Jesse's Bear

Sigh... 

 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 it would never happen but here I am making one.  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. 

The contact person said they had a 'blanket' to make Jesse's bear. 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. At first, I thought I was seeing things because I was too tired.  But I wasn't tired, I was wide awake.

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. I had wanted to make a bear from a cutter quilt (an old worn quilt). I hadn't planned on using a beloved baby quilt. At times it was a challenge due to the thickness of the quilt and all the layers. But I powered on. It worked out enlarging the pattern to accommodate the sweet message from Great Grandma. I hope you can see it on the back of the bear's head and back. 

The finished bear is below. I had a little bit of quilt left so I made little heart keychains too. I thought Jesse's family might want to keep a small part of the quilt with them.