Take Joy!: Riley's Gargoyle

Words to Consider

"And the Bastard grant us, in our direst need, the smallest gifts: the nail of the horseshoe, the pin of the axle, the feather at the pivot point, the pebble at the mountain's peak, the kiss in despair, the one right word. In darkness, understanding." -- Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious-makes you so sick at heart-that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio
"They tell us that we live in a great free republic; that our institutions are democratic; that we are a free and self-governing people. That is too much, even for a joke. ... Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder... And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles." —Eugene Victor Debs
i do it for the joy it brings / because i am a joyful girl / because the world owes me nothing / and we owe each other the world / i do it because it's the least i can do / i do it because i learned it from you / i do it just because i want to / because I want to —"Joyful Girl", Ani DiFranco
"Nothing living should ever be treated with contempt. Whatever it is that lives, a man, a tree, or a bird, should be touched gently, because the time is short. Civilization is another word for respect for life." - Elizabeth Goudge, author of The Joy of the Snow

Sigrdrifa's Prayer

Hail to the Day / Hail to Day’s Sons / Hail to the Night and her Daughters / With loving eyes look upon us here / And bring victory to those who have gathered / Hail to the gods / Hail to the goddesses / Hail to the mighty, fecund Earth / Eloquence and native wit bestow on us / And healing hands while we live

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Riley's Gargoyle

Made from an old pattern by Julie McCullough of Magic Threads, he is 18" tall (more or less). I used fleece instead of the robe velour she calls for (primarily because the local Hancock no longer carries robe velour, just as it no longer carries lots of other useful things); his eyes are buttons with a felt backing, and his wings and horns are some liquid-y metallic fabric that I had on hand. His arms are button jointed, but his legs are stationary. He sits, and that's it. I contemplated (briefly) adding toenails and things of that sort, but Riley is only three and a half, after all . . . maybe if I ever make another one.

I did have to do some adjusting, and I'm not sure whether it was due to the change in fabric, or my stuffing, or something else entirely—but his head was too heavy for his body and he tipped over drunkenly when I tried to sit him down, so I had to open him up, remove his tail, and insert a weight bag of plastic pellets. I also weighted his tail with pellets and sewed it back on a little ways up his back instead of into the botton seam, where it originally was. And I did some more stitching on his legs, to hold them in closer. So now all is well, and I think he'll do nicely.

Here's another picture, so you can see his arm joints.

Posted at 10:00 AM in christmas gifts, dolls, made and otherwise, finished projects!, interesting beasts, sewing, things made from fabric | Permalink

Comments

This is the neatest thing since , .....Kermit! Really, well done and I am sure Riley is going to adore him (it???). You do such great work. How is the snow there?
As ever,
Trudy

Posted by: Trudy Neill of Windemere Farm | Sunday, 20 December 2009 at 01:13 PM

Soooooo cute, Anita! I absolutely PREFER him made of your fabrics! I'm about half tempted to try that pattern. Hmmm ... Riley is going to be ULTRA happy!

Posted by: Kai | Sunday, 20 December 2009 at 02:31 PM