AfricanKelli

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I’m working on a wedding quilt for Matt + Mariah. My mom helped get it started when she recently visited. Instead of a traditional wedding registry book, they had guests sign squares we’d cut for the event. Slowly, these squares are transforming into something useful + sentimental.

Doing this kind of work makes me miss my mom — the kind of miss that you carry around in your stomach like a heavy stone.  The nature of our relationship has changed  in the last few years; I desperately wish we lived in the same city for a period of time to quilt, cook, live together.

~K

A late birthday gift for my friend Jenny.

I picked up a new lens this weekend — a 50 mm 1.4 something or another. It is a fixed lens, meaning you can’t turn it to zoom in and out. I know so little about photography other than what I like. It’s the je ne sais quoi of art. I can’t explain why I like what I do, I just do. And so, forgive the blurry photos I’m certain to post in the months to come. They are my own odd form of art.

~K

Tag blankets for sweet little toes — I’ve been busy sewing for the many new additions arriving this summer and fall.

~k

On the twitter the other day, one of my most favorite ladies was talking about a pin cushion swap she’d just signed up for. Considering I love a creative challenge, logically I signed up.

Thankfully, a long weekend with very little planned has left me with ample time to catch up with my sewing machine. Oh, the simple, sweet, and pure joy of being creative. I find it matched solely in the high of a great run or hike. This weekend I’ve bounced between both activities with long, gloriously refreshing naps in between.

Thank you, America. Your birthday is pretty awesome.

Also awesome is the pool of photos from the scrap pin cushion swap. Wowza. Color me intimidated! These little pieces are truly works of folk art.

I was just thankful to have Nic’s lovely apple pin cushion pattern and one of her kits on hand. I’m pretty darn happy with the way this came out, including the double leaves and the tiny leather stem. I used rice to fill it to give it some heft and it is off in the post to my secret partner this week. As Nic would say, WOOT!

~K

Sorrow’s amazing addition to the sew-along. Love the Brazilian babe!

A while back I emailed a handful of crafty friends and asked if they’d be interested in a very special project. And then, after a deluge of positive email responses, I completely forgot about this little crafty event.

Apologies!

And so, I am now inviting the Internets to join along too. My friend Jessica, who has done amazing work in Brazil for years, recently brought toys to the children living in impoverished communities. The photos struck me; there were many gorgeous little Brazilian girls and boys carrying around very anglo baby dolls. They were tickled to have their own toy. But it got me thinking.

My favorite doll when I was a child was an African American Cabbage Patch doll named Elizabeth. (Second only to Aggie, the red-headed Irish version.) These two dolls were with me everywhere as a young girl. I adored them. Like little girls in countries around the world, my dolls were special. They had a tiny suitcase full of clothes and regularly were seat-belted into the car next to me. Thinking about it now, Elizabeth was a precursor to a life in love with Africa.

I want to provide the children Jessica is working with in Brazil with dolls that look like they do. Specifically, these Brazilian babies would provide a bit of handmade love to little girls living in poverty. Call me sentimental, but it makes me smile to think of a handful of girls growing up with a handmade item, knowing a woman they’ve never met thought of them, saw their potential, wanted to know they were special and wanted to encourage them to be amazing.

This is what a doll — a tiny piece of folk art — can do. Do not underestimate the power of focused women, especially when they are artists.

Duda wrapped her sweet doll in a homemade quilt.

Care to join this sew along? The rules are simple:

Make a handmade doll — knit, sew, whittle — in the spirit of Brazil. Include details in the doll that encourage your village girl. Photograph your creation and place it in the Flickr pool. Then, mail the doll, with a note if you’d like, to Jessica in New York by September 1.

It should also be said that I don’t know a thing about sewing dolls. I am going into this blind and simply hoping good fortune and patience will see this idea through.

Please leave a comment if you want to play along. I’ll email details to those who participate. This is an easy way for women internationally to provide a bit of handmade love to girls in a Brazilian village. It is simple, sincere and sweet. I hope you’ll join us!

-K