Finishing a Nisse - December's One Monthly Goal

When Lori of Humble Quilts posted photos of her nisse last year, I fell in love with each one.  (No Danish or other Scandinavian ancestors here that I know of, just a love of dolls.)  Soon after seeing hers I found a pattern to make one but knew I couldn't get it done before Christmas, so a few weeks ago this year (before sciatica) I stitched together this character.  She has been sitting here since, awaiting embroidered eyes and mouth and a stitch of clothing.  (Her current eyes are pinheads and her mouth is a penciled line.)   

The pattern came from Shabby Art Boutique and is based on Maileg pixies which are created by Dorthe Mailil.  Most of the original dolls have red and white striped arms, legs, and bodies, with red hats, mittens, and boots, and are dressed in red, grey, or other natural colors.  I used twill fabric for this doll which, it turns out, was not the best choice when it comes to stuffing.

A nisse is Danish folk character who helps in the barn or house.  If a nisse receives a bowl of rice pudding or porridge with a pat of butter on top on Christmas morning, he or she will be happy and helpful for the rest of the year.  If not, expect things to go at least slightly awry or have outright trouble.  WinterFrost by Michelle Houts is a chapter book with a cute story about a nisse who didn't get his rice pudding one Christmas morning.

My One Monthly Goal for December is to embroider or otherwise add the nisse's features and make a dress.  Embroidering features is always a challenge for me.  I hope it goes well.

I'm linking this post to December One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

My Best of 2015

I'm linking this post with Meadow Mist Design's Best of 2015 Linky Party.  Cheryl asked us to write about our five best blog posts of 2015.  Thank you, Cheryl.

Here we go!  (I chose these posts because they highlight successes.)

I finished hand quilting and bound Sunday Morning, a quilt from the book of the same name.

I finished hand quilting and bound Dark Strings, a scrappy string quilt.

I finished piecing, layered, pin basted, and began hand quilting another quilt, Red Wings and Stars.  (I don't have a photo of it sewn together or with the quilting in progress.)

I began sewing scrappy blocks and appliqueing stars on them. 

Oh, and I finished sewing a cloth doll, dress, and diapers.  I think the doll was a hit with my granddaughter if the attention she gave it is any indication.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Happy New Year to you.

--Nancy.
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Auction Lady and the Babies

I saw this lady doll at a recent auction.  She is the most unusual doll I have ever seen.  She was positively plump.  I don't know when she was made but from her appearance I think she represented an older lady wearing a corset in the early 1900s.  The home where she "lived" was that of an older German lady who had many other late-1800s and early 1900s possessions.

The photo below is a little blurry but you can see how the fabric of her head was stitched.  I wish I'd taken more photos.  There was a crowd around that end of the table and it was hard to get close, let alone pick her up and examine her.

There were several boxes of babies, varying in age and style.

I was talking with two collectors and one of them commented that the stiff-body dolls with moveable arms are a dime a dozen. He said, "I have so many of those.  Nobody wants them.  I can't give them away!"  My unusually quick retort was, "You could give one to me."  We both laughed.

I don't know how much any of them sold for.  Had I been close by and had the bidding been low I would have been very tempted to bid.  I love old dolls.

I hope you're having a beautiful autumn if you're in the northern hemisphere, or a beautiful spring if you're in the southern.

--Nancy.
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