When Holly asked us (me and Kaye Wickman--my fairy godmother and amazing quilt sample maker) to  “play” dress-up for this blog event we were excited.  We brought the "Dolly Dress Up" panels back to the shop, pulled out our Lakehouse fabric collection and we dove into our collection of ric-rac, ribbons, buttons and bows.

Soon, we decided it would be a team effort...We call ourselves the "Scrappy Dolly Dress team".

We then asked for assistance from Sammie Belanger, our resident “embellishment” queen and stitchery instructor at my quilt shop, Fresh Picked Fabrics.  She worked her magic creating aprons, vests, necklaces, collars and other frou frous.  Sammie passed it back to Kaye, who added her own finishing touches with flair.

Quilter and customer, Carrie Wright advised us along the way and had a vision for putting the blocks and quilt together.  At the shop, we are know as the Ric Rac Queens, carrying all 42 colors of  JUMBO ric rac, Carrie decided we had to use JUMBO ric rac on the project.  She “shadowboxed” the dress blocks with the jumbo ric rac and decided to do “scrappy” sashings and a nine patch.  She also created an amazing “scrappy” binding.

Ginger Grimes, my go-to girl at Threaded Pear Studio, pattern company, is also an amazing long arm quilter.  She agreed to take on the challenge and I let her run with it.  After working long hours into several nights (and getting a little punchy) we saw “our” masterpiece on the Gammill quilting machines (she used both the Statler Stitcher computerized machine and the Premier hand guided mchine) and we jumped for joy!  Ginger used the Karen McTavish’s trapunto technique of adding “fluff” in certain areas of the quilt. Then Ginger, did some tiny tiny micro stippling around the dresses.  She finished quilting the sashing then we all decided we could not be happier “parents” of  these Scrappy Dolly Dresses.

We will have the panels and a Ric Rac kits available for purchase.  The kit will include  about 10 yards of Jumbo and tiny ric rac for embellishing the dresses and "shadowbox sashing.  We will also include detailed photos of each block for your inspiration.   Drop us an email at quiltersbuzz@gmail.com to get on the sign up list.  Kits and panels should ship in April.

We the “Scrappy Dolly Dress Team” have had a creative adventure working on this project.

Thanks for letting us play!

Gina Halladay, head engineer and team captain

Kaye Wickman, fairy godmother and project leader

Sammie Belanger, queen of bedazzling

Carrie Wright, Piece maker