No Matter What Dolls

"In the same way that birds make a nest of anything, children make a doll of no matter what" Victor Hugo.***

That is my new favorite quote.
I love it! Isn't it true? Didn't we all pick up a spoon or a twig and make that into a doll? I know I did.
It sparked an idea of Calamity Kim No Matter What Dolls"
- they might come to life at night while I am sleeping and make their own dresses or cut their own hair. They might have two left hands or one arm shorter than another. They might not be perfect.
Could I allow myself to do that?
Don't I always strive to make my creations perfect?
How difficult would it be to unlearn years of doll making experience to make simplistic Folk Art dolls with "issues"?
When I used to collect teddy bears, I would always look for the one with the most obvious faults- like one leg too short because I knew that no one else would want to adopt them.
I had to save the broken bears.

When I made Hazel I played around with the watercolor pencils and crayons and "ruined" her face. I was going for a dark circles- zombie look under her eyes but as the watercolor dried it leached under the fabric and ran in the most alarming way!
Not at all the cute little girl she had started out as.
I quickly covered that with several coats of gesso and sanded it smooth.
The white face taunted and haunted me for several days.
Finally I got out the paint and got up the nerve to paint her skin tone, eyes and cheeks. Then she seemed kind of surprised or maybe even spooked! Her black circled iris and small pupil gave the impression that she was on the alert or pensive?- perhaps frightened of the other children of the Night?

I'm quilting the Arsenic & Old Lace doll quilt today and just stopped to take pictures. I had totally forgotten that I wanted to try the pillow case binding and merrily started machine quilting before I realized what I had done! Hahaha! Then on the other side I realized that the giant tea-dyed yoyo pumpkins should have been appliquéd down after I had quilted the quilt. Ah, the learning curve, it throws me for loops like a cloverleaf around Atlanta!

I am learning to loosen up and go with it. Quirky lets it be known that it is handmade. Not factory produced clones of Taiwanese perfection.
Hand Made has Character.
I was hoping to get finished in time for a bike ride but the wind is already blowing and the clouds are rolling in! All Summer we had drought and very little rain- now in the last week it has been raining like Noah finished the boat!
Last night I had to delay dinner because the Mr got an emergency service call and so I hopped on the bike and set off towards the library to return the book on tape that I had been listening to all day. It was a Happy Zombie recommendation and a very sweet romance set in a small farming town. I enjoyed it and almost felt sad when it ended and I had to say goodbye to my new friends.
The rain began just as I was pulling up to the library and armed with the knowledge that sometimes it can rain on one side of the street but not the other I headed back toward home. In a few minutes I was drenched! So after flying home I took a nice hot shower and made a cup of tea. I enjoyed the ride anyway!
Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow- No Matter What, Doll!