My Calico Doll & Bear Collection

When I was not able to do very much sewing by hand I decided to try and make some dolls from calico. I made these dolls at different times during the year in 2006. The dolls and their clothes are all sewn on the machine.

All the dolls are made from calico and then stuffed with a dacron filling. Some of the material for the clothes are 'left over' pieces from other projects while other pieces I brought specifically for the doll.

'Martha and Annie - Crafty Friends' were my first attempts of calico doll making. I found the pattern in a Patchwork and Stitching Magazine. In the book they were pictured together so I decided that I had to make both of the dolls and found some matching material to use for their dresses. For the hair of these dolls I used a boucle wool. The little dog and bear 'brooches' on the dolls are buttons that came from Peru.

'Betsy' was my third calico doll. I made her because I loved the bright colors of her dress and the woolen coat. Betsy's hair is made from nylon doll hair which comes in a bag already curly.

'Miss Primrose in her Garden' didn't quite turn out as the pattern intended. She was meant to be 60cm but somehow she only ended up 28cm tall! Being so small meant that it was a bit hard stuffing the dacron filling into her arms and legs. find a had and basket small enough was also a challenge. Her hair is made from boucle wool and for the 'seed' packets in her apron pockets I scanned and printed out photos of real seed packets.





This bear is also made from calico and stuffed with a dacron filling. I call her 'Victoria Bear' but her pattern name is Samantha Bear.

Unlike the calico dolls this bear has a different finish to the material. The calico has been painted with a solution of Parisian essence to give it the brown color and then once I had embroidered the mouth and nose I painted everything with an all purpose sealer. When all the material was fully dried I then painted it all again using a Gloss varnish. This gave the bear a 'hard' wooden feel to it. I then made all the clothes and dressed the bear.

I haven't sewn any calico dolls for a while now but I've seen a lot of patterns in my quilting books of dolls that I would like to make one day.

I've finished my Summer quilt

It's taken me just over 12 months to finish my summer quilt and I'm really pleased with it.

I'd been collecting the fabrics for a while without really knowing what I was going to make with them. It was when I found the piece of pink toile with the birds on it I remembered seeing a pattern in a book that I really liked and decided that this was the quilt I wanted to make for myself.

Like my other quilts, this quilt is made by hand using cardboard templates to help me sew the pieces together. Instead of knotting this time I decided to try using a running stitch to quilt the three layers together. I am pleased with the result and enjoyed trying something different.

The pattern I used is called 'Antique Roses' and designed by Charmain Corbett. I'm not sure what happened but the quilt has turned out a bit bigger than the pattern in the book! Deciding on what to do for the edging became a collaborative effort. I had originally intended to use the burgundy color but then thought the maybe a dusty pink would be good so I took the quilt into my neighbour for her opinion. Looking at the quilt we decided that maybe it needed something on the corner squares as with the dusty pink they looked a bit insipid so I searched my fabric stash to see if I could find some material that I could use to sew some hexagons onto the corner blocks. In started to sew on the dusty pink binding but after nearly sewing it on one side I decided that it didn't look very good and really needed the darker color. I took a some photos and emailed them to my mother so see what she thought and also took it back into my neighbour. The consensus was that the darker edging was best but I still hadn't decided what to do with the corner blocks so I decided to wait and see what the quilt looked like with the burgundy binding sewn all around. With the binding finished I've decided not to add anything to the corner squares so with that decision made the quilt is finally finished.

I've already started on my next projects - Jacob's quilt and Olivia's cardigan.

Two new beautiful flowers this morning

This morning I went out to water and discovered two new flowers on my poppies. The red and white one is called 'Danish Flag poppy' and the red and purple is a 'Flemish poppy'.

My first black Cornflower and Oriental Poppy

I have my first black Cornflower called 'Black Ball' and first Oriental Poppy flowering in my garden. It's pretty exciting seeing flowers that you have grown from seeds coming into flower.

I am really looking forward to seeing the flowers on my Danish Flag poppies. There are a lot of buds on the plants so hopefully it wont be too long before they flower.

I'm really enjoying my garden and love growing my own flowers from seeds. My new greenhouse is working well and on Sunday I collected over 200 small plastic pots from a lady on freecycle. I was also given a little propagating tray with the dome lid so next year I'll try and grow some seeds in that as well.

This Saturday my neighbour, Mily and I are going to have a small plant sale. I am hoping to sell some hellebore seedlings and Mily has some succulents that she has divided and potted. I've potted over 100 seedlings so I hope they all sell!

Other things I've made over the years

I have tried a lot of different craft projects over the years. Some projects I have enjoyed, others I've tried but wouldn't do again, lots finished and a few unfinished.

Here is a collection of some of the things I've made.

Cross Stitch Sampler. I had always wanted to make a cross stitch sampler so when I found this kit in a little craft shop in Sunbury I decided it was just what I was looking for.


These flowers are another cross stitch piece that I made.





I made these two 'Sit and just bee' wall hangings - one with applique and stitchery and the other without the applique. While they are from the same pattern they look quiet different.

I had made the appliqued 'Sit and just bee' for myself. My mother wanted one as well so as I didn't want to make two the same I made one for her without the applique. It turned out well however she decided that she preferred mine as 'it doesn't show up as well on her wall' so I ended up with the stitchery one. Luckily I like them both so it didn't really matter which one I kept for myself.


I enjoy stitchery and applique and so far have made two pieces which I have framed and have hanging up in my lounge room. I have been given some beautiful patterns of other stitchery that I am looking forward to trying one day.

The 'Garden and me..'


'Home is where the heart is'




There is a series of applique called 'Be Yourself' by Millamac creations. I made this hanging for my mother called 'Be Yourself... there's no harmony when everyone signs the same note'

I've tried several pieces of long stitch making these three pictures as well as Jim's Bowl of Roses. While I love 'Jim's Bowl of Roses' long stitch I don't think I will make any others.

These are the other pieces I have made.






Tapestry is another craft that I have tried. I've made the tapestry of the 'Pioneer' by Frederick McCubbin as well as two small tapestries of flowers. I have been given another four tapestries that one day I might get around to making.



Apart from the quilts that I am making I also have a silk ribbon embroidery that is nearly finished. It's called 'Roses at Dusk' and is made from silk ribbons, silk cottons and beads using different embroidery stitches. The picture of the ladies is copied onto a piece of silk material and then different parts of the picture are highlighted with the silk ribbons, cottons and beads.

My mother brought me the kit to make and has taught me how to sew the various stitches using the silk ribbon and cottons. It's quite hard pulling the ribbon through the material and you often need to use pliers to pull the needle through material but it looks beautiful and is well worth the effort. To help me learn the different stitches I was given this embroidery book "A - Z of Embroidery Stitches' from my mother for my birthday this year.

Peter's Circles and Squares Quilt

I've decided to name Peter's memory quilt 'Circles and Squares'.

When I started to think about a memory quilt for Peter I wanted to make him something different - a pattern that was unique and I wanted it to be in black and white as he barracks for the AFL team Collingwood.

I think I have achieved the uniqueness that I wanted with this quilt. It's black and white and definitely different!

It's great to have finished the quilt as I will be able to post it to Peter for his birthday. It's also a really nice feeling to know that Peter now has something from me that I have made especially for him and that he can keep it forever.

As with all my other quilts I have made this quilt by hand and have embroidered my name and date onto the back of the edging. As I will be giving this quilt to Peter for his birthday I have embroidered 'Happy birthday Peter Oct 08' and then 'V.Cameron 2008' onto the edging.

Harry, Peter's dog, goes everywhere with him so I decided it was only fitting that I make a Harry a quilt to match Peter's. Harry's quilt however is sewn on the machine. It was fun to make a matching quilt even though it will probably be chewed to pieces in no time! Harry's quilt has his name as well as mine and the date embroidered onto the back of it.

Just to make sure Harry's quilt was the right size Charlie, my dog, decided he had to test it out first. He gave it the tick of approval!

My next project is to finish off my quilt which I started last year. I just have to finish the quilting of the three layers together and then sew on the binding.

I have also started working on Jacob's quilt and have finished one of the blocks and have started on a second block.

Sarah and Hannah's cardigans are finished

I was so pleased to have been able to finish the cardigans just in time to be able to give them to Sarah and Hannah when they were here on holidays a few weeks ago. They looked really cute in them and I think they like their cardigans.

I still have to knit Olivia's cardigan and am hoping to start knitting Olivia's soon.

It was really nice having Josh, Ruth, Sarah, Hannah and Olivia down in Melbourne. Olivia is so cute and has grown so much since I saw her in April this year. I think she has the most beautiful big brown eyes that I have ever seen. I loved having Sarah and Hannah come to stay. They both stayed over night with me on Friday and then we spent all day Saturday together before having tea with everyone.

On Friday night we all slept in my big bed together - by 'all' I mean, Sarah, Hannah, myself and Charlie the dog! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep but the girls and Charlie did.

On Saturday we got up and baked a loaf of bread in the bread maker, cooked a chocolate cake for tea, went for a walk, did some shopping, had McDonald's for lunch and watched 'The Sound Of Music' in the afternoon.

Charlie did so well with the girls. I was a bit worried as he's not used to having children around but he loved them giving his tummy a rub and would even go and jump up onto the couch and sit with them.

Taking Charlie for a walk was an interesting experience. Everyone had to have a lead to hold so with three leads attached to his harness, one for Sarah, Hannah and then mine attached to a belt around my waist and my crutches we did get a few looks and comments from people along the way.

I met everyone for lunch on Sunday but as i hadn't taken Charlie with me, Sarah and Hannah came back to my place again to pick him up and take him back to Nana's for the afternoon. While the girls played with Charlie and , Mum, Ruth, Josh and Vi played scrabble I finished off the girls cardigans.

Needless to say I really enjoyed the weekend and loved getting to know the girls more, see Olivia growing up and of course catching up with Ruth and Josh as well.

'My House' Applique Wall Hanging

I made this applique wall hanging in early 2005 and call it 'My house'. This hanging is based on the pattern by Joan's Own creations ' Step by Step' Applique series 137.

It was fun making this wall hanging, again all by hand, as I used the basic pattern but changed a few of the decorations using photos and pictures of my own and adding things such as ceramic flower pots and mirrors to give it more of a three dimensional feel.

At the front door there is a photo of my dog Charlie there to welcome everyone into my house.

On the second floor just above the sewing machine I have some photos of my great nieces, Sarah & Hannah and my great nephew Jacob.

On the wall leading up the staircase are some family photos. The big photo is of my grandfather and grandmother on their wedding day. There are also photos of my mother as a baby and as a little girl along with photos of myself as a baby and family photos of my brothers and sisters when we were little.

The next floor has a photo of Charlie when he was a few months old. He used to curl up and sleep in the basket where I kept my knee rugs in the lounge room. On the steps is a photo of my cat Henry who now lives with another lady who spoils and looks after him really well.

On the wall I made a little quilt using a photo of the 'Happiness Is' quilt which I was making at the time. Hanging on the wall beside the quilt is a photo of a place called 'Shere'. I took this photo when I travelled to England in 1990.

If you click on any of the photos you will be able to see them more clearly.

Vintage Treasures

I really love the 'Vintage Treasures' wall hanging which I made in 2005.

Again I made this quilt hanging totally by hand with the majority of it I made while I was in hospital. To make this quilt I have used the Vintage Treasures pattern designed by Libby Richardson.

There are two things about this quilt that are significant for me.

The first thing is that it was made at the start of a time that turned out to be major change in my medical treatment which at the time really saved my life.

I remember the time I started this quilt so well as I was in the William Angliss Hospital in Ferntree Gully for 10 days. Up until this asthma attack I had always been taken to the Maroondah Hospital but they were on bypass. At the start it seemed so frustrating as I had different doctors but this medical team told me that if something didn't change I may not survive many more asthma attacks. Rather than treating me the the attitude 'that nothing more can be done to help you' I was started in a pulmonary rehabilitation program and put under the care of a chronic health nurse. Through a series of events I ended up changing specialists, was referred to a new general practitioner and started on Singulair and haven't had a major life threatening asthma attack since.

The second reason that I really love this quilt is that it brings back so many memories of my grandmother as I have used brooches and gloves that I have treasured for a long time which have always been in her jewellery box. Along with some of grandma's jewellery I still have a little birthday gift card that I gave to grandma. Most of the dried flowers have fallen off over time but you can still clearly read the card.

While I can't remember my grandmother ever wearing these things, just the fact that they were my grandmothers is special and invokes memories of times that I spent visiting grandma and grandpa in Wangaratta and of the times that I spent with grandma when she lived with us in Doncaster East for a short time.

I have never worn these pieces of jewellery and rather than have them hiding way in a box I decided to use them on my quilt where I could see and enjoy them.

The gloves are really old made and were very 'yellowed' so I soaked them in bleach and then I dried them in the dryer to shrink them to so that they would fit on the quilt. I have always had in my mind that the gloves came from grandma but I can't be sure of that.

Along with the gloves, I have also pinned an army brooch/hat pin that came from my grandmother. It has the Commonwealth of Australia symbol with the kangaroo and emu at each side, AIF at the top of the crest and Australian Commonwealth Military Forces along the bottom. I don't know the history of this brooch so will need to look into that.

The brooch on the ribbon of the hat is a Cameo brooch that also came from my grandmother and another brooch is pinned to the 'shoe' panel. Another brooch that I have from my grandmother is pinned just under the 'shoe' panel.









On the handbag I have used a brooch of a butterfly as the clasp. The brooch was sent to me as a birthday present by some old friends when they were living overseas.

With all the memories and jewellery from my grandmother I think the quilts name 'Vintage Treasures' is so appropriate for this quilt.