August Newsletter

An example of Cloth Overlay by Leslie

Upcoming Meetings
August 16- Artist Trading Cards by Julie G
September 14?- Wings Demo by Andrea
October 18- Puppets by Erin
November 15- Challenge Doll Reveal
November 22- Annual Show and Sale
December 20- Annual Christmas Party


Member Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Andrea, our only member with the Peridot birthstone.  Hope you have a great vacation in Scandinavia!

July Meeting Minutes

Members Present:Erin, Martha, Katie, Ann R., Ann C., Vicki, Andrea, Mary, Julie G., Maggie, Nita, Brenda, Jude, Leslie, and Julie W.

Show and Tell
We started the meeting with Show and Tell because we had lots to share.
Nita has set herself a goal to make at least 6 dolls from patterns she already owns this year. 

Nita, like we all do, loves to collect patterns. This month she made Confection Girl, a barefoot little girl in pinks, browns and greens.  She is even holding little truffles! this is based on Sherry Goshon's Jelly Bean.

Nita's Confection Girl

Jude finished more of the doll-sized tatting, and they are available for purchase.  Let her know if you'd like to buy some.

Machine Tatting by Jude

Leslie was inspired by some origami boxes Rebecca was making, so she took out some pretty scrapbooking paper to try it herself.

Leslie's origami boxes

Martha has been busy with quilts, but first had to share that her 10 year old granddaughter made her first dress (mostly) by herself! Way to go Lizzie!

Martha's Shopping Quilt

The larger of Martha's quilts in pink and green has little girls shopping, which is perfect for another granddaughter. The smaller wall hanging is teacups fussy cut from a Mary Engelbreit fabric. Next Martha will hand quilt the tops.

The Teacup Quilt

Katie sent off her Hoffman Challenge doll, Avant Garde Indigo. She used the gessoed and painted cloth for her face, and her hair gave Katie quite the challenge to dye, but she got it perfect in the end!

Katie's Avant Garde Indigo

Congratulations to Katie, because the doll won Best Incorporation of the Challenge Fabric! 

Avant Garde Indigo

Vicki has made some adorable dress-form pincushions. They might be a good accessory for a fairy house, too...

Vicki's Pincushions

Brenda has revised her cool neck tie purse.  The new version is made from four ties, which makes it bigger and better!

Brenda's Tie Purse

Business Meeting
Jude reported $xxx in our treasury. That will be reduced, of course after we pay Lucy Landry for her class this weekend.

Nita's Overlay face

We will be participating in the One Stop Shop Hop on September 19th and 20th at the Lawrenceburg Event Center, 50 Walnut St. We will be displaying dolls as well as selling dolls and other items. If you would like to sell, but can't attend please drop off your items with labels (Name, Your Name, Pattern by) and inventory with price list. Because this event coincides with our September meeting, we discussed having the meeting on Sunday September 14th at 1pm, if we are able to use the Library that day. This would allow people not attending the even to bring display items to the meeting.


Katie has postcards to promote the November Show and Sale, please pass them out your favorite public spot to promote the show!

There will be retreat at Threads and Beds on October 31st and November 1st, which will be a great opportunity to work on the Fairy/ Habitat challenge. October books fast, so reserve your spot soon.

The Threads of Time Doll Show is in June of 2015, and the shop has challenged us to create dolls using their Australian line of fabrics, and would have to be purchased through them.

It's time to think about our Board Members for 2015, we have two open positions. Please consider volunteering for President or Publicity. Being on our board is a very fulfilling experience, and we welcome the newer members to consider volunteering.

Examples of cloth overlay by Andrea

Many of you remember Bonnie, a member that passed away two years ago. Her boyfriend brought us a doll body that she had started but not finished. We are going to start a round robin with the doll, where anyone who has time that month can work on a bit of the doll, such as the face, hair or clothes.  Whatever is calling to you. When the doll is finished we will auction the doll and donate the proceeds to the Wounded Warriors program.

Brenda trying cloth overlay

Katie won the nametag drawing and chose a fat quarter from our new stash!

Leslie then started the Cloth Overlay program. We discussed the best fabrics to use, and the techniques to get the most detail.

An example of cloth overlay by Leslie

Next Meeting
Julie G. will be teaching Artist Trading Cards.  ATCs are small works of art that are meant for trading.  There will be a $1 kit fee if you would like to participate.  Kit includes fabric for the ATC, stamped face on muslin, and a bit of stuffing.  You can also bring your own embroidery floss, embroidery needles, scissors, your favorite colored pencils for coloring faces, embellishments such as beads and buttons (optional).

Examples of ATCs
Mimi Kirchner 
Natasha May
EK Duncan
Tarni Levin

Katie trying cloth overlay

Odds and Ends
Janet Brandt is participating in the Calm and Collected quilt exhibit through September 27th. This is the Charm Club show of scrap quilts and parodies of the Keep Calm poster at the Sullivan Munce Cultural Center, 225 W. Hawthorne St, Zionsville, IN.

There are a few websites we'd like to share. Nita found a new doll supply store, OOAK Artist Emporium.  It has wonderful hair, eye and wing supplies.  Thanks Nita!

While we were at Janet Brandt's studio, she told us about Delectable Mountain Cloth. This Vermont store sells beautiful silk, and you can order bundles of small pieces of assorted fabrics.

Upcoming Challenges

Brenda's detailed result

Fae Folk and Habitat- Our yearly challenge will be a fairy house and a cloth fairy to live inside. The doll and habitat will be due on November 15, 2014.

2015 AFICC Club display -- A Bar Scene- Create a character (around 14-16" tall) that you might meet in a bar or nightclub. You may create just the
doll, or you may add a setting of your own, like a corner booth or bit of dance floor. We'll display them together at AFICC in Columbus, Ohio, in April of 2015.

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 on September 19th. There will be a People’s Choice award.

August Meeting Checklist

• Nametag
• $1 kit fee
• Color Pencils
• Embroidery Floss and Needles
• Scissors
• Embellishments