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Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth Ruffing

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal is a magical pixie kitten, seldom seen but well known in folklore.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingShe dwells in the hemlock forest, where the trees are tall, and the ground is softly cushioned under her little white feet.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal whispers to the screech owls, and rides silently through the forest on the backs of the white-tailed deer. She waves her wings to the butterflies, and they wave back.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth Ruffing“She’s a peculiar looking butterfly,” the butterflies say to each other. Yet she is very sweet, and they do have to pause to admire her lovely wings.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingWhere Opal walks, the grass grows greener, and when Opal flies near to the flowers, they tilt and sway, and bloom in beautiful profusion. If she should pay a visit to your garden, you will truly be amazed!

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, created from our own design and pattern. She is made from 100% cotton fabric which has been sewn, stuffed, and completely hand painted with acrylic paints. She is 8 1/2 inches tall, and 6 inches tall when seated.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal’s arms and legs are button-jointed with antique-looking metal buttons of filigreed silver, so she can easily pose. Her face was sculpted from paperclay smoothed into her fabric head. Her front paws are needle-sculpted, and her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal’s curled white tail enables her to sit very well all by herself on a shelf or a table, or in a cabinet. She will also sit on a chair or stand with a doll stand. (Chair and doll stand not included.) Opal is meant for display only.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal’s delightful lavender-pink tutu is made from layers of tulle, with a hand-sewn waistband of matching pink that snaps at the back and has a soft blue satin rose at the center.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingHer beautiful wings are made from cotton fabric, and are completely hand-quilted.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal’s bodysuit is painted soft lavender-pink, with a half moon band of flowers and leaves at the neckline. Her ballet shoes are painted blue.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She comes with a hang tag, a certificate of authenticity, and a copy of her story.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingUpdate: Opal has been adopted. Thank you!

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Fairy Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth Ruffing

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Opal the Pixie Kitten

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal the Pixie Kitten’s web page is up. I just finished editing her photos, and you’ll find more of them there. We were lucky enough to find her floating around a bunch of lavender chrysanthemums, which set off her tutu quite well.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingHer tutu was made from four layers of tulle (more details on making the tutu can be found here), and her body was sewn from cotton fabrics. Her face was completely hand sculpted from paperclay, and then her whole body was hand painted. She’s a collaborative creation by Max Bailey and myself, and she’s a one-of-a-kind.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingPlease be sure to visit our Ruffing’s site to read Opal’s story and find out more about her, and please join our Ruffing’s Facebook page, if you haven’t already. I’m continuing to post our new work there.

We All Sew I’d like to extend a special welcome to readers from WeAllSew.com. The very nice folks with Bernina wrote to say they’ll be featuring my blog there the week of October 1st to the 8th. What a nice compliment.

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Siamese Hug Me! Kitty Decorative Pillow

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingMy Siamese kitty pillow is all finished and is up in my Etsy shop. I machine appliquéd quilting cottons onto an oatmeal cotton fabric this time. The background has a pattern of diagonal textured lines, but it is all of one natural cotton color. It’s nice and soft.

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI fused all my appliqué pieces onto my background with Wonder-Under, much in the same way as I did with my bunny pillow, only I was able to use a cotton setting on my iron and skip the press cloth, since cottons can withstand more heat than poly fleece.

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI used a machine zig zag stitch to sew around all the raw edges. A stitch width of 2.5 and a stitch length of 0.5 worked well for me. Once the pillow front was appliquéd, I pressed it with some steam, and made my envelope closure for my pillow back. I basted the two back pieces together, pressed them, and then squared them up with a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler. I sewed my front to my backs, pressed again, turned them right side out, and put my pillow insert inside.

Oatmeal-colored cotton, decorative throw pillow with an envelope closureI took some photos and all done!

I also photographed another wide-eyed kitten this week. This is Ian. He and a bunch more equally cute and playful kittens and cats are at PetSmart this weekend, hoping to find their forever homes.

Ian, gray and white kitten for adoption from Alley Cats and Angels, in the Triangle area, Apex, NCPlease consider adopting a pet. There are so many sweet animals out there waiting for homes. I fall in love with one or two or three every week or so! All our kitties are rescued kitties, and they make wonderful family members. Check out sites like Petfinder and Adopt a Pet to find available adoptable pets in your own area. And go visit them too. They love the attention! It makes them happy 🙂

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Bunny and Slug Pillows

Hug Me! Bunny appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI finished my Hug Me Bunny decorative fleece pillow and made a Hug Me Slug pillow friend for her out of sheeting and quilting cottons. I’m experimenting with which fabrics I like the most for pillows. I think I will try a combination of a fleece background, with sheeting and quilting cottons for the appliqués too. I tried that on my Super Slug and liked how it worked out before.

Hug Me Slug appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI made an envelope closure for each pillow back, in their background fabrics. To do this, you work out the measurements for half your pillow height, plus a hem and seam allowances for the top piece, and the same plus 3 to 4 inches for the bottom piece, by the pillow width. Then sew the hems, overlap the two pieces, and sew them to the front of your pillow, right sides together. Finish the raw seam edges, and turn the pillow cover right side out.

Yellow fleece decorative throw pillow back with envelope closure by Elizabeth RuffingI made a pillow insert so the covers could be taken off and hand washed as needed. It slips right inside the back closure. I found the easiest way to get the insert in was to flip the top half of the back enclosure over so it is inside out, slip the pillow insert inside the bottom half, then flip the top half back over, right side out.

Yellow fleece decorative throw pillow back with envelope closure by Elizabeth RuffingI recommended hand washing for the pillow covers, cool water for fleece, and warm water for sheeting. Sheeting can be ironed with a warm iron on a synthetic setting since I used a poly/cotton blend. My pillow insert can be washed too. I recommend hand washing for handmade items, and leaving them to air dry.

Both pillows are over in my Etsy shop.