A Dolly from my Secret Pal gets a new Hairdo

I got a sweet little doll from my secret pal last month, only she was bald. She seemed... unhappy about this hairless state, so one of my missions in Houston was to find some hair for Sally Ann (the first dolly I've had in about 40 years, BTW). I had no idea I would have so many choices. A helpful vendor steered me to this lovely ragamuffin remnant, which for only a dollar, was able to provide her with a thorough coiffing. I dug out my hot glue gun, which had been resting for about 10 years, and voila! Sally Ann has a new 'do.



Another cool thing that happened in Houston was that I got to meet the daughter of Roxanne of Roxanne International Thimble fame. I had always wondered if the size 3 1/2 thimble I had purchased was too small for me since it's very snug. Roxanne's daughter fitted me for a thimble and assured me that I had purchased the correct size. She was very surprised because "Everyone who tries to fit themselves ends up getting too large a thimble." I told her that I was an engineer and followed the instructions "exactly". "Ah, an engineer", she said, "that explains it. They're the only ones who actually follow the instructions." 8)

Secret Pal Gift Arrived Today!

I got my January gift from my secret pal today; what a haul! She sent me a lovely card and ten, count'em TEN, fat quarters! What a lovely surprise this turned out to be. Thanks so much, Secret Pal, you're the best!

Today was a great quilting day all around. I spent a good 5-6 hours working on my latest quilt and got lots of work done. I should probably quit referring to it as the "*Ugly* Brown Quilt" which is how it's labeled in the project list on the sidebar. I've tried to leaven the more unfortunate donated fabrics with some that are a bit more tasteful, and I've designed a very scrappy though structured pattern, which makes good use of all the fabrics. I'm hoping it will end up more charming than ugly; at least that's my goal. I'll post some pictures tomorrow and let you decide for yourself. lol

Emerson White Update and Stash Tracking 2009

I read today that Emerson White is doing a little better and is getting LOTS of needed publicity for her insurance status. Read all about it here. There may be a resolution soon. I sure hope so.

If you give a fat quarter away to your secret pal does it count as stash busting? I'm going to say yes, which makes my total: 1 7/8 - 1/4 = 1 5/8 yards. Still in the wrong direction, but better.

At least I got my secret pal gift sent out; I don't want to turn into one of *those* pals whose gifts show up on the last day of the month.

Secret Pal Stuff - January

It's been so much fun gathering little oddments and gifts for my secret pal. I've never had a secret pal before and I'm really enjoying it. I would love to share pictures of everything I'm giving her, especially the stuff I'm making, but I'm afraid she'll see it and it will spoil the surprise. I know she has a blog of her own; I've seen it. She's probably visited my blog as well. What's a girl to do? I know others have been in this situation before. How did you handle it? Here's my solution:
















Can you tell what it is? Any guesses? I never twirled an image before; it was fun! I'm going to take pictures of everything I make, disguise them somehow, then at the end of the year I'll have a *reveal day*.