Dollhouse rehab

This was a joint project with my Dad which kept us very busy during the week before Christmas, turning what looked like this:

The dollhouse my dad built for me and my sisters 30 years ago

into this, a Christmas gift for my nieces Eloise and Maisie:

Dad really did most of the work on this: repairing and repainting the roof and windows, rebuilding the staircase and making windows. 

My job consisted of re-wallpapering all the rooms, putting together a little bed from a kit, and sewing curtains, pillows and quilts for the beds.

It was a lot of fun and Eloise and Maisie loved it.

New crafts...

 Cross-stitch: The first of several projects...

 Decoupage: little cardboard boxes...

...and old yogurt containers.  A new obsession!

fo: Cafe Tunic

Cafe Tunic by Kristina McGowan...stats/notes on my Ravelry page:

fo: Museum Tunic

 

From Modern Top Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan.
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Cadet.
Needles: US 11.  

 

WIPS

I have multiple projects that I'm working on right now.  First, another lace shawl, Cleopatra:

The there's the museum tunic, which is one of the main reasons why I wanted to purchase Modern Top-Down Knitting when I was stateside in August...but this had many false starts and froggings, and then I got stalled trying to get my hands on a crochet hook since I lost all my knitting notions this summer when I moved....

 

And then there's the cafe tunic, which I started  in late September while I was stalled on the museum tunic.  Nothing like knitting two DRESSES simultaneously....

Just for fun, here is a picture of the same cafe tunic which my friend Christine whipped up in just under a month.  This is only her third knitted project.  She did a scarf, then a cowl, and then decided to go ahead and knit a dress.  Here is the newly finished versionr:

fo: Henry's Baby Quilt

I made this for a friend's new baby, using mostly scraps and a backing fabric that I got to coordinate.  It's an unusual color palate for me but I like it! 

It looks sort of silly on the twin bed, but for once I had a desire to photograph a quilt on an actual bed, even if it's a baby quilt.  It measures 42 inches square, and I used 5 inch squares of fabric. 

This was my first time doing a simple nine-patch quilt.  It took me three days and probably about 15 hours (which is really way longer than it should, but I spend more time unjamming and re-threading my machine than actually sewing!)

fo: Maisie's Quilt

Finished size: 46" x 46"
Star and little girl blocks finished size: 14"
Three of the little girl blocks were based on/inspired by embroidery designs by Anneela Hoey and her "girl on a swing mini quilt tutorial" found here.
The ballerina is my own and I can't find the image of the girl jumping rope that I used.

I quilted the stars with straight lines on the diagonal, beginning by stitching in the ditch and sort of winging it from there.

I quilted the little girls with Oh Fransson's loopy flowers free-motion design.  I still need quite a lot of work on this one.

  I pieced the back with 9.5 inch squares.