WIP Wednesday #56 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Mary Ann Tate, Cloth Doll Maker

What is your name?

Hello my name is Mary Ann Tate. My first name is really Mary Ann Bridget but no one has ever called me that except my father when I was in big trouble. I am simply Mary Ann without a hyphen and without an “e”. I was named after my Irish Grandmothers Mary and Bridget but my mum refused to have a child called Mary Bridget so the Ann was inserted in there to make everyone happy.
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What is your blog name & blog address?

I actually have five blogs going at the moment. Yes.....I'm a blogaholic:) You will find me most often at A Cloth Doll Maker's Diary - http://maryanntate.blogspot.ca/ This is a blog that I originally started as a place to post doll related tutorials and various links that I had found on the internet. It was really created out of frustration when my laptop crashed and I lost all my bookmarks. My idea was to put them all in one place so that wouldn't happen again. Then a blogger friend suggested that I make it a public blog for others to see and share.
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Where are you from in Canada?

I live in Toronto, Ontario. I am married to a man from Liverpool and we have just celebrated our 37^th wedding anniversary. I have two handsome sons, a beautiful daughter-in-law and an adorable granddaughter.
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I was born in London, England and emigrated to Canada in 1954 with my family aboard a ship called the Atlantic. I don't remember much of the trip except the train ride from Halifax to Toronto. We originally lived in Toronto and then Oakville and then at the age of 13 my family moved to the village of Waterdown which is not far from the city of Hamilton, Ontario. This is where my mum finally got to realize her dream of having her own fabric store.

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The store was in an old Victorian house in the center of the village. The front and back parlours of the house were the store and we lived in all the rest. My mum was also a tailoress by trade so you can well imagine that I grew up sewing. By the time I was about seven I could just reach one foot to the treadle on her Singer sewing machine to get it going and feed the material under the needle.
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What is your craft? How long have you been doing this?  How did it all start?

I have dabbled in most crafts over the years. For many years...from 1982 to 1994...I did craft shows on the weekends where I sold mainly toy teddies, rabbits and mice that I made myself and my mum sold quilts and aprons. The pressures of my weekday working life forced me to stop going to shows. I really didn't do much creating or sewing for a number of years but now that I'm retired I have begun to make things again. It's really quite exciting as there have been so many changes and new products and of course we now have the internet. Right now I'm exploring cloth doll making. I started in February 2011 so I'm relatively new to this craft.
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What are your top 3 personal accomplishments in the past year? What are future goals? What is your BIGGEST dream for yourself?

I think my biggest accomplishment this year has been completing two on line doll classes with Canadian doll artist Colleen Babcock. They were both very complicated dolls and I'm very proud of myself for finishing them. As far as future goals? I would say that is not something that I have really thought about. I'm not sure where I'm going with my doll making but I'm enjoying the process and the learning experience.
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Anything else we should know?

Well...I'm a retired banker. I started my banking career in 1973 and left in 2008. I was once robbed at gunpoint when I was a teller and pregnant with my first child. I'm an amateur genealogist and have been researching our various family trees for a number of years. I took Creative Writing certificate courses at night school at the University of Toronto as something to do and was told that apparently I'm the next Alice Munro.....I wish:)

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It's been a pleasure and an honour to participate in the Friday Feature here on The Needle & Thread Network. Please come and visit me at http://maryanntate.blogspot.ca/.

WIP Wednesday #55 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #54 @ TN&TN

And the Winners Are...

Thank you everyone for helping celebrate!  That was fun - I love all the prizes.  So here are the winners, picked at random.

One year subscription to A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine
#4 - ANNETTE

One year subscription to Quilters Connection Magazine
#9 - DONNA (Donna, I can't access your email... please write to me to I can get your contact info?  mysweetprairie at gmail dot com)

$30 for shopping at Hamels Fabrics & Quilting
#23 - DOLORES

Sampler Thread Pack from WonderFil Specialty Threads
#18 - SUSAN BEING SNIPPY!  (She was our Feature Friday)

Congratulations ladies!!  I'll contact you for your mailing address and then pass those n to our sponsors.  They will be shipping your prize directly to you.  Thank you everyone!

Birthday Thread : )

* * Contest is over.  Thank you!  * * 

WonderFil Thread Canada is jumping on board with us to celebrate our first birthday at The Needle & Thread Network.  Thank you WonderFil!

I love these threads.  One lucky winner will get a sample pack of the different threads they make - sparkly, shiny, variegated, thick & thin... cotton / rayon / ultra thin invisible poly... It's awesome!  Some of the thicker threads can even be used for crochet or bobbin work.  You can samples of how to use these on their Facebook page HERE.  Their Facebook page is full of useful tutorials.

This is the prize - but please note that the colors won't be exactly as the ones shown above.

So... if you are a follower of this blog (yes - including Rita and Jackie), you leave a comment as one entry.  For a second entry, please go like WonderFil on Facebook and comment back here to let us know.  The randomly chosen winner of this contest and the other giveaways offered this week will be announced on Sunday.  All contests will close Saturday midnight.  Sound good?  GOOD LUCK, and THANK YOU WONDERFIL!

Friday Feature: Susan @ Susan Being Snippy

It’s a good thing there is a somewhat loose format to follow for these Feature Friday blog posts or I would go on for days and probably say nothing!  That means I like to talk and I like to write, I like to write A LOT!

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

Now there is a long story!  Suffice to say when I was born there was a big fight over what my name should be, but to make a very long story short I got 4 names, that way everybody who wanted me to have a particular name ended up somewhat happy, you would think -- no.  My Dad won out, he called me Susan, but that was not my first name, most everyone forgot my first name because it was never used and Susan fits me quite fine!   My last name is Barker and nice simple easy to remember name, except half the time people who fill out forms seem to forget the “k” and that has become a real point of contention with me!  So simply put, my name is Susan Barker…

WHAT IS YOUR BLOG NAME AND BLOG ADDRESS?

Again, a big long story about names… My blog name evolved from Miss Snips Notebook a previous blog that I kept in conjuction with the column I wrote for 9 years for The Canadian Quilter Magazine by the same name. (you can still find Miss Snips Notebook on the internet if you google it)  Miss Snips Notebook became Susan Being Snippy, mainly because I wanted to keep the image of Scissors (snips) in my title without being completely obvious that my absolute favourite piece of equipment is a pair of scissors.  My blog name not only refers to scissors but also to my careless remarks that can and have gotten me into trouble!   My blog address is http://susanbeingsnippy.blogspot.ca

Birthday/Christmas Quilt 2010,
made from 3 moda charm packs
and 1 meter background fabric

WHERE ARE YOU FROM, IN CANADA?

Currently I live in Abbotsford, BC, which is exactly where I should have been since the beginning, but I started out on the edge of Winnipeg, MB, spent my teen years on a farm near Lockport, MB and through planning and design married a fellow from the big city, Winnipeg, MB who was willing to follow me anywhere and all I had to do was blow in his ear!   So when we went to Victoria, BC at Christmas in 1982 and realized that one doesn’t have to shovel snow or shiver for 6 months of the year, I blew in his ear and we determined that being warm and happy but poor was better than being cold and miserable and not quite so poor.  After a few little hops around the coast, we settled in Abbotsford which perfectly suited us weather wise and financially and had and still has a great QUILT GUILD for me to be part of!

WHAT IS YOUR CRAFT?  And  HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS? And HOW DID IT ALL START?

Like most kids I started with a pencil and crayons and water paints.  My parents and grandparents were never stuck for what to give me at Christmas or my birthday, paper, pens, pencils, paint by number kits (oh boy! I sure loved those!) even books on How to Draw!  My Mother taught me to sew doll clothes and how to work with a pattern so eventually I was making all my school dresses. My grandmothers taught me embroidery and crochet and knitting and cross stitch and my Aunt Vera introduced me to quilting by showing me applique and I made a “Colonial Lady” block as a gift for my Mother at Christmas when I was about 10 years old.   I  have a “snip” I say about my house and home.  “There has not been a bed covering in my house that was not made by me, since 1975!”  So making quilts for myself, for friends, for relatives and for charity has been my main craft for a very long time.  It is not just quilts, I make pillows and tote bags (I don’t think I have bought a purse in 20 years!) and anything else that can be sewn either by hand or machine.

Crochet sweater, 1 of 2 gifted to twin neices

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE PAST YEAR?  

I have to say, I am not really a goal orientated person.  I don’t make lists or keep a schedule or put unnecessary stress upon myself by making deadlines for accomplishments.   I am very lucky in that I have not had to go and work for wages and have someone else tell me what to do, how to do it and when it has to be done by, since the turn or the century (2000), although before that I did work as a bookkeeper and service  scheduler (it is easy to make schedules for other people!).   I do get things done though!  This summer I have kept myself busy with a self imposed challenge that I called THE SUPER SUMMER SNIPPY CHALLENGE and have posted my progress on my blog through the weeks since mid May 2012 til now.

This is a challenge that I gave myself in order to help me work with and clear out my stash of fabrics that I felt was as some say, “more fabric than can be used in this lifetime”  I have been so very  successful with this challenge!  I completed 10 quilt tops to donate to my quilt guild’s charitable quilts program “WE CARE” and also gave 2 large quilt tops to the local QUILTS OF VALOUR program.  The dent left in my stash is quite impressive!  The whole idea of my Super Summer Snippy Challenge essentially accomplished 3 goals: 1. Be charitable  2. Be economical by using what I have.  3. Be Creative

A Lunch sack, with recycled plastic tablecloth inside

I have also worked on a few projects of my own.  One is a Lap size quilt using a Jelly Roll of French General fabrics that I won at my guild’s annual retreat--there really is a trick to planning and using 2.5 inch wide strips in a way that pleases the eye and so that no further fabric needs to be purchased!

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS?

As to Future Goals, like I said, I don’t look too far ahead or plan or make goals that might fail.  The world around me is so changeable, I like to be ready for whatever comes along.  I am working on a few ongoing projects that keep my interest over the long term.

You will also see a renewal of my Miss Snips Notebook column for the Canadian Quilters Association, not in the magazine but on the Members Only section of the CQA website starting in September 2012.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?

I am writing stories about growing up in the 1960’s, similar to Laura Ingalls Wilders book  Little House on the Prairie  and I would someday like to compile them into a book - even if I have to self publish!  I have yet to make my QUILT MASTERPIECE, although I might be working on it right now, one can never be sure which quilt is the Masterpiece!



Susan Barker aka Susan Being Snippy