The Retreat Doll

Here she is - the doll from the Gail Wilson retreat in early October.  She is one of the dolls from Gail's journey to create a doll just as the real Izannah Walker did back in the last half of the  1800's.  This doll has a molded head with stockingette over it and a cloth body.  This was my first attempt at stockinette and it was much easier than I thought it would be.

I met some wonderful new doll makers at the retreat as well as connecting with some doll makers I have met at other retreats.  It was a fun filled long weekend.  We did a gift exchange and I was so lucky!  I received some special fabric designed by one of the retreaters.  Thanks Cornish Crone! 

After the retreat, my husband and I traveled to the Shelburne Museum in Northern Vermont.  It is a series of buildings housing several different kinds of museum exibits. It took us two full days to see it all.   In one of the buildings, they have three Izannah Walker dolls on display!

In addition to dolls, we saw sleighs and carriages, quilts, folk art, impressionistic paintings, american paintings, circus carvings, and some period houses.  We also saw a shaker tool shed, a weaver with a working Jacquard loom, and a locomotive steam engine.  If you'd like to arm chair visit the museum, here is their web address:

http://shelburnemuseum.org/explore/collections/

They have a nice gift shop there with books, games, clothing, Vermont artist items, and even some fabrics that are reproductions of fabrics in their antique quilts.

I hope you get to visit the Shelburne Museum some day...but in the meantime, have some kind of fun today!