couldn't justify buying it without having a project for it.  Ok, a "real" project (buying fabric just to get a bit to put in my postage stamp quilt is nutty, especially given how much fabric I already have in my hoard).  AND, it's the colorway I like the most, the green.

All of the pieces are very generous, some might even be half yard (or damn close).  A great quality scrap pack.  If I was in the market to buy a scrap pack, this one would have been a great buy (especially if you could get it on a discount--I always like a good sale).  It was packaged nicely, too.  Tied with twine and packed in a zipper bag.  I LOVE those zipper bags.

I feel like I've been rewarded not only for trying new things (paper piecing) but also for sticking to my "fabric diet".  I can't wait to add this new bunch of fabrics to my postage stamp quilt.

Speaking of, I need to plan a major cut-a-thon.  These new additions really have my rotary cutter hand itching!

Dotees: Wings and Dr. Seuss

No, no together.

These are two separate swaps.

First up, for the Dr. Seuss Dotee swap (that I hosted):

I will not eat them in a box, I will not eat them with a fox.

I covered the lid of a jewelry sized box (I just had around the house) with some very Dr. Seuss looking fabric.  The pic doesn't do the colors justice.  It's very bright.

Full dotee to show hanger and egg and ham tail.

Detail of eggs and ham (coloring is bad in this pic).

The eggs and ham are just simple felt shapes.  I used glue to put the details on.  Sharpie for the grill marks on the ham and the fox's features.

Full show off.

The fox pattern can be found HERE.  I love the free patterns at Nuno life.

Next up is the dotee I made for the Dotee with Wings swap.  The only requirement was it had to have wings (well, duh!).

Yeah, s/he's super WEIRD.

I don't know what it is but this is the second really weird dotee I've ended up sending to the Netherlands.  I swear, I'm not trying to send weirdos to the Netherlands.

I wanted to make a kind of realistic butterfly.  Hence the funky antenna and the cord proboscis.

I originally wanted to do an embroidered face (with eyes that looked like compound eyes and a curly stem stitch proboscis) but my initial attempt was HIDEOUS and then I remember I have these wacky eye beads and. . .the rest is bizarre dotee history.

I was tempted to quilt the wings but the were stable/sturdy enough without it.  I did use batting in them and it worked out great.  I'm happy to report I didn't make any mistakes on the wings.  NO DO OVERS!!  Love that.  I also love the goofy bird fabric.  It just goes with the whole look of this wack-a-doo butterlfy.

OH, and the body is shiny/sparkly gold fabric.  So this butterfly is really going to terrify everyone at his/her new home.

On top of completing both of those dotees on Sunday, I also began sewing up my second giant squid.  I need to have it done for the end of the month.  So far, so good.

I also want to make some charity toys this month (a blog I'm following is all about charity sewing and this month they're doing stuffed toys--scored a cute free pattern for a seahorse, so I'm tempted to make a few and a few mermaids, we'll see).

But first, I need to get that giant squid DONE.

Swaps: Dotees Received

Time once again to show off some dotees I've received.

Nursery Rhyme Dotee.  Super cute Humpty Dumpty.  I love the painted face and how it's stuffed.  It is SOLID.

For Pair of Dotees swap.  Moon and star.  Adorable.  I love their peaceful little faces.  So relaxing!

For the Wizard of Oz (ongoing) swap.  Adorable lion.  The face is clay and the "courage" is a patch from some fabric.  Just a great dotee that goes so well with the Tin Man and Scarecrow I've already received.  Great quality on all three.

Ok, now I need to make a second post to show off some stuff I made.

Dotee for a Swap: April Unique Holiday

This one is heading off to the post office in just a few minutes.  I finished it on Saturday.  And once again, I put it off and put it off fearing that I wouldn't be able to pull it off and then. . .BAM. . .I just sat down and did it in one go.

I love that.

This is for the April Unique Holiday Dotee:

Bet you didn't know there even was an 8 Track Tape Day, did you?

Or that it's on. . .

Dust off your favs and fire them up, folks!

But I hear you asking.  "Does this really look like an 8 track tape?"

Well, you be the judge.

I'm really pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a "doll" with this one.  But COME ON, people. 8 Track Tape Day?  How can you NOT make an 8 Track in celebration?  It would be WRONG to do anything less.

The base for the tape is some foam I found in my house (aka something slated for the trash but I've been too lazy to take it out to the curb--no, it wasn't gross or anything, must trash).  I hot glued two layers together to get the thickness right.  Then I cut and glued (oh, so much glue on this dotee) some faux leather (aka pleather) type fabric I had in my stash.  The "tape" end has a layer of pleather, the ribbon ("tape") and then another layer of pleather with cut outs to show the ribbon (had to trot out my xacto knife for that).  Then some more pleather wrapped around the body of the tape and folded over at the non-tape end.  The label is a square from a charm pack I had (put some fusing on the back to give it a bit more structure since I was gluing it down).  Since I needed a face on the doll, I clipped an image from some other fabric and fused that onto the label.  Write the particulars on it with a fabric pen and then glue the label onto the tape (trying to hide as many seams as possible in doing so).

The only sewing I did on this was to attach the hanger and tail.  It was all hot glue and fabric glue (fabric to attach the label--I thought hot glue might warp it, especially with the hot glue I have which was so hot it melted the foam!).

This one was really fun to make.  Really got me out of my sewn felt comfort zone.  That was a nice change of pace.

Now I just have to trot on over to the post office and mail it off.

Next up?

Dotee with Wings (partners are assigned on that and I kind of wanted to get it done for this post office run but I was lazy this weekend), Non-fabric dotee, Dr. Seuss dotee, and then Dorothy (for the Wizard of Oz series).

Time to get over to the post office so I can be first in line.

Progress Report: "Little Portraits"

It was a short class this week.  We had to hit the art store to grab up some different red paint so I could get a better pink color and an ellipse template to help with the "circles" on Priscilla's face.  So that made us about half an hour late.  Then there was a demo on stretching canvas (very informative) that ate up a half an hour at the end so. . .all that to say I only made real progress on one painting.

I'll let Priscilla go first since the changes there aren't as obvious:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

You can see the change in the shade of pink.  It's definitely more toward the right shade (than the peachy shade previously there).

The only other change is to the shape of the eye patch.  It's getting closer to the shape I want.

Now for Mr. Roboto:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Dang, that eye looks really creepy now that the pink/red is closer to the accurate shade.  It still needs more work but it's really starting to come together now.

I also added a bit of speckles around the body (some are more obvious than others) and worked the background blending a bit.  I think I'm officially DONE with the background, so I decided to put in a rough version of the antenna.  It's just a little nubbin right now, but it's really going to look cool once it's on there for real.

I also worked the white on the mouth more, too, adding some more white here and there for the highlights.

I'd say Mr. Roboto is just about done.  Just a bit more work on the eye, maybe a few flicks and ticks on the body (I'm not sure how I feel about the stitching--it just looks so out of place right now) and then some real work on the antenna and he's DONE.

The next class sessions starts in April and I'm ready to finish these two portraits and start work on the next two.  But that means I have to get Cylindra finished and then figure out who's going to be the star of the fourth portrait.

Swaps Received: Out of this World Dotee

Time to show off a dotee I received.

Like a rocket ride to the moon!!

I received this dotee in the "Out of this World" swap (the first I ever hosted).  I love it.  The whole look reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight, Tonight" video.  Something about the face on the ship.

But nothing beats the ric rac shooting out of the back.  It really steals the show.

I love this dotee.

You know what I just realized?  I have yet to receive a dotee I don't like.  There's just something about each and every one that is unique and wonderful.  They just make me happy.

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