In my bear making career, I expected someday I would be asked to make a bear for a child who has passed. I had hoped I would never be asked to make one. But here I am making a bear for a small child who has passed. Sigh...
Being a mom who has experienced child loss, this hit hard. As I worked on this sweet bear, I prayed for Jesse's Mom and family and shed a few tears too. My heart goes out to them so much.
I don't know any of Jesse's story. I only know he was a small child who passed suddenly.
I was asked to make a bear from a 'blanket.' What I picked up was a well-loved baby quilt with a cute turtle and frog pattern. I don't usually sleep well and sewing relaxes me. One night at 3am, I was preparing to cut out the pattern pieces for Jesse's bear. When to my surprise I found a treasure.
I hope you can see it. Quilted into this baby quilt are the words " From Great Grandma"
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it! Thankfully I hadn't cut anything out yet. I decided to make the bear bigger to accommodate the words from great Grandma. This was also my first bear to make out of a quilt. At times it was a challenge due to the thickness of the quilt. But I powered on.
The finished bear below. I had a little bit of quilt left so I made little hearts too. I thought Jesse's family might want to keep a small part of the quilt with them.