Pat's Bear

 This is Pat's bear. Like most of the bears I make, I don't really know a whole lot about Pat.  I know he was very active and participated in Triathlons. Most of the shirts I used were from triathlons he had finished. He was a fan of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville too. This is the first bear I have made with such big images. I try to talk my customer into a memory pillow if the images are bigger. Pat's family member wanted a bear. I gathered my courage and got to work. With each piece I sewed, I liked him more and more.  I was excited and nervous to present him to Pat's family member. It made my day how much she loved the bear!

Isn't he cute? 

Here is his back. I know he's in a odd position, I tried to get a nice picture of all the images of the clothing.

THIS IS MY GUY

I work with a counselor to make memory bears for clients who are grieving. Because of privacy policies, I never know who the recipient is.  This pillow was made from a white T-shirt with the picture of the person's husband affixed on the front. 

It's hard to see the colors I chose in this picture. But I chose a soft blue fabric for two borders and a soft white/off white fabric for the center border. I hope they are comforting colors for the person.  I used a nice fluffy pillow form to put the pillow cover over. 

I didn't take a picture of the back, but I used the back of the T-shirt and a little bit of the soft blue for the backing.  

Bonnie's Bears and Dook's Memory Pillow

A good friend's daughter-in-law contacted me to make bears from her grandmother's tops and a memory pillow from her grandfather's T-shirt.  I don't know much about Bonnie or Dook, but the love from their granddaughter really showed. 

Front of the memory pillow.

Back of the memory pillow. I used the front of the T-shirt to make the backing of the pillow and the image from the back of the T-shirt to make the front of the pillow. I always try to use as much of the article of clothing as I possibly can. 

I hope the people these bears and pillow go to like them!

Hugh's Bear

 

Hugh's bear was made for a friend of mine who recently lost her Dad. She said she had to fight him to get this shirt off him so that she could wash it. It was his absolute favorite shirt.  As I worked on Hugh's bear, I thought of all the love my friend had for her Dad. 

I used blue corduroy for the ears and feet as well as the front of the vest for a nice contrast. My friend  does amazing work on an embroidery machine and embroidered the Volkswagen Beetle for his vest as well as her Dad's CB handle on the right foot. 

I say it with every bear, but I am truly honored to have been able to make this bear for my friend.

1860-1880 Grandmother's Flower Garden Framed Flower Picture

 I have a friend who owns a vintage shop inside the quilt shop where I work. My friend bought this picture for the frame from a resale shop. She knew I love English Paper Piecing and saw the Grandmother's Flower Garden flowers professionally mounted in the frame. I was so excited when she showed it to me.  I bought it from her shop instantly!

I consulted two people who are very knowledgeable in vintage fabrics. Both ladies dated these hexies at 1860-1880. I originally going to have it reframed and put a new mat behind it and a spacer put between the glass and the mounted hexies. The closer I looked, the hexies are glued to the mat as well as one is glued to the glass. They are too delicate to pull off the glass. I decided to keep it as it is and make my own tribute reproduction picture identical to this fabulous picture. I know I don't need to make another one, I want to make it to hang beside the old one. To have an old and a new one side by side. And I have never worked with 1/2" hexies before. Challenge accepted! 

I wish I knew it's story. Why someone would frame 1/2" hexies in this way. Could it have been someone's great great grandmother's handiwork they wanted to preserve?  I will never know, but I do know that I will treasure this piece. I hope my reproduction will honor the original maker. 

Pre-1830's Quilt

 I work in a quilt shop. I get to see so many beautiful quilts made by co-workers and customers. Sometimes my boss buys quilts from estate sales. This quilt came from one of those sales. It has been dated  from pre-1830's. It is around a 193 years old!  I was so surprised and touched when my boss gave me this quilt!  

I love all things old. And enjoy daydreaming about the life of the old things I collect. I have been thinking about this quilt since it was given to me. This quilt was made before the sewing machine was invented. It was invented in the 1860's. So the entire quilt is hand sewn. 

I believe the striped fabric was added to make the quilt a bit bigger to fit a bed. Notice the dark blue setting triangle. It's on the bottom left corner near the stripe fabric. I feel the maker ran out of fabric and used what she had on hand. I love that about it. 

I wonder how long it took for the maker to save up the scraps of fabric to make this quilt. The backing is a little worn and very used. There is a section where a long piece was used to cover up a well worn section of the quilt. 

I hope you enjoy seeing this old beauty as much as I enjoy owning it.

RK's Bear

 I have very little information about RK. But I know he was very loved. I made this bear from a well loved T-shirt of his for his Mom. I always try to use as much of the item of clothing as possible. When I deconstructed RK's T-shirt, I noticed inside the collar his initials. I decided to use them as the heart on the left foot instead of a plain red. 

As always I am honored to make this bear. I hope it helps his Mom with the grief of losing her son.