Sunday, May 1, 2011

May 1st

Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts

Lily's blog is having a linky party today to share something that we really enjoyed working on during the past month.  For me, these "Twin Gifts" were an easy choice!  Twins Ella and Zoe turned 5 this month, and had a Rainbow Birthday Party!  We met in an Early Childhood/Family Education class when they were 2 and my girls were 3.  Their mom is just about the sweetest person in the world, and it has been such fun to compare notes on being moms of twin girls.

So I knew I wanted to make something really special for their birthday.

And that I wanted to be able to work on it with my twins.
Here is what I came up with!

"Ruby Lou" doll pattern can be found at Sew Much Ado

Twin Rainbow Quilts
My own creation, but was inspired by this quilt I found on flickr.

Close up of the pebble quilting.
Fun to do, and I LOVE how it turned out!


Soft minky dots for the backing.




One skirt just wouldn't be enough, would it?
A girl needs a change of clothing!
These little dolls were a really fun project, and I had lots of help along the way from my twins, complete with planning how they wanted their dolls to look -- I promised to make them each one after these gifts were finished!  It turns out that 5 year old fingers are perfect for stuffing those narrow arms and legs.  And it was really fun to see the amazed look on their faces after I sewed the heads together and then turned them inside out - it was like the dolls came alive!  The only thing that I would change about the pattern is to embroider the faces first -- this seemed much easier, rather than waiting until the end and having to bury the embroidery knots up in the hairline somewhere.  I also lined the face and the body with interfacing prior to doing the embroidery.  And the faces/arms/legs are just a neutral Kona cotton, not muslin as the pattern suggests.  I would definitely recommend this fun and easy pattern!

12 comments:

  1. Your girls must love those quilts because they are so beautiful. Lucky them!

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  2. hey michelle, you know, the dolls have already travelled to preschool, to buffalo to visit grandparents and to ham lake to visit cousins! ella and zoe LOVE them (and of course sleep with them every night .....). just between you and me, they were my favorite gift : ) i think the girls would agree with me : )

    now let's see if i'm a 'reply' blogger now!
    happy sunday!
    jeremi

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  3. Oh how sweet are those dolls! Lucky little girls. The quilts are beautifully done and I love the pebble quilting. Very nice job!

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  4. These dolls are great! And I LOVE the pebble quilting on the quilts-fantastic

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  5. What wonderful gifts!! The dolls are adorable & the quilts are wonderful!

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  6. The twin quilts & dolls are just darling! Very creative & very fun. I can see why they are your pick as a joy-giver . . . both to you AND the recipients! Really precious.

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  7. I can't think of any girl who wouldn't just love these dolls and quilts! How lovely!
    Real cuties!!!

    hugz

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  8. Love your twin rainbow quilts & especially admire the pebble quilting.

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  9. Lovely idea, the quilts are beautiful and the dolls are both cute and such fun.

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  10. Beautiful quilts! I love the pebble quilting and the minky on the back. They are simple but absolutely stunning!

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  11. Love the dolls! I have been looking for a doll pattern like this for a long time. Thank you.

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  12. I have also found that embroidering faces (on knitted teddy bears in my case) is easier before stuffing!

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