Twelve Yards of Muslin Projects: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

I'm still enjoying working with dolls with the armature frames.



The lady African dolls were inspired by an artist from Uganda named Paul Ndebele who paints and creates beautiful batiks that tell beautiful visual stories.

This doll's name is Galimah. I'm not sure what her name means but it was the name of someone that I knew many years ago.

This doll's name is Adila which is Swahili for justice.

I also created more of the African passport mask dolls . The original designer who gave me the inspiration is Sandra Heading Marchand.

This Akili who is a very happy, generous and kindly king. His name is means wisdom.

This is Rafiki.

He is another storyteller or "griot". The first "Storytelller" that I made a few weeks ago along with the doll I named "The Leader" were both adopted from the Brickhouse Gallery the first week they were there.

This is Ndemasi another African king. He has a very strong and arrogant personality.

This is Sister Moon, another inspired piece...

...and Sister Stars.

All of these dolls are ready to be adopted at The Flower Collage gift shop in the Brickhouse Gallery, 2837 36th Street, Sacramento CA 95817.

Twelve Yards of Muslin: Projects: Projects 2, 3, 4, and 5

Here are the next finished projects out of my twelve yards of muslin. I was watching this wonderful program on TV, one of the stories they were featuring was about a doll artist. Of course, that caught my attention.

She had been laid off from here job for several months and started out making jewelry that her husband took to work to sell for a little extra income. I'm not sure how she made the transition from jewelry to doll making but she said that when she made her first two dolls they sold immediately.

I was so intrigued by her dolls' simplicity yet they were so detailed in portraying African cultural dress. She used small imported masks called African passport masks for the dolls faces. I wanted to make my own version of these dolls. I knew that I would have to be pretty resourceful in re-creating the dolls faces since I don't have access to the passport masks that she used.

I gathered the materials and the tools I needed. I had almost everything I needed already in my craft and art stash. I started out with a few rough sketches of what I wanted to create. My next step was to make an armature frame to build the doll on.

I always smile at myself when I pull out the power tools and hardware to make an art or soft art project. This project required my drill, wire cutters, 14 gage wire, pliers and wood glue.

I also got a chance to use up a lot of my leftover quilt batting scraps. I never throw anything away.

Here's where the muslin comes in. I used lots of 1" by 36" strips.

I wrapped the armature with the batting first and then the muslin strips. I got this little mummy like doll body ready to be costumed.

I love the way the wire frame makes the arms able to be posed in a variety of gestures.

My favorite part of any doll making project is the costuming. I guess it's because it takes me back to my theater roots. For this project I used burlap, (very itchy to work with) cowrie shells, African textiles, feathers, found objects and broken jewelry. I used enamel paint on fabric to paint the faces to substitute for the masks. This was a great project for my creative spirit because I could let my imagination run free. I came up with so many design ideas and these are the four I decided to make. They are the leaders of an African village.

"The Chief"

"The Elder"

"The Griot" (storyteller )

"The Merchant"

They are available for adoption at the Brickhouse Gallery in Sacramento. Can't wait to make more!

The Brickhouse Gallery Quilt Show

I am proud to be a part of the Brickhouse Gallery's first annual quilt show. I entered the two pieces shown in the middle of this photograph. The top piece is called "Plum Blossoms"

and the bottom one is called "Moon Watcher".

I was very humbled to be among so many extremely talented quilters. These artists are very serious quilters who devote their creative spirits and many long, long hours to these extraordinary works of art.

I am happy to share some of their work with you here.

If you are in the Sacramento area, this show runs until February 29th.

The Brickhouse Gallery

2837 36th Street

Sacramento CA 95817

Thursday & Friday 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Saturday 12:00pm to 7:00pm

Twelve Yards of Muslin: Project 1

Here is my first finished project out of my "twelve yards of muslin."
I decided to make a fabric art piece. I used the plain white muslin and fabric paints and pens to create the background.




My hairdryer is my favorite tool when I use paint. I always want to get my projects done quickly and this saves drying time between the painted layers.

The white muslin is a perfect blank canvas so that it can become anything.

I made a pattern for the design I wanted to applique into the piece.

Next I pulled out embroidery thread...

...and lots of colored glass beads...

I used beads to add some detail...

...and make the piece come to life.

I used embroidery thread to hand quilt the background...

...and the finished piece is called

"Talkin' To The Moon".

This is not the first time I've created this piece. I designed it for the first time about 18 years ago. It was so popular that I sold it immediately at a craft show I was selling at.

I love my first finished project out of the twelve yards and I've already started the next one. Can't wait to share it here with you.

My Granddaughter's Hat

My youngest granddaughter Maya bugged me all summer to make her a hat. Usually, I try to do anything I can to make my grandchildren happy but I just didn't have a design for a hat in my creative bag of tricks.

































Every time she would ask I answered 'yes sweetheart, grandma will make a hat for you' but truthfully, I didn't have a clue where to begin. As the months went on, every weekend Maya came to me and said 'grandma, did you make my hat?' Five-year-olds like elephants, never forget. I was beginning to feel guiltier and guiltier every week because I knew I was putting her off. About two weeks before Christmas, I found this great yarn that had so many wonderful colors in it. I remembered that I used to crochet a little and of course, the light bulb came on. Here was the basic ingredient for Maya's hat. I added some matching ribbon flowers and some rhinestones to give some "Bling". These are my granddaughters Maya and Relena wearing 'original' Cre8tiv Glory hats.

Twelve Yards of Muslin

My creative spirit kind of went into hibernation after the holidays. I couldn't seem to get inspired to begin anything new. I decided to go shopping last week at all of my favorite fabric, craft and art stores to see if I could jump start my creative spirit with some new materials.

I bought some fabric pens and some watercolors from Utrect Art Store and then visited a few fabric stores and bought some half yard pieces of print fabric that I thought would inspire me, I sat in the car and looked at my purchases and thought 'now what?' I decided to go to Hancock Fabrics on my way home.

I walked around the store with that 'I don't know what I'm looking for but I'll know it when I see it' attitude. They had a great sale going on but there wasn't anything I really wanted. Then I saw a sign that said $1.00 off all cotton muslin fabrics.


I found a bolt of bleached white cotton muslin for $1.99 a yard. The bolt hadn't been cut yet. The fabric was a close weave, sturdy and had a good weight and there was 12 yards on the bolt. Suddenly, I could see all of the possibilities that this plain white bolt of fabric could become. Instead of white, I could see rainbows of color and prints.

Who knew that this was the inspiration I was looking for and what a great bargain. With the $1.00 off per yard, I got all twelve yards of 45" fabric for $12.00. I couldn't wait to get it home.

I pulled out all of my paints and supplies and instead of thinking 'now what?' I was thinking 'what first?'

I am beginning a new creative journey with my 12 yards of muslin. I can't wait to see what and how many projects my plain white cotton fabric will inspire.

I will share my creative journey here with you. I'll keep you posted on each new project.