Isadora Reiko at Tea

Isadora Reiko at Tea (2), originally uploaded by confections.

The Blythe dollies went to tea at Tea-upon-Chatsworth for the first time on Saturday and they had a most enjoyable time. Isadora Reiko (Frosty Frock) was joined by her cousin Mademoiselle Rosebud, and they indulged in the following incomparable High Tea:


Summer Tea Menu

Baked Brie with Cherry-Peach Compote
Roasted Vegetables & Cheese Strata
Sweet Onion Chicken & Mint Chiffonade Tea Sandwich
Artichoke Provencal Tart
Fire-Roasted Pepper & Cheddar on Raisin Tea Sandwich
Apples & Oranges Tea Sandwich
Chatsworth Scone & Cream with Rose Petal Jam
Watermelon Gazpacho
Wedding Tea Cake
Lemon Basil Square
Mocha-Almond Torte

Paris and Apricot Teas

Fat Quarters of Quilting Fabric

Fat Quarters of Quilting Fabric, originally uploaded by confections.

The San Diego Quilt Show happened over a month ago, but I had a whirlwind September with family visiting, so I'm just getting around to showing a bit of the stash I accumulated at the vendors' booths.

My sister and a friend joined me for our annual jaunt to ooh and aah over the quilts and to power-shop to build up our stashes--not that they need building up (just sayin'), but quilting fabrics are a form of ephemera, I think, and one has to scoop them up as they fly by! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

About mid-afternoon, following a long-standing tradition, we leave the exhibit hall, retreat to the conveniently located Starbucks in the convention center, and compare yams--uh, fat quarters. This is one of our favorite rituals. Out come the treasures from our bags--patterns, tools, books, gadgets of all kinds.

We are spurred on by the beauty of the quorum of quilts we have just soaked up. All that creativity manifested has an hypnotic effect on us every year: must.make.quilts.

Winter's comin' on.

Vintage Effanbee Doll Collage (New Dress)

Vintage Effanbee Doll Collage (New Dress), originally uploaded by confections.

My vintage Effanbee doll (which I introduced in my April 19th blog entry) has been duly newly clad in a calico dress. She doesn't look nearly as forlorn as she did a few short weeks ago. Clothes make the doll!

I raided my stash of quilting calicoes to find the appropriate complement to my circa World War I era doll. I believe she is a prototype of the "Baby Dainty" Doll produced by Effanbee at that time. I found a reproduction Simplicity doll pattern for the bodice piece and gathered a rather long skirt to it, accented with a deep tuck. It's been donkey's years (oh, I miss Princess Diana!) since I have made any doll clothes.

My first major foray into sewing as a grade-schooler was cranking out Barbie doll clothes on my mother's vintage Singer treadle sewing machine. Barbie doll clothes are on such a tiny scale, they are quite tedious to sew, I think. Baby Dainty is about 14 inches tall and her chest is 10 inches in circumference, so sewing her dress was a breeze by comparison. She was all dressed up and I had promised to take her to a tea party, so off we went to meet up with my girlfriends and sister at Tea-Upon-Chatsworth for a delightful high tea and furrawn (per Anais Nin: soulful conversation that is deeply intimate).

My girlfriends each brought along a doll and a picture from their childhood. I shared one of me with my Ginny doll from the mid-1950's (shown below). Ah, sweet bird of youth!