Patter from Patti

New Kitchen

My wonderful husband has given me a dream kitchen.  I loved the old one, but the new one is far more user friendly.  I now have double ovens, a 5-burner gas stove-top, an instant hot-water unit for tea whenever I want and instantly, and pull-out drawers for the pantry, pots & pans, spices, and lazy susans for those dark, hidden corners.

The photo at the top is the new kitchen, photo below old kitchen.  You can see how much more space I have now.  Our contractor, Danni, is a gourmet cook so understands what we need.  And, Danni did most of the work herself.  She's amazing.

For Thanksgiving dinner I had no problems shuffling dishes around in a single oven.  It was fabulous!

Upcoming Interview

My publisher has been wonderful in helping promote my books.  They've arranged for me to be interviewed live on a couple shows.  This next Sunday, I'll be interviewed on Artistically Speaking Talk Show.  The date is Sunday, Nov. 27 at 6:30pm ET, 5:30pm CT, 4:30pmMT or 3:30pmPT.  Here's the link so you can check it out:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artisticallyspeaking

Hope you log on and listen.  Should be a lot of fun.

I've been awful at updating my blog.  I've been having fun traveling to teach and visiting grandchildren.  Here's a couple photo's of two of our granddaughters in Florida:

Kaylahna is now 2 mos. old.  She's the chubbiest, cutest baby girl.  Always happy, too.

Below is a photo of Kayleigh (now 5 years old) and Kaylahna.  I bought the outfit Kaylahna is wearing at a fabulous boutique in Monticello, Illinois.  Our daughter found the dress Kayleigh is wearing, which is made from the same fabrics.  So adorable.

Next week I'll be in Belgium and will get new photo's of our grandson's there. 

John and I now have 6 grandchildren.  We are so blessed.

The simple life

Today was a day of relaxation after several stressful days dealing with doctors, financial institutions, insurance companies, etc.  My dad, uncle and I drove to our 2nd favorite place on earth - Arthur, Illinois.  This is Amish country and the Illinois Amish are a strict order Amish.  Absolutely no electricity or motor driven vehicles.

The Amish use Belgian horses as their work horses.  We drove by one farm and noticed 4 ponies.  I stopped, got out of the car and walked to the fence with my camera.  The ponies were over by the barn but when they saw me by the fence they came over to greet me.

Their owner also came out of the barn and I asked him if it was okay to take photo's of these beauties.  He then commenced to tell me a bit about them.  They had just been weened and are 5 months old.  There are four of them, but one was quite shy and hung back behind his brother.  You can see a bit of him between the middle pony and the one on the right.

Afraid I was completely smitten by these four.  Makes me homesick for farm life when I'm here.  Especially amongst the Amish.  And, yes, this is an Amish farm, but I didn't want to show much of the farm for their privacy.

After the countryside we drove to our favorite restaurant - Candy Kitchen in Tuscola.   Afraid I was bad and had a chocolate malt.  But, I'm a Medaris.  We love chocolate malts!

More in the next couple days.

Ms. Maddie Hatter

My new Ms. Maddie Hatter is about finished.  She needs her wrist cuffs and her spools of thread.  All of which are in San Diego and I'm in Monticello, Illinois.    The original Maddie decided to live with a friend in Prague, Czech Republic.  Thus, a new one had to be made.  The new version is the one with the green hat. 

Both of the dolls are from the same pattern.  As you can see, Maddie in the green hat has a smaller head.  By mistake I grabbed the wrong head while shooting the DVD and used hers.  And, that was the last of the fabric.  Ms. Maddie's head is made from a different fabric, but similar color.  The newer fabric didn't have the stretch that the other had.  Never mind.  She still looks pretty cute.

Both of these dolls are workshop dolls.  I'll be teaching them in two places in England at the end of this month, and in Moscow, Russia at the end of October. 

Before flying to Illinois we had guests from Australia.  Phil and Sue flew to Detroit, Michigan from Cairns, Queensland and bought a 1973 Lincoln.  They then drove on as much of old Route 66 as you can and ended up with us for 8 days. 

The day they left signs had been placed along our sidewalks warning us to not park.  I had to take a photo of them next to their car and the sign.

This was also the day I left to drive to The Quilters' Studio in Newbury Park, California.  What a fabulous quilt shop.  I taught a two-day workshop and met wonderful doll makers and caught up with Linda Fisher, who had been on the cruise with us in February.  She'll send me photo's as I forgot to take some.

Come back soon to see those photos.

DVD Update

This week Galli Studios will start editing all the footage that was shot.  It's a lot, believe me.  It will be quite a challenge getting it edited down to 6 hours, but I know Andrew will do it beautifully.

This is one of the dolls I worked on while we were taping.  The DVD will show how to do several faces, along with some of the techniques I use to create fabrics, dye laces and trims, apply hair, wire fingers, lots of sculpting, etc.

Most of the techniques are in my books.  But, it is often nice to be able to actually see the artist working to see how they do things.  Especially the sculpting parts.

Keep checking back often for the announcement of the release of the DVD.  It should be the middle part of October.

While we are on the topic of dolls, I might as well show a photo of our newest grandchild.  Our oldest daughter had her 3rd little girl Sunday, Sep. 4.  Little Kaylahna was in a real hurry and came a couple weeks early.  She weighed a hefty 8lbs. 1oz. and was 21 inches long.  Good thing JB didn't go full term.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's her newborn photo:

Isn't she the cutest little baby?  Can't wait to see her, but I'll have to wait until November.  Off to Newbury Park, California this weekend to teach, then John and I head out to England and Belgium.  Our daughter in Belgium is also due to have her 2nd baby at the end of September.  More grandchildren.  Yeah!

Newest look to my studio

With Galli Studio's arriving last week to tape a DVD series I had to shape up my studio.  Many pieces had to be removed to allow space for lights and camera's.  I liked the open feeling so much I've kept it pretty much as it was last week.   But, before showing you what it now looks like I want to show you a box I decorated to hold various projects for the DVD.

A local craft shop had a 40% sale on boxes.  I picked two of the not so pretty ones and came home and started decorating them.  With fabric, of course.

The woman on the right was colored with Tsukineko's All Purpose Inks.  The woman on the left was done with Copic markers.  The fabric was glued on, then covered with Mod Podge to hold it all in place.  Took just a few hours and now I have a lovely box to hold projects.

Now, to the new look of my "studio".  Last year I moved from a large bedroom into the smallest bedroom.  It is 10-feet by 9-feet.  Small, but workable. 

This photo is of the closet, with the doors removed, that houses my fabrics and beads.  The cubby holds yarn and the rest holds books and CD's.  Other supplies, too.

We had purchased the table you see as the producer wanted me to have a table that would be relatively clear so I could show how to do various techniques.  I liked having the table so much it is now a permanent part, as you can see.  Rather cluttered at the moment as I'm working on several projects.

The photo on the right is another view, facing the window.  More fabrics - my silks, organza's and velvets.  Yes, there's two machines, but one is my Babylock Embellisher.  The other is my favorite sewing machine - a Bernina 440 QE. 

I have 6 Bernina machines and one Singer Featherweight.  Once a year I host a master class and with so many flying in from other states and countries it is nice having machines for them to use.  Thus the reason I have so many.  I generally have two sewing machines and the embellisher operating almost daily when I'm home.

Finally a view of the other side of the room with my wonderful "wall of threads".  I do love threads.  Superior Threads are my favorites for embellishing.  Superior's Rainbows are my passion, along with their varigated metallics.

Hope you had fun looking into my studio.  Now, I need to head back upstairs and get to work!

                                                                           

The grandchildren

John and I spent 6 days in Orlando, Florida visiting our grandchildren this past week. 

John doesn't get to go as often as I do.  It had been almost a year since he had seen our Florida family.

It was Kayleigh's 5th birthday week.  Her birthday was Aug. 1 and we arrived Aug. 10.  She's the one in pink making one of her typical faces for the camera. 

Kieran is now 7 and will be 8 in December.  She is growing up fast.  Kayman, sitting on my lap, is 3 and loves Gumby, Ironman and Batman. 

 

The girls are modeling outfits I got them in Monticello, Illinois when I was there in June.  There is a darling childrens shop on the square.  The owner has fabulous taste in clothing.  It is hard choosing things there.  Prices are extremely good, too. 

At least in this photo Kayleigh is being somewhat normal.

Kieran is at that age where her teeth are starting to grow in after losing them.  Even with teeth missing she's a beautiful little girl.

Friday, the girls and I went to see the Smurf movie.  Cute movie. 

John and I stayed in a condo owned by a friend of JB's.  We had the girls spend two nights with us to give JB a break.  Kayman stayed home with his mommy, but the girls, John and I had a great time.

As you can see by the photo of JB and Kayman, we will soon have another grandchild.  The baby is due the middle of September.  And, Heidi, our daughter in Belgium, is also due in September.  We'll be visiting her next.

There is nothing better than being with family.  Just wish ours wasn't scattered all over the world.  But, gives me an excuse to travel, which I dearly love.

Kick-off to our Florida trip

The day before John and I left for Florida a beautiful dragonfly arrived in our garden.  He wouldn't turn around so I could take a photo of his back, but he hung around long enough for me to grab my camera.

We mostly have the blue/green dragonflies in our garden, but I haven't seen one of these guys.  He is spectacular and I certainly hope he liked our garden enough to come back.

I need to study more about dragonflies so I can learn how to attract them.  I know they like water and we are planning on putting in a waterfall and small pond. 

We've been trying to attract bats, too.  But, so far our bat house is empty. 

Like a dummy I left my camera at the condo we are staying at in Orlando so don't have photo's of the grandchildren.  Yet.  Both Kieran and Kayleigh are spending two nights with us so I'll have plenty of opportunities to take photos.

Today, I met with Judy Hansen, quilt & fabric designer and owner of the Quilt Shop of Deland.  She's asked me to be a teacher on a cruise next October 2012.

Neither of us had our camera's so we pulled out our iPhone's and Fran took the photo, which we'll use to help promote the cruise.

I bought the full line of Judy's new fabrics and can't wait to get home and start making a doll with them.  I'll also make a complimentary item to go along with the doll.  Not sure what it will be yet, but needle books and sewing kits have been a passion of mine lately.

We next headed to a golf clubhouse where the DeLand of Dolls were meeting.  Annie Hesse was teaching her fabulous beaded face doll.

I had emailed Cathy and Linda about the group letting me borrow some of the dolls they've made from my patterns and books for the DVD series I'll be doing later this month.  They told me Annie was teaching, so we had to stop by.  Both to pick up the dolls and see the members, and to see Annie.

This doll group is loaded with talent.  That is one of the reasons I wanted to collect dolls.  Plus, it was an added bonus that they were having a workshop and I could see nearly everyone.  I'm afraid it was a quick visit as I didn't want to disrupt the class with Annie.

The following photo's are of the group busily beading their dolls heads.  Those of you who take classes and haven't had this one with Annie, you need to get in touch with her.  She's fun and the beading technique is not hard at all.  In fact, it is really quite relaxing and so rewarding.

 

Next post I will have photo's of the grandchildren.  They are all growing up way too fast. 

In the meantime, enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

A day in Los Angeles' fabric district

Today was truly wonderful.  I picked up my sister and niece and took them to the fabric district in Los Angeles.  They had never been. 

We started at Michael Levine's on Maple and walked up and down several streets.  Found fabulous bargains.  And, my favorite lace shop is closing so loaded up with hundreds of yards of lace for kits.

We then went to FIDM.  At their museum they have an exhibit called "The Little Black Dress".  Dresses from Breakfast at Tiffany's, and other dresses from the 1940's to present day.  Their museum is free and definitely a must see when you are in the area.

We shopped at FIDM's scholarship store and I got two large bags of buttons at $2.50 each.  The fabrics this time were more winter, but at $1.00 a yard you can always find something you can use.

This photo is my niece and I across the street from FIDM with the Project Runway billboard behind us.  Love that show!

After the downtown area we drove to the American Doll store to get some birthday and Christmas presents for granddaughters.  They now have 11 stores in the U.S.

Then we drove to Mood Designer Fabrics.  I had never been here.  Oh, my goodness!  What a treasure trove of fabrics, trims, lace, buttons.  Not discounted like downtown L.A., but this place carries high fashion fabrics.  And, I've found a source for the silks I like.

The photo is my sister and niece.  My niece is holding my bag of amazing trims from Mood.  I was trying to keep within my budget so didn't buy fabrics this trip.  But, I certainly will go back.  How the designers on Project Runway can spend only 30 minutes running through Mood to buy their challenge fabrics is beyond me. 

One thing that would make it easy is Mood has excellent signage for the various types of fabrics, laces, trims, etc.  You can go directly to the section you need, but once you get there watch out!  You could spend an hour just fondling the fabrics.

The staff at Mood are extremely helpful and friendly.  Oscar, the mascot Chihuahua also loves to greet you.  From what I read on the internet in NYC they have a bulldog in their store. 

 

We came home tired, happy and eagerly awaiting our sewing day.

Ms. Maddie Hatter goes Steam Punk

She's finished!  I'll be teaching her at Fobbles in Cumbria, UK and at Sylvia's in Torquay, also in England.  I'll be bringing all the lock washers, watch parts and other steam punk stuff as part of the kit.

Just realized I didn't get a good shot of the watch face on her hat.  It is from one of my grandmother's watches.  Very exquisite and quite old.

 

To see a larger image, click on the photo's.  I'll be retaking the photo to the right as it is out of focus.  Forgot I had the camera set for Close-up.  Got too excited to share.

You can see the lock washers from Home Depot on the back of her jacket.  They are also on the front of her corset, but hard to see.  And, the large piece on her back is the inside of a watch. 

Keep forgetting, I'll be teaching her at a doll conference in Moscow, Russian at the end of October.  Should be great fun.