Saturday, May 9, 2015

May Newsletter

Virginia's Bunnies

Upcoming Meetings

May 16, 2015
Joint Meeting with River City

June 20, 2015
Eyelash Tutorial - Erin

July 18, 2015
Zentangle - Janet

Member Birthdays

 Happy Birthday to Virginia and Janet L and Happy Mothers Day!

April Meeting Minutes

Members present: Julie G, Ron, Jude, Ann C, Leslie, Ann R, Sandy, Julie W, Joan Webb, Andrea, Virginia,  Sue, Sara, Mary, Maggie, Nita, and Erin.

Julie and Nita's Dancing Doris twins

Show and Tell

Julie G and Nita surprised each other by each making a Dancing Doris for our AFIC bar display.  It wasn’t planned, but they both dressed this funky lady in polka dots.  So now we have twins at the bar! The pattern is by Jill Maas

Nita also made a critter pin doll that was very sweet.  She used felt and beads for her little birdie.

Andrea's scrapbook

Mary sculpted a ghostie who is super cute scary.

Virginia made a few more bunnies from the Scribbles patterns.  We have so many dolls to donate this year, thank you to everyone for your generosity!

Joan's sketchbooks

Andrea brought a memory book she made with vintage items from her grandmother’s sewing cabinet.  It’s filled with fabric, embroidery, notes, and other items.  What a great way to honor her talent.

Joan made a charity doll from the Scribbles pattern, and machine embroidered the face.  She also made several  types of sketch books with handmade covers.  We all loved the one with puzzle pieces under the rust dyed fabric.

Erin's Bunnies

Erin made a Mama and Baby bunny from a Judi Lynn pattern.  The mama is made from chenille upholstery fabric, and the baby is fleece.


Ann R made a bunch of Scibbles for our donation to the Children’s Bureau.  She used print fabrics for the hair that really look like hair.  They were probably meant to resemble wood grain or wheat, but it works great for hair!

Joan's Scribble

Business Meeting


The November Show and Sale is set to take place at the Irvington United Methodist Church in the Parlor.  It is $60 to rent but we voted to donate extra for their generosity.  We are able to set up the day before.  Maggie will go to take measurements and plan the arrangement of the room.  She wants to meet with the Show and Sale Committee this summer.

Joan's Scrapbooks

We voted to accept the new By-laws as written. Thanks to Leslie and Jude for all their hard work on this!


There is a new date for the Threads of Time Show and Sale.  We will have a retreat from July 24 to the 26th in Danville, IL.  Our Show and Sale will be on Saturday July 25th.  You do not have to attend to display dolls or participate in the Australian fabric challenge.   See the bottom of the newsletter for more information on the challenge.

The Greenwood doll show was May 2 and Katie and Nita had a table.  Can’t wait to hear how it went, and if we pulled in any new members!

Sara won the nametag drawing.

We finished our meeting with a presentation from Sue about Steampunk.  She is a wealth of information, and shared several books including 
Steampunk Style and the Steampunk Adventurer's Guide. Thanks Sue, it was a treat!

Next Meeting

We will not be having our normal meeting at the library. 
May 16th
11 am
Clifty Inn at Clifty Falls State Park
Hoffman Room
1314 Clifty Hollow Rd
Madison, IN 47250

Our annual joint meeting with the River City FigurativeArtists’ Guild is May 16th.  If you would like to carpool, meet at the library at 8:30 am.  When you arrive at the park tell the person at the gate that you are with the Indy Cloth Dollmakers and you will be admitted to the park for free.  Lunch will be $16 for the buffet including tip.

Mary's ghost

The meeting will mostly be a fun get together with a Show and Tell of dolls we created over the last year as well as our Paint Chip Challenge doll.  See below for information on the challenge. 

We do a few exchanges with River City.  The first is a door prize drawing.  Participation is optional.  Make a grab bag or two with items from your stash.  Past examples are coordinating fabrics and trims for a doll, or a book on dollmaking.  There is also a pin doll exchange (also optional).  Bring a wrapped pin doll and receive one from another artist.

In June, Erin will be giving a demonstration on making eyelashes with black organza.  No supplies will be needed.

Upcoming Challenges

Nita's pin doll

2015 Paint Chip Challenge- Choose a paint chip with coordinating colors and make a doll that includes those colors. This will be due at our next joint meeting with River City in May of 2015. If you haven’t received a chip, you can get one from Andrea or find one you like at your hardware store.

2015 Australian Fabric Challenge- Choose a fabric from Threads of Time’s Australian collection to use in a doll. Doll is due in Danville, IL in July of 2015. There will be a People’s Choice award.

Leather and Lace- Due at the October meeting, make a cloth doll that includes the materials leather and lace in some way.  No restrictions on size or theme.

Ann's Scribbles

May Checklist

  • Nametag
  • $16 Lunch Money
  • Paint Chip Challenge Doll
  • Grab Bags (optional)
  • Pin Doll (optional)