Who are the dolls in our new blog banner?

You may have noticed that we have a new banner at the top of our blog.  Here you will find a full picture of each doll, along with credit to the dollmakers and the pattern designers.

A collection of faces, made by members of the doll club.

The first face belongs to this doll, made for our Fassett Fabric Challenge in 2011.  Ann C. made this doll, using a Patti Culea pattern from the book Creative Cloth Doll Beading.  It is a beautiful example of the 'standard' needle-sculpted cloth face, with features colored by colored pencils, permanent markers, and acrylic paint.

Greater-Crested Ruby-Throated Dream Chaser,
made by Ann C. from a Patti Culea pattern

The second face in the banner was made in our Spring 2012 workshop with Leslie Molen.  Katie created this cloth-over-cloth face with inset eyes, and used a fantastic beaded fabric for the hat to set it off.  Here is the post about our class.

Princess Chun Woo, made by Katie in a workshop with Leslie Molen

The only male face in the banner is also needle-sculpted cloth.  Mary started this doll in our 2006 Elven King workshop with Judy Skeel.  Due to his strong nose and rather imperious expression, he ended up with a definite resemblance to the Harry Potter character Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius, made by Mary M. in a workshop with Judy Skeel

The center face in the banner was made by Ann R. in our 2011 workshop with Annie Hesse.  This is an in-progress picture taken during the workshop itself, but the doll did eventually get arms!  The fully-beaded face is a departure from our usual cloth faces, but was an awesome technique to learn.

Garden Party doll, made by Ann R. in a workshop with Annie Hesse.

The next picture is an example of cloth-over-clay construction.  The face was sculpted out of clay first, and then covered with fabric and colored.  Nita made this lovely doll during a workshop taught by our very own Leslie W.

GwynnEllen, made by Nita in a workshop with Leslie W.

The next-to-last photo in the banner is an old-fashioned embroidered face, sewn by Julie G. for a Gail Wilson doll.  Julie got to take a class with Gail in the spring of 2010, and made this adorable Lottie doll.  Gail is quite the queen of old-fashioned dollies, so we had to include one of her designs here.


Lottie, made by Julie G. in a class with Gail Wilson

The last doll was made by Andrea B., in a 2004 workshop with Christine Shively.  Our club has invited Christine to teach more than once, because her faces are so much fun to color.  This workshop included both The Countess doll and The Extraordinary Chair.  The flat face was colored using Prismacolor pencils, acrylic paint, and a fine-line Micron pen.

Gothic Princess, made by Andrea in a workshop with Christine Shively

The 2nd Half of our Doll Show

We were walking around the display at our 10th Annual Art Doll Show and Sale.  Let's rejoin the tour at the far end of the room, which features our Round Robin dolls.

As you can see, we had a busy day with many visitors!

This is the west side of the table, taken while we were still setting up.

We filled in with a few more dolls the next morning.



Gloriana by Shelby, Three Faces of the Goddess by Barbara, N'Ambessa by Andrea



Guardian Angel by Leslie, Owls by Rebecca



Brigitte by Andrea, Witch and Wazinkies by Leslie, Kewpie by Ann R,
Jilly by Andrea, Roxanne by Julie G.



Gift Basket fundraiser for a family who lost their home in the southside explosion

Challenge Winners and the 1st half of the doll show

Here are the first pictures from our 10th Doll Show :-)  This was the view as you entered the room.  Our Leslie Molen class dolls served as a friendly welcoming committee.

And above them was a varied and interesting cast of characters, including last year's Judge's Choice Winner, a furry monster, a Greek myth, and a literary villain. There's also an extra-small doll in the lower left corner.

Counter-clockwise from the bottom:
Poppie by Martha J., Tucker Beano by Erin F.,
Aquarius the Water-Bearer by Katie J., and Lucius Malfoy by Mary M.

If you turned left, you found our Gift Giver Challenge table.  We collected a total of 116 votes for the People's Choice Award, which definitely set a new record for us.  Here's the table during the show, with the ballots being collected, and story signs posted for each of the dolls.

Here's a tidied-up version, after the winners were announced.

People' Choice Award Winner: The Princess and the Frog by Katie Jones.
Second Place went to The BFG by Erin, and
Third Place in the popular vote went to Fine Lady Elinore by Shelby.

Before the show we also had our dolls judged by a fiber artist, and we gave awards for those results, too.
First Place and Judge's Choice went to The Princess by Katie Jones.
Second Place went to La Befana by Mary McNeely.
Third Place went to Mother Nature by Jude.
Congratulations to everyone who finished this year's Challenge!  And special kudos to Katie, who swept the awards with her excellent workmanship.

Let's go back to the display, and see what else was on the table.  This is the view from the east side of the room. 

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More soon...

It's almost Show Time!

Just a reminder to everybody that our 10th Annual Art Doll Show and Sale is this Saturday, November 17th from 10-5!
Come see us at the library branch in the beautiful neighborhood of Irvington.  The construction is finished, and the streetscape is lovely and easy to drive through now.  Don't miss The Gathering of Artists art fair nearby, too.  With all the great little shops and good food, it's a fabulous way to spend a Saturday and do lots of Christmas shopping. 

Also, check out our new blog banner up top!  I had always planned the original one as 'just a place-holder'; now only a few short years later, I have replaced it with a collage of many doll faces made by different members of the club.

We hope to see you Saturday.  Let us talk your ear off about how much fun it is (and how challenging it can be) to make cloth dolls.

'Gift Giver' Challenge Dolls and an online poll

Our cloth doll challenge theme this year was 'Gift Giver'.  Please vote for your favorite doll in the poll on the right sidebar!  At our 10th Annual Show and Sale next month, we will announce the winner as part of our People's Choice Award.

We had six finished dolls at our October meeting.  Our first, very colorful doll is made from the Cindee Moyer pattern 'Weighing the Possibilities'.  You may notice that her name spells Mother Nature backwards. Her gifts include sunshine, rainbows, and clear stargazing nights as well as wind, rain, and storms.

Erutan Rehtom

Our next fellow is made from Ute Vasina's 'Norman' pattern.  He is the main character in the Roald Dahl story, The BFG.  Instead of eating children like the other giants, he gives them the good dreams he has collected.

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant)

The third doll is from a Patti Culea pattern, 'Very Merry Santa Claus'.  He is a portrayal of the Russian Father Frost.  He delivers presents in person every New Year.

Deduska Moroz

Next is a lovely version of Stephanie Novatski's pattern, 'One Kiss is Not Enough', with original costume designs.  Our princess has learned to overcome selfishness by giving love to others.

Princess and the Frog

Ute is a favorite designer, so it's no surprise to find two of her designs in our challenge.  This one started as her 'Kitchen Witch' pattern, found in the July 2003 issue of Soft Dolls and Animals.  Befana is the old Italian woman who delivers presents for children on Epiphany Eve, as she flies over rooftops searching for the Christ Child.

La Befana

Lastly, we have an original design.  This kind lady gives smiles to passers-by, and if you're lucky, a piece of candy from her beaded handbag.  Please check out the fancy Victorian parasol!

Fine Lady Elinore

Please cast your vote for your favorites in our Viewer's Choice Award poll!

Round Robin Reveal - a Group Overview

Welcome, at long last, to the 2012 Indy Cloth Dollmakers Round Robin Dolls!  We call it a reveal, but actually the pictures will get less revealing as we go along, because the dolls start off as bare bodies and get their clothes in the later rounds.  Here they are, posing beside their traveling bags in January.

Round 1 - naked doll bodies

For those unfamiliar with the idea, a round robin doll (also called a bag doll) is a progressive group project.  You start with a doll body inside a bag, and without peeking, trade it for another doll.  You create the face for that doll, and hide the doll in the bag to trade again. As time goes on, the dolls travel to new dollmakers, and at each stage of the journey, get another element of their costume.  We broke our project down into seven steps, so seven different club members worked on each doll.  In February, the dolls get their heads sewn on, now that they have such lovely faces.

Round 2 - faces

Now let me take a second to explain the un-glamorous backdrop in these photos.  The round robin players did not want to see the dolls before the end, so in order to get pictures of all the steps, the photographer had to whisk the dolls away to a nearby storage room during the club meetings, to take pictures in secret.  Finally in March the dolls get to wear clothes!

Round 3 - clothes

And in April, very stylish hair-dos.

Round 4 - hair

June's picture was obviously taken in a bit of a hurry.  It was hard work to get most of the dolls to stand or sit nicely, but you can still see the accessories -- hats and scarves and bits of jewelry.

Round 5 - accessories and embellishments

We will also have a series of step-by-step photos for each doll, so stay tuned for all the lovely close-ups.  Remember, this post is just an overview!  July's meeting was also a little rushed, as people had other places to be, but we do get to see some very delicate footwear.

Round 6 - shoes

Finally, the last step!  The dolls themselves are finished, but need to be shown to their best advantage.  Round 7 is presentation -- giving the doll whatever she (or he!) needs to own her little spot in the world.  Many of our dolls acquired 'significant others' of some variety, while others gained the perfect spot to perch.

Round 7 - stands and presentation

Every doll travelled with a journal, so that each dollmaker could share the developing story as the characters developed.  If you come to our doll show in November, you can see the journals, too!

Ordinary September show and tell

The show and tell at our September club meeting was awesome, as it always is.  Our members have been keeping very busy, making wonderful things. 

However, since the highlight of our meeting was the unveiling of our Round Robin dolls, and this post doesn't have those pictures yet, we'll just have to see the 'usual', ordinarily fabulous show and tell.  Stay tuned for the reveal soon, though.

To start us off with a bang, Erin brought in a complete and most fabulous puppet, made from the 'Mostro' pattern from Project Puppet.  All of his pictures are action shots, since nobody wanted to put him down!  He is a classic Muppet-style critter (temporarily named Beano) complete with furry feet and a well-made working mouth.  His foam rubber construction and soft blue fur made him very huggable.

Next up: our prolific newcomer Shelby, with her 4th finished doll.  It is a Jan Horrox design, but Shelby has added lots of her own touches to this one.  Her hair is elaborate, with twists and a beaded headdress.  Shelby added costume texture by cutting out tiny leaf elements printed on the body fabric and stiffening them with Fray-Check, then sewing them to the body with beads.

Kyra of Avalon, from a Jan Horrox pattern

Our other show and tell items were not dolls, although much of the hand-dyed silk from our workshop last month will end up in a doll someday.  Mary's salt crystal piece was stunning.  The trick to getting a strong pattern was to use lots of dye (actually, Jacquard's Dye-na-flow paint) so that the fabric was really wet, and then using a lot of large-grained salt and leaving it to dry on the fabric.

Last one: Martha has fallen for English paper piecing and as always, cannot make just one of anything.  These are only two of at least a dozen pieced stars, waiting to be appliqued onto pillow tops.

Detour map to this Saturday's club meeting

Driving to our club meeting this Saturday will be a little trickier than usual.  Construction on Washington Street means that we'll have to detour to get to the library.  Here's a map.

The 'A' marker is the library.  Most or all of the intersections between Emerson and Arlington are closed on the south side of the street, so you cannot get to the library from Washington Street at all.  Instead, go south on Emerson or Arlington all the way down to Brookville.  Take Brookville to Audubon, and turn at Roscoe's Tacos (which has great food, by the way!).  Then take Audubon all the way back up to the library.

Just so you know, it is not hard to get a map image into a blog -- but I did have to learn the two-step process.  I had to paste a screenshot of the map from Google into Paint, and then save it as a jpeg file.  Anyhow, see you Saturday!

Silk Painting Workshop

Here are the pictures from our wonderful visit to the silk painting workshop at the Traditional Arts Building in Nashville, IN.  We had a beautiful day with our teacher, Mary Pendergrass.

Here are two close-ups:

Denise invented a technique for painting two pieces at once. She layered the sheer silk (on the right) on top of the heavier silk, and painted both together.

This is Julie G.'s beautiful scarf.

And more fabric:

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info about our trip to Nashville

Hi, everybody!  The doll club is not holding our regular meeting at the Irvington Library on Saturday the 18th.  Instead, we are going to a silk-dyeing workshop in Nashville, IN.

Class starts at 9:30 in the Traditional Arts Building at 46 E. Gould Street in Nashville.  Bring your lunch.  A car pool is meeting at the library at 7:45.

Coming soon: pictures from Dye Day!

June 2012 Show and Tell

What a great June meeting!  Lots of people, including one new member (welcome, Shelby!) and tons of show and tell.

Night-Mer by Mary McNeely

First is Mary's newest original doll, Night-Mer.  The idea for this one has been hanging around Mary's brain for a long time, but those tentacles took a while to figure out.  You can see the doll in person next month at the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Art Exhibit at Garfield Park, on the south side of Indianapolis.

Mary also brought her Lucius Malfoy doll, started in our Elven King workshop with Judy Skeel (way back in 2006, but who's counting?).

Lucius by Mary M., pattern by Judy Skeel

It has obviously been a good time to finish some UFOs, because Julie G. also brought a workshop doll to share.  This one was from a Lucy Landry workshop at Magic, Mischief, & Mayhem in 2010.

Moth Woman by Julie G., pattern by Lucy Landry

Our next doll was not years in the making, although she looks like she should have been.  Katie brought her absolutely gorgeous original doll, Tashi.  Check out Katie's blog for lots more pictures and close-ups.  She describes the Tibetan jewelry and other costume bits that inspired her design.

Tashi, original design by Katie

From elaborate to elegant simplicity -- the next doll is actually a knitted lamb, made by Erin for Baby Bea.  I was in the other room, taking pictures of our Round Robin dolls in progress (maintaining the secrecy until the grand unveiling this fall!), so I missed all the discussion about Erin's soft and cuddly creation, and do not know what pattern was used.  I can vouch for cuddly, though.

And finally, our last doll is actually the first doll ever made by our newest member, Shelby.  She is from Jan Horrox's book, Introduction to Making Cloth Dolls.

Great meeting, everybody!  See you next month :-)