Our theme for this current quilt in my online art quilting group was Spring. I wanted to avoid blue bonnets or any spring flowers, despite having some lovely photos that would work wonderfully well to portray Spring in Texas! I happened to see some jack-in-the boxes at a toy store, however, while pondering the theme. Aha, a toy that uses a spring to make it work!
I sketched a box and then decided to have a Raggedy Ann doll be what sprung out of the box. ( I have never liked clowns, which normally spring from the box, finding them even now rather scary and disturbing.) I've always loved Raggedy Ann and Andy, though, and so Ann seemed a perfect choice to pop out. It did help me decide what to use to see that in the boxes I saw, one was a princess and the other a teddy bear!
After getting my sketch as I wanted it to look, I chose commercial fabrics for the box, for Ann, and for the background. I found directions online on how to make yarn hair. I made freezer paper templates from my sketch to cut out the various elements in the design. I embroidered Ann's features after cutting her out like a paper doll, used buttons for her eyes, and fused the clothes onto the doll. I then fused the doll onto the box, once the box was fused onto the background fabric. I love this harlequin green fabric! I first used it for a great nephew's baby quilt, so it seemed a good choice for this playful little quilt. I machine quilted following the diagonal lines on the background, after zig zagging around the box and the doll to further secure them.
I used a marker and a bit of red fabric to make the handle, which one of my fellow Mavens said was her favorite part of the quilt!
Below is the backing on the quilt. I printed two photos onto the sheets of fabric you can run through an ink jet printer. These are photos of two sets of Ann and Andy dolls. Mother made me the small dolls sometime during the 1940s, when I was a huge fan of the Raggedy Ann books. Then in the 1970s, I made daughter Susan the large dolls which are still in great condition. Sadly, my own old dolls are quite tattered and torn and are missing their lower legs! I used these dolls as models for my Raggedy Ann in the Box!
All of the Ann and Andies are fabulous. I agree w you about the background fabric. I think you made a good choice to spring for a novel expression. It allowed you to make a quilt that was very personal across the generations.
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