Author: Elizabeth Ruffing

Posted on by

Goodnight Irene, One-of-a-kind Original Art Doll by Elizabeth Ruffing

After much hand basting, machine appliquéing, stuffing, machine and hand sewing, “Goodnight Irene” is complete.

I made her pattern basing it on my much loved Miss Annabelle, a favorite doll from my childhood. She is a big doll, about 22 inches tall, and about 14 inches seated. I drew and painted her face, giving her very pretty green eyes.

Here she is seated with “Lovely Lucy“. Both are available in my Etsy shop. More photos can be seen on Flickr.
I also spent some time today organizing our ruffingsartdolls Flickr photo album, adding sets off to the right to make finding dolls of special interest a little easier.

I’ve added a really cool Etsy widget to the home page of elizabethruffing.com I’m enjoying looking at all those thumbnails of my artwork grouped together on the page. So colorful.

And, we have Max Bailey cat dolls still to photograph!
Posted on by

“Goodnight Irene”, One-of-a-kind Original Art Doll

After much hand basting, machine appliquéing, stuffing, machine and hand sewing, “Goodnight Irene” is complete.

I made her pattern basing it on my much loved Miss Annabelle, a favorite doll from my childhood. She is a big doll, about 22 inches tall, and about 14 inches seated. I drew and painted her face, giving her very pretty green eyes.

Here she is seated with “Lovely Lucy“. Both are available in my Etsy shop. More photos can be seen on Flickr.

I also spent some time today organizing our ruffingsartdolls Flickr photo album, adding sets off to the right to make finding dolls of special interest a little easier.

I’ve been updating our eBay store as well, adding information to our My World page. I hope to do a complete overhaul on our About Me page soon.

I’ve somehow managed to work through the day in spite of being dizzy and still a bit unwell. I woke up at 4:30 this morning just reeling. I hope this will pass soon.
Posted on by

Slow Motion Quilting

I haven’t been feeling well and missed my quilt class this past weekend. I rallied and got my homework together in time for the midweek class instead. I was going to just pay the five dollar penalty for not doing my homework, but I wanted to get back to my normal routine as much as I could.

I sewed this block all by hand, using templates I made from poster board and plastic template sheets. The finished block size is 12 inches square, and 12 1/2 inches square including the seam allowances.

The yellow and white portions of the block are based on a 3 by 4 1/2 inch rectangle. The yellow triangle is formed by drawing a line to the center point of the opposite short side of the rectangle.

The blue and white portions of the block are based on a 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch square. Trace one out on plastic, draw two lines dividing the square into quarters, which divides the square into four smaller squares. Drawing a line from corner to corner of the smaller squares forms the triangle, and the trapezoid.

Once you cut all the template pieces out as I have above, flip them over right side down on the wrong side of your fabric and trace around them with a pencil. A mechanical pencil works best. It also helps to lay your fabric over a piece of sandpaper to stabilize it.

Once all the shapes are traced, cut them out leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance around each one. (The block’s center white square is 3 inches by 3 inches without seam allowances, and 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 with seam allowances.) I then piece them together by hand using a standard running stitch. It takes longer, but I find it is much more accurate and less frustrating than joining small pieces by machine. It is also calming and, I think, fun to do since you can do it anywhere, even while in bed watching TV.

Posted on by

Lovely Lucy, New One-of-a-kind Art Doll by Elizabeth Ruffing

This is Lovely Lucy. She is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, created from my own design and pattern. She is signed and dated. Lucy is entirely handmade and is meant to be displayed and loved, and she is sturdy enough to be played with. Her body is made of 100% cotton quilting fabrics, which have been fused to an extra layer of cotton sheeting for durability. Her bottom is weighted with Poly-Pellets so she can sit nicely while she looks around. She bends at her shoulders, hips, and knees. 

I have hand painted her pretty face with acrylic paint and fabric medium, which I then heat set for permanence. Lucy is decorated with high quality ribbon trims, Rick Rack and machine appliquéd fabric. She has no loose or removable parts. She is stuffed with Poly-fil polyester stuffing. Her ponytails are hand quilted and are a chocolate color. Her eyes are hazel. 

Lucy is approximately 10 1/4 inches tall when seated, and approximately 18 1/2 inches long when lying down.

 

Lucy will be available shortly in my Etsy shop. More photos of her can be seen on Flickr.

 

I am also still at work on more flower baby fairies, star babies, and another new doll pattern. Max Bailey has some new kitty dolls to photograph too. Stay tuned for more pictures in the near future!