My friend Mary’s grandaughter Maggie came to visit Portland.  She is 12 and already an accomplished dollmaker.  I was very impressed by the fact that she was hand-sewing her creation.  I loaned her my two books on sock dolls — Stupid Sock Creatures by John Murphy and Socks Appeal by Brenna Maloney.

I decided to make her one of my Strongheart dolls.  I met her on Monday and we had dinner again on Saturday.  She’d made 6 dolls and I’d made the one.

She whip stitches the figures together.  I backstitch with the idea that  my dolls should never unravel.  Either way we had a great time  sharing our dolls.

Then we traded — A Strongheart for Raspberry the Spotted Owl

It was a wonderful experience at play and enjoying the company of a budding fabric artist.   Next post I’ll write about the series of Strongheart dolls I’m making.

Check out the sock books, too.  Both are very whimsical but I love the way Brenna Maloney writes about her craft.  Maggie said she sounds like one of her friends — chatty, informative and very funny!