The January 18th meeting was expanded into a all-day play day at the Episcopal Church in Alameda. Members brought tons of supplies for gelli printing and die cutting on paper and fabrics. We had a fabulous time playing with the materials and tools and learning new techniques. It was truly a wonderful day!
Calendar of Events
January 26, 2:30 to 4:30 P.M., Celebration of Life for Pamela Zanaib Nia Green will take place at the Deaf Community Center, 1550 San Leandro Blvd., San Leanadro. Come festive and ready for storytelling as we remember our dear sweet friend. Those members who would like to help with the set up, please arrive at 1:30 P.M.
February 8, (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Marcella's. Please note date change! If you have a challenge stump doll you are working on, please bring it for show and tell. Bring any stump dolls you are making for the Castro Valley Library event and you can work on stuffing and sewing them up at the meeting. They will be due in March.
March 21, (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Sally's. All stump dolls for the Library will be collected at this time.
Play Day Events
Daisy's church was a great venue for our event. This large room with many tables and chairs offered ample space to work on so many different projects at the same time. Thank you Daisy for making it possible.
Above Betts is shown working on cutting and assembling graphics.
Anne and Colleen had great fun with the gelli prints, manipulating and blending the many acrylic colors supplied.
A few of us, including Daisy, Marjorie and Donna, were determined to work on the stumps dolls for the Library make and take in April.
Barbara and Suzanne were excited by Caroline's demonstration of the many possibilities a die cutter can offer, including cutting felt embellishments for cloth dolls.
Show and Tell
Anne brought this cute little stump doll she had made for the challenge. The face is one of her signature style faces she makes from polymer clay. She has made many more to donate for the Library event. The participants will surely be thrilled!
Sue made this amazing large stump doll for the challenge. She also is a talented polymer clay artist, evident by the expressive face on this doll.
We were so happy Barbara was able to join us for the play day and meeting—and show us some of her latest creations. This tiny costume is exquisite, and even more so is the tiny pair of ballet slippers she added. She is the master of tiny shoes, as well as doll-making!
Yet another beautiful piece!
And, the most lovely of all—this petit and dainty doll. This is a flat doll that folds in the middle and sits. Inovative and exquisite!
One of Daisy's latest cloth birds is this brightly colored one in a cage.
And another is this impressive roadrunner, which incorporates fabric printed with peppers, and pepper colored felt for wings and tail. Very clever!
Anne's daughter gave her this unique stuffed doll. The teeth are amazing and appear to be molded from clay. A fun conversation piece!
These beautiful creations are two of Harlene's latest appliqued vests. She is definitely a master at applique, and has a keen eye for design. We are so thankful to her for demonstrating her technique at the November meeting and letting us in on her secrets of success. However, I am not sure any of use could achieve her level of expertise. Each vest is unique and stunning. The time and amount of patience necessary in the cutting out of the design elements to be fused must be immense! Really beautiful work done to perfection.
Above and below are two more doll quilts Marcella made for Stitch'n for Kids, using fabrics from her incredible stash of sewing remanents and sample swatches. Good job, Marcella! You are so generous to donate so many wonderful quilts to the cause.
Sharon loves using bits and pieces of fabrics and embellishments from her stash to make these small collages. She has several projects in mind as possible uses for them. Each is a one-of-kind assemblege and so beautiful.
We are thrilled Sharon has agreed to lead a workshop on her other love, painting and collaging with mixed media. We fell in love with her "houses" picture shown in the October 2019 post, which will be the subject of the workshop. The following photos are of other mixed media collages she has created in journals and books.
