The Dolls Have Quilts!

Desirable early doll quilts and crib quilts are much more rare than full size examples. I have made very few, choosing to collect old ones.  One must also be careful not to purchase without realizing it, merely a cut down re hemmed piece from a larger quilt.

I made my first and only full size quilt the year I was twenty three. It is a red and white one in Bear's Paw pattern. I pieced it lovingly by hand and sent it out to a local lady to quilt it for me by the piece rather than the less expensive clam shell.  She charged nine dollars plus the cost of the thread and did a perfect job. My daughter Beth has that quilt now.

That was also the year I began to collect antique dolls while living on a ranch in West Central Texas, far from pavement much less an antique shop. 
The interest in early printed fabrics found in doll clothing and quilts has run along always with my interest in old dolls.

The variations of Log Cabin with their beautiful old pattern names are still favorites for me as they are for so many other textile lovers. The early log cabin shown on the borders of this blog is set in a pattern called Court House Steps. Pineapple Log Cabin sometimes called Windmill Blades is shown below in a full size quilt.

No wonder that I loved dearly the little navy and white crib quilt I bought from Martha Waldie's shop in Dallas years back. It featured the well known indigo cotton with tiny white all over stars. I believe it dates to the civil war era or a bit before.   So many of my favorite things have come from the third quarter of the nineteenth century including the German wax over papier mache doll with wooden arms and legs.

Perhaps the most often found"set" for Log Cabin is Sunshine and Shadow. A small piece of Sunshine and Shadow backs up one of my doll cases below.

 A number of China head dolls are gathered in an old hooded cradle. The cradle is lined with a large fine example of Sunshine and Shadow. 

A big Greiner girl and a German papier mache boy are shown below along with a very worn doll quilt. Even threadbare the graphics are still pleasing.

The few examples I have here do not begin to show the pleasure to be had hunting really old doll quilts.  A big Greiner doll with original finish and stamped  letters low on her back shoulder plate "Patent Head" is shown below with two nice early doll quilts behind her. I love the red and brown color way for these.

 The baby dress on the doll is from the Musselman collection sold at several Pennsylvania auctions in the 1980's.    The little dress dates about 1835.  There were four lots of them and I kept my bidder's paddle in the air until I owned three of them.  All of but one of these textiles are gone now, but the Patent head Greiner is still with me on another body and repainted.  This Philadelphia made doll's mark is considered to be the earliest Greiner mark before the paper labels were put on them.

The pieced doll size pockets and tiny sewing roll up and strawberry in the  lower part of the photograph were treasures made by friend Johnetta B. 

MAIDA Today has a good post on Doll Quilts some taken in my  home. Go enjoy. Then Please come back!

  http://www.maidatoday.com/2011/11/making-antique-inspired-doll.html

A nice site to study traditional quilt patterns is http://wwqsg.blogspot.com/  

Look at this one for precious early printed cottons in a dated quilt!

http://ladysrepositorymuseum.blogspot.com/2015/02/spring-airs.html 

  e 

 

A Body Pattern for Antique Papier Mache and China Shoulderhead Dolls

In building a doll collection it is well to pay attention to originality of the doll's body and clothing when possible.  More of the doll's story is found in the original presentation than in any substitute.  Period.

Finding and purchasing desirable dolls close to their original state is more and more difficult.  These prizes bring a deserved premium. In choosing a doll to add to your collection of course one consideration is price. Another is rarity of the doll over all.  Do you want a fine doll in a well thought out new presentation  or had you rather have a less exciting doll in its near all original condition?  For a rare one, will you ever find it again at all?  Collecting dolls on a small budget by buying heads and making the bodies and clothing is one way to have a nice group of dolls with a more modest outlay.    I have always done some of this and continue to do so.

In the 1950's when I first began to acquire old dolls, I bought the best heads I could and made bodies for them and read Mrs. Fawcett's guide on dressing them.   When a complete doll came my way affordably I was happy to have it, but doll repair and sewing for the dolls has been part of my life with them from the first. I never turn down a fine doll head for lack of the body and clothing, so I have had a lot of practice making cloth bodies for China and papier mache heads.  

Shown is a lovely doll head made by Dixie Redmond on a body I designed and sized for this head.  The pattern offered is suitable for many types of shoulder head dolls.  It may be sized up or down on a copier to fit a particular head. As given, the body makes about a 22 inch doll. 

Edyth O'Neill's Antique doll body pattern for china and papier mache' heads as a downloadable pdf  is available to purchase from my Granddaughter's Etsy shop.  That link is 

EDYTH O'NEILL Doll Body Pattern for China or Papier Mache - Etsy  Thank you for your interest, Edyth O'Neill

There are seven pages in this downloadable pdf document. When printing it from your computer you might like to print pages 1,6 and 7 on photo paper and the other pages on plain.  Make several copies of pages 3 and 4 with the pattern shapes and have them enlarged or made smaller as you need for different dolls.  e

Ten years ago

Birthdays are to be glad about, as long as one has a measure of health and a body that still mostly works ok.  I have a few creaks like the tin woodman, but  overall am ok.  Daughter Beth had a little birthday supper for me last evening, and throughout the day I heard from and visited with others in our large family.  Eight candles on the cake, one for each grand child and great grand.  We look forward to baby girl Ramsey to be born in February.

84 and hoping for more.

 

4 generations

Birthdays are also for looking back and here are some sweet pictures Sue Spivey took of the last workshop in the red cape. The year was 2005, when lightening was to strike the cape and change our lifestyle completely.

 The big sun porch was 40 feet long, the full width of the cape, making a great place for the workshops.

Our dining room was the old kitchen with a wide hearth.

The living room or sitting room would have been called the hall in the 18th century. It was not large, just under 16 feet square.

 

The cape was originally built in 1768 in Willington CT.

My wonderful little studio building!

Garden between the studio and the shop building.

Cashmere goats made charming pets.  If I would walk or sit near them most would come to nuzzle and be petted, they were armloads of downy sweetness for me. However they would butt each other around a bit.

Words cannot express my love for the little farm. e

Almost in full hair.  Below on the right is Banner our year old billy. Cashmere goats are so incredibly clean and pretty though the billys do smell very gamey when mature.

Patterns to enjoy a lifetime?

Did I hear a raven say "nevermore?"  I have come to think that the generations after me will not be collectors of antique dolls, nor collectors of much else! With a mobile life style from continent to continent,  only clothing and electronics and a few basic things can keep up with these young people. Artwork can be projected and changed at will. Great granddaughter Bailey will keep her sweet old Martin guitar and not too many other treasures in a few years as she moves out into the world.  Young women no longer pour over patterns of table ware with the same fervor as my friends did.   Still some of us in more settled circumstances enjoy living with  these things.  I cringe at TV shows devoted to how to get rid of Stuff! As my friend Jeannie says "We love our stuff!" 

Had a great happening at the thrift store today, almost did not go, I do not go often these days.  And there waiting for me was a great amount of one of my dish patterns, Wedgewood flying cloud in red. It is English made, since the 1960's when I bought my first of it. It will not take a dishwasher or microwave but crazes badly  when used that way.  It is a cheaper version of the classic Spode pattern Tradewinds, now discontinued I believe, as it has a real gold edge on it.   I have but do not use a small service of the tradewinds which is made with the earlier shapes of Chinese export porcelain, with a helmet shape to the creamer and so on.   I love many of  the 20th century English Spode patterns which are copied from 18th century ones, green Fitzhugh, and Indian tree and on and on.   I keep my kitchen cupboards always at the bursting point and enjoy setting a pretty table.  When we were buying at estate sales Jack used to grin in resignation and say "We never met a dish we didn't like!"    

Above are the ones I added today to an already good size service.

Spode tradewinds

Spode Indian Tree, made in England and now in China.

Tonquin bought in the 1960's, looks nice in the kitchen of this house now.

And a basic blue, Spode Italian recntly out of China at a great rate.

The blue is not happy in my gray/green kitchen and I have passed most of it on to the daughters except a small set.  Beth, Sarah and Cheryl all have  some of the same things I do in glassware and china so we can borrow back and forth, with Beth having a large amount of Spode's Christmas tree and Sarah having the lovely Spode Woodland.  We are out of step with the times but even dinosaurs can laugh and play.  e

Cold weather good for Rug Hooking

In some way I do not fully understand, all of this global warming is causing us to hit new lows.  My long suffering whaling rug is once more getting some attention, I hope I can finish it soon!

 

 

My rug called "Old Chalk Deer" is always a favorite to use at Christmas time. This year he went over the mantel.

 

Years back he was a bright spot over a side table at the Cape. 

 

Here is a pretty version of this pattern belonging to Penny S. and hooked by friend Ann  H.  I am adding a cloth sleeve to the back so the rug can be hung.  I love her color choices!  e

 

 My inspiration for this design comes from the Staffordshire deer figurines of the late 18th century and right on up to late 19th which hark back to Chinese figures of spotted deer which I do not find a picture of right now to share with you, and reinterpreted in the chalkware of Pennsylvania later.  Here are a few examples. e

 

 

More art minded in 2015

I hope to go back to my painting this year.  I am happy at it.  I truly love paint and the application of it.  Even so, it seems such a waste of time as there is no need for more little oil paintings of a mediocre sort.  The world is full of millions of them!  Jack said to think of it like golf, just enjoy the doing of it and strive to get better as you do it, whatever the definition of better may be.   That goes down hard for me as I am a production minded person.    I wrote my brother this and here is his reply:  (My brother is a writer among other talents.)

I agree with Jack. I think our happiest moments are those in which we are lost (or found) in creation. Completely "in the zone" of creating something that didn't exist before. Not every seed will sprout, not every sprout will grow, but in the moments of preparing the soil, planting the seed, and tending the sprout, there is hope and joy. Each plant which survives may then thrive. Not all will be beautiful, not all will be strong, but together they make a more beautiful patch of earth. Likewise with your paintings, among which will be the ones that make you very happy. But you won't know which ones until you pick up the paintbrushes and enter that creative, timeless zone.

Love, 

Chale

 

Pictures show a gorgeous old house on one of the prettiest farms in our county, where I attended a great party yesterday.  There are many painting possibilities there! 

 

Here comes 2015, I am a happy person grateful for many blessings.  e

Pardon me, I had to show a grandchild!

Actually a great grand.   Here is Macy with a pacifier and an I pad.  She is a force of nature!   e