Getting sidetracked....

It's just that I have all these things I'm thinking about "twirling around in my head" this time of year.  It is so easy to start out hoping to get one thing done and the next thing I know I'm taking pictures and running to the computer.

Remember those grand delusions about getting some Christmas decorations out and getting the house cleaned for the holidays.  I in all earnest started out with this goal.  The bedroom with estate boxes that weren't separated were going to get cleared out.  In order to clear out, I needed to sort.  In order to sort, I needed to go through them and start the keep, donate, pitch piles.

This is when I discovered this sweet little embroidery for "Dolly" done on a piece of linen.  I am sure a young girl did this as an experienced embroiderer would not have left such a looping thread on the back when transferring her needle to another design area.  Some would say an assumption because I really don't have facts to prove a young girl embroidering, but I believe it to be quite accurate.

Now if there was this sweet piece of embroidery, I wonder if there were any traces of little hands sewing quilt blocks together or another kind of sewing project?

Remember I said I had the "twirling going on in my head"?  It was because I started thinking about young girls today and how many actually sew their doll's wardrobes?  Do they ever make a little skirt or bonnet or is it true American Girl Dolls taught an entire generation to catalog shop?

At my Etsy shop, I love doing custom quilting.  Last month, I got a letter from a customer asking if she sent me her daughter's baby clothes, if I could make two doll quilts as holiday presents.  Two sets of clothes, two quilts.  Of course I would, could and "By the way, do your daughters have American Girl dolls?"  Of course they did.

So, the box of baby clothes and bed sheets were sent and ......

And these were the two doll quilts that I came up with.  I took pockets from the little clothes and added them to the back so there would be a place for secret messages.

There was still quite a bit of fabric left.  I was able to make two American Doll dresses to match each quilt.  Each dress had it's own little pinafore (a Kirsten style from the original doll).

Okay, that is Samantha I have the dress on, but it was a Kirsten style.

So I'm beginning to see the pattern of getting sidetracked, not only with cleaning, but when sewing.  One project leads to another.

As I said in the beginning - this time of year being busy and the "twirling around in my head" - its going on all the time and not just during the holiday season.