Lots of Doll Sightings

Since there are several antique stores in Amish Country, I knew that I would see some dolls there on my trip. None of them came home with me, although one piece of furniture almost did. Would you have bought any of these three dressers? I was seriously considering the piece on the far right, but in the end I decided it was a little too banged up.

Amish Country has people who sell new doll clothes and make new doll furniture, but I haven't found anything that isn't for 18" dolls, and most of the furniture is for the little ones who play with 18" dolls. Clothes and accessories are a mix between handmade and factory made, "plain" style and modern everyday. I found the juxtaposition of plain black hats and starched bonnets, with sparkly shoes above, humorous.

There was a glass case filled with true antique dolls, but I didn't get a picture of it. There were some older dolls like Terri Lee, and a xylophone player. I presume at one time the musician used to have something looking more like mallets, on top of the springs she holds in her hands.

There were also a vintage Barbie, Alan and Skipper.

The little blond Ginny Sasson doll in this case caught my eye, but there is quite a variety of dolls inside.

And in the "Wait, how can these dolls be that old?" category are Gene Marshall, and a friend in the Alexandra Fairchild Ford 16" doll line by Madame Alexander.

I found this Knitting for Barbie canister, but since I wasn't planning on buying it, I didn't want to open and root around to see what was inside.

If you grew up playing with Fisher-Price toys, like I did, this section of vintage Fisher-Price might have enchanted you as it did me. Some of these toys pictured are older than me.

And although this large area of craft wood supplies didn't have doll crafting in mind, there were a *lot* of very nice pieces of wood that could be used to make doll items. I'm picturing only one part here

I did pick up a few things for my dolls. Two were for the 18" girls, sunglasses and a pair of faux Crocs.

Then there was this guitar, which I bought in a store that sells Christmas ornaments and decor year round. There were lots of other musical instruments, but I only felt seriously drawn to the guitar.

Last thing, big news! The Dancer is ready to move out and be on her own, so there will be lots going on here. Right now, the living room is crowded because the Dancer is working on repairing bunny chew marks in a couple of stools that she got from friends, along with a matching table. Mr. BTEG and I are of course talking about what we will do with the extra space. Stay tuned!

Amish Country Vacation

At the end of last month, Mr. BTEG and I were at two completely opposite types of destinations. He had to go to Las Vegas for a work convention, so I decided to take a little vacation while he was gone. I chose to go to Amish Country and do some shopping. This post is only going to have the few pictures that I took of the doll that I brought along, around my hotel. I did some serious shopping for the four days that I was there, and wore myself out, so I didn't take all of the poses with Teresa that I was considering. But I did take several pictures of dolls and toys that I saw in the antique stores there. Those pictures will be my next post.

Vacation and a Sewing Haul

Mr. BTEG very badly needed a vacation, and I liked the idea myself of getting away. So the two of us drove down to what we call in Ohio, "Amish country," and spent three days there. I don't know that all of my non-US readers have heard of the Amish. They are a Germanic-Swiss group of people who started coming to the US in 1730 for religious freedom. Generally, they eschew a great deal of modern technology, and dress plainly. The largest concentration of Amish in the world, is in Holmes County, Ohio, and there are lots of Amish in the surrounding areas. Mr. BTEG and I enjoy going to Amish country for the delicious meals; the good food to purchase, such as cheese, dried meats and apple butter; and shopping for fabric, and tools. There's also a very fine handmade leather shop Mr. BTEG likes to visit every time we go, loads of antiques, and beautiful Amish-made furniture.

Here's an idea of what Amish country looks like, taken from the back of one of the restaurants where we ate. The area is very hilly, and covered with farms, Amish and non-Amish, and clusters of trees.

The back of our hotel had a lovely walking path with a pond. We didn't get to use it, for various reasons, but it added to the scenery.

Since the Amish make all of their own clothes, and also do a lot of quilting, there are sewing machine stores and lots and lots of fabric stores. A great many Amish don't use electric sewing machines, but there are some Amish and Mennonites, a branch-off of Amish, that can. Anyway, there is a Bernina sewing machine shop that I love visiting every time we go. I've always owned Berninas, and they use needles and feet specific to Bernina (and Brother, I think.) It's nice to pick up needles and other notions in person, and shop "local." They also offer sewing machine tune-ups, cleaning and repair. They had an open Bernina on display, and I thought you would enjoy seeing what a sewing machine looks like on the inside.

Happily, even though most of the fabric you can find is for Amish sewing, and quilt fabric, there are also some apparel fabrics at certain stores. I bought some lovely knit fabric, some gauze fabric, some quilt fabric for doll sewing, some nice quality hand towels, and some patterns.

I also grabbed a couple of useful notions. One is called a Bobbini, and it's a way to keep your bobbin with your spool of thread. The diamond shape squishes together and goes inside the spool, and the bobbin goes on the little knob at the top. I also bought some very small fabric clips, to hold pieces of fabric together while you're working on them. I'm showing what they look like on a Barbie sized dress that I have to finish very soon. I have so many projects that I want to work on!

I also bought myself my very own sunbonnet (which is not standard Amish or Mennonite wear,) and a Cat's Meow piece that looks like the store where I bought all of that knit fabric and the patterns and notions.

I don't know if even most of you in the US have heard of The Cat's Meow. It's a company that's been around for decades, based out of Ohio, that sells decorative pieces that look like well-known buildings, basic buildings, and scenes. I have Cat's Meow pieces that look like the hospital where I was born, and landmarks of downtown Cleveland, the town where I spent the first 24 years of my life, and the town where the BTEG family lives now (that's three cities, just to be clear.) I also have a few pieces for Christmas, one of Santa driving his sleigh, and one of two pine trees. The black cat is always somewhere on the piece; I even have a pin that looks like the black cat.

Mr. BTEG and I came back very refreshed and ready to tackle everyday life again. I hope you all are doing well, wherever you are at in everyday life.