Since I am still recuperating from the broken bone in my foot, I am still not quite up to speed. The last x-ray shows that the bone is healing well, and my job now is to concentrate on walking normally. As the doctor put it – heel to toe, heel to toe. That is much easier said than done though, but I will eventually get there.
Even in the face of this obvious obstacle, I managed to get some things done in September. I finished one quilt, pieced another and am almost finished quilting it, finished piecing another king-size quilt and have started putting the rows together for another, and spruced up a doll I bought at a garage sale.
X Marks the Spot
I started this twin-size quilt last year using leftover blocks from another quilt and some yardage leftover from still another and some that I bought at a yard sale. I didn’t have enough of the either of these yardages to use just one of them as the backing so pieced the backing. I’m not sure which side I like best. I also tried out a new pantograph, Wave On Wave, that I was considering using on the king-size Jacob’s Ladder quilts I am making for our children. I also used the two piece binding that creates a faux piping on the front.
Chevron Baby Quilt
Our first great-great niece is due December 12. I thought I better get a head start on making a quilt for the little one, so I inquired as to the colors for the baby’s room. Gray and white. Okay. What about an accent color? Baby blue. Oh, dear. What am I going to do with that? I have plenty of time to consider this, or so I thought. Within days after my inquiry about colors, I received an invitation to the baby shower which is October 15. Luckily the registries were listed on the invitation which I quickly perused as to get an idea as to the theme for the room. Turns out that almost everything is done in chevrons. So I quickly went to Pinterest and search for chevron quilt patterns. Pinterest did not disappoint. I had a bit of trouble finding geometric prints in gray. Do you have any idea how many shades of gray are out there? LOL After purchasing a fat quarter bundle and three pieces of yard goods, here is the resulting quilt top:
I am almost through quilting it. I was going to just quilt it with a pantograph, but this quilt screamed, “CUSTOM!” It is a simple custom design that I copied from a picture on Pinterest.
And I’m using the faux piping method for the binding. Here is a preview:
I hope the happy parents like it.
Jacob’s Ladder Quilts
As you may have read and/or recall from previous posts, I am making three king-size Jacob’s Ladder quilts. The first one is completed and was donated as a fund raiser for our local food pantry. The other two are gifts for our son’s and daughter’s families. I finished putting the blocks together to complete the second flimsy and have two rows together for the third one. Here is a reminder of what they look like:
Another Doll
We happened to go to a garage sale that had an American Girl doll for sale for a mere $10. I could not pass her up for that wee sum. They usually are priced for $50 or better. Turns out that she is Josefina. But the bottom four inches of her hair was badly damaged. I tried using conditioner on it to no avail, so I decided to cut and curl her hair and renamed her. Meet Josie:
Almost Back On Track
So even though I lost a month of working on the quilts, I am back on track to finishing the two king-size Jacob’s Ladder quilts ahead of schedule and even squeezed a couple of other quilts in there. And had fun playing hair dresser, too. You can bet that I’m being extra careful walking. I sure can’t afford another down month. LOL
Happy crafting,
Lana
I went to a few garage sales on Friday and ran across one that had lots of stuff I needed (uh, wanted) including a blond blue-eyed Daisy Kingdom doll. Daisy Kingdom made two 17″-18″ dolls named Daisy and Pansy. Since I already have a brown-eyed brunette Pansy, I decided that this one would be called Lily because of her pretty yellow hair. Here is a picture of her with her four sisters.
They are from left to right: Pansy, Daisy, Nikki, Maggie, and Lily. Thought my doll family was complete with the first four dolls, but I was mistaken. Now it’s complete. Well, at least until I run across another 17-18″ doll that needs a good home.
Happy shopping,
Lana, Pansy, Daisy, Nikki, Maggie and Lily
Why Lana’s Lark? Well, first of all, my name is Lana which starts with the letter “L”. What word starts with the letter “L” that describes what I want from the rest of my life? I chose the word “Lark” because a lark is an escapade, a game, a pastime. Synonyms for lark are adventure, amusement, distraction, diversion, entertainment, hobby, interest, play, recreation. The opposite of lark is work. What a wonderful way to spend my retirement years doing anything but “work”!
I love to sew. Self-taught at the age of 13 making my Barbie doll some clothes. I now have three 17-18″ dolls that wear the same size clothing as the American Girl doll. I found Daisy, a Daisy Kingdom doll, on eBay for $39.95 with free shipping. She is the most adorable little girl doll. I thought to myself that I really like this doll. I wouldn’t have spent that much on her if I didn’t really REALLY like her. And the dress she was wearing was to die for. So I hit that button “Buy It Now”, paid for her, and she arrived a few days later. When I removed her from the packaging, I said right out loud to anyone who was listening, “I don’t just like this doll, I love this doll!”
Later I found Pansy, another Daisy Kingdom doll, at a garage sale. I paid the sum total of 50 cents for her. Now that’s my kind of a bargain. Took her home; cleaned her up; and introduced her to Daisy. Daisy insisted that Pansy share her clothes, and we very quickly agreed on a pretty dress for her. After she was dressed, she made her home alongside Daisy in the corner of my sewing room.
Then along came Nikki. Nikki is another garage sale find that cost the enormous sum of a quarter. After a good cleaning, she was introduced to Daisy and Pansy. The three of them became fast friends, and now they share the ever-growing 18″ doll wardrobe If I make something for one of them, the other two keep reminding me that they need something new. They can be quite demanding. And being the spoiled little girls that they are, they decided that they want original clothing designed just for them..So began my pattern designing adventure. Nikki is jumping up and down waving her arms right now. She is “gently” reminding me to tell you that she is the model for the designs.
Okay, now that she is happy again, we can continue our conversation. My first design was a crocheted Spring short-sleeved sweater that my girls love. So far I have made two and the third one is almost finished. The pattern has been written, tested, tweaked, and published online. (I’ll list the URLs in a minute in case you’re interested.)
My girl’s wouldn’t let me rest until I had designed some cute ruffled shorts to go with the new sweaters. So back to the drawing board I went. I had a lot of fun designing and making the shorts in two lengths with either one or two ruffles, but it turns out that sewing pattern instructions are not as easy to write as crochet pattern instructions. But I got it done. That pattern is also available.
And now I’m off to design another outfit. Yes, yes, Pansy, I’ll design this one just for you. Sheesh! Will they ever give it a rest? I hope that you enjoy visiting Lana’s Lark and that you come back again and again. Here’s wishing you many a “lark” in your life,
Lana, Daisy, Pansy, and Nikki
And as promised, here are the links to my stores where you may purchase the patterns:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LanasLark
http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lanas-lark
https://www.zibbet.com/lanas-lark
http://tinyurl.com/LanasLarkDesigns
Lana's Lark 