Fabric panel dolls

Every once in awhile I come upon a fabric panel for a doll that reminds me of my grandchildren.  This year it was Opal and I just had to sew it up for her for Christmas.

The fabric line was "Just Another Walk in the Woods" by Moda and the panel was 36 by 44 inches, so one yard of fabric.  Just a bag of polyester filling and we were ready to go.

I loved the cheater quilt panel with backing and the Home Sweet Home pillow.

And their little stuffed animals.

Now I knew that this was a lot of pieces for a four year old to carry about so I found myself back at the Cotton Shop looking for coordinating fabric from the line to make Opal a carry around bag.  A half yard of fabric and some stiff woven interfacing and the problem was solved.

Closeups of these two cute faces.

Isn't it so adorable how the fabric piece for the skirt gathers up and make such a lovely dress?  I added some lace around the bottom.

So there you have it, Opal's look alike Christmas gift.  I understand that there have been some tea parties at Opal's house.

Hee Haw Farms with Opal

I received an invitation in October to visit Hee Haw Farm in American Fork with Opal and her preschool class.  We had a great time.

 As you can see, the farm has been around for awhile.

I grew up on an 80 acre dairy farm in Idaho with Jersey cows, a horse, occasional pigs, chickens, and cats and dogs.  There were two tractors, a big flat big truck,  several graders and plows and such, silos, and a big red barn.  As I look back, it was a a great childhood.

This is what it looks like when there is an abundance of corn kernels.

Poor Opal!  Grandma made her look towards the sun to show the field with corn stalks, sunflowers, and ripe pumpkins.

Sorry honey!  It really was bright!

It was a fun day to visit this working farm with a side job and Mt. Timpanogos in the background.  Thanks for inviting me to tag along!

A birthday Saturday

Grandpa Glen loaded up his bubble machine, bottles of bubbles, and took it with him to Heber Valley last weekend.

It was for the birthday girl on her birthday.  She wears a Snow White costume well.

She had a great time with her cousin and her brothers.

I call them the Three Musketeers.

They were into bubble fights.  Little sister was into touching them with her fairy wand.

Preparing for their next charge.

If you tell her you are taking her picture this is the face you will photograph.

If you take a picture secretly, you will see those beautiful eyes.

The clouds took turns with the sun highlighting the bubbles.

Inside was prepped for presents and cake.

After a bath, the princess was ready to share her daddy made castle cake. . .

with the boys.

The candle was pretty amazing with lights, action, and music.

She was a bit hesitant about the show so her brother helped her out.

I made her a sock monkey and dresses to match.  I can't believe she is already three.

Opal discovers the balcony and who needs cherry blossoms

Grandpa left the sliding glass door open for fresh air on Saturday.  Miss Opal was discovered sitting in the corner of the balcony all by herself.

She loved sitting high above the ground looking into the tree tops.  Big brother brought out some of grandpa's latest online purchases.

After a bit of discussion with these doggies . . .

she selected the one in her lap and took it home with her.  Notice the BOMA pen?  There is always one in her hand because you never know when you might need to promote the business or mark up a wall.

This is why she was so enamored with the balcony.  It really is beautiful out there right now.

All three trees on the east side are now in full bloom which means that every time I look out an east facing window (and that is most the windows in this house) this is what I see.

I love this great big window.  Last night I watched Mars and the moon rise over the mountains.  Right now I am surrounded by rainbows as the sunlight makes its way through all those prisms.

First thing this morning when I got up, it was all rosy light outside when I opened the front door.

And this is what I saw when I glanced out my favorite window.  Who needs cherry blossoms?

Remember those Thanksgiving Point tulips I bought last year and planted here and there?  Well, they are up!  The magic of it all is that you don't know what kind of tulips you are buying so it is also a surprise.

Aprons for the boys and the girls

Years ago I made and bought some aprons for the grand  kids to wear on doughnut day and sugar cookie day.  Guess what?  They keep growing and growing, so this year I made some new ones.  These were not Christmas presents, but just because I want them all in the kitchen learning how to prepare food and gain food prep skills.

For the boys, I found a four pack of dish towels each a different design at Ikea.  Perfect!

For the largest, I only trimmed off the triangle for the arms.  For the smaller boys there was some trimming and additional hemming.

I used the extra towel for ties which were fairly long.  They are threaded through the casing on each slanted side with a loop to fit around the neck at the top.

I used the triangles from the armhole trimming for further pocket accents.

My accent fabric was some red and white ticking leftover from my family room drapery project last year.

Pretty cute!  My base pattern was a Simplicity apron pattern.

Baby Opal didn't get left out.  She had also grown and needed a larger bib.  I just added some more length at the shoulder.

I love this reversible bib pattern from Piper's Quilts and Other Comforts.

Showing off their new cover ups before rolling doughnuts.  That is Oscar's in the background.  He wasn't as pleased but I know that he loves to help in the kitchen so I'm sure it will be used.

I also used a Simplicity apron pattern for the girls.  It included sizes for adults, children, and 18 inch dolls.  Once again, perfect!  Heather has grown so much this year and I used a small adult size for her.  I started with the largest child size pattern and just kept cutting it down as I went.  Most of these fabrics were Lori Holt designs.  Heather's is different mostly because I needed more fabric and most of my Lori Holt fabric pieces are a yard or less.

 

The doll aprons are made from the girls' contrast fabric with pieces of their main fabric for contrast.

I loved how they turned out.  My main expense came from all of the quarter inch double fold bias tape, yards and yards of it, that I bought.  Thank goodness for a senior coupon of 30% off my entire purchase at JoAnn's.

I had enough of the same but different color way fabrics to send the three sisters; Ruby, Sadie, and Mae home with coordinating aprons.  Heather's and Julianna's were each a bit different.

Julianna was more interested in helping grandpa in the front yard than participating in our photo shoot.  But we carried on.  I received coupons for free photo books with the purchase of a couple of dolls I bought this fall and I wanted a plethora of cute pictures of my American girls.

Aren't they the cutest? I love my boys and my girls!  I wasn't sure how my two oldest grandsons would feel about an apron, but they are still on my list for the future.  You may have noticed that Opal's bib and Julianna's aprons are of the same fabrics.

For Christmas, the girls received matching American Girl tops and American Girl hats including hats for their dolls.  I also picked up new white blouses and jeans for their dolls at the Doll Shop at Gardner Village in Midvale.  I love shopping there for my girls.  The quality is good and prices are lower than the official American Girl outfits.  They also have monthly coupons.  Just a thought for any of you who are from Utah.