Leonard's Bears

I met Leonard's daughter Donna through my cousin, Vickie. It was so nice chatting with Donna about her dad, mom, stepson and our love for our four-legged furry family members. The way Donna spoke of her dad, I know he was an amazing person and a kind and caring father.  I was happy to make two bears from his clothes.

Leonard's shirts were so nice to work with. The flannel shirt had a quilted lining. I used the red quilted lining to give a little bit of contrast fabric for the ears and feet of both bears.  The purple bear is made from a beautiful (but masculine) paisley polo shirt. I had never worked with a polo shirt before. It was so easy to work with.

 I usually place a red heart on the left foot of each bear. Since the ears and feet were already red, I used fabric from each shirt and put a heart from the paisley shirt on the flannel bear and a heart from the flannel on the paisley bear. 

There was a little extra fabric left from each shirt. Usually, I give every piece of fabric left to the family along with any buttons. This time I thought it might be nice to make use of the little bit that was left. I have made quilted hearts for the group I Found a Quilted Heart before and placed quilted hearts all over our little town near where we live. I thought it might be nice to make a few hearts from Leonard's shirts and ask Donna's stepson to distribute them. I was able to make 24 hearts (12 small, 12 large). 

I truly enjoyed meeting Donna and hearing about her sweet Dad. It was such an honor working with Leonard's clothing and helping his family with their grief.  

Donations for an assisted living facility.

 I enjoy the challenge of making bears from different types of fabrics or medium. I had all these different fabrics on hand and thought it would be nice to make them and give them to the assisted living facility where my mom lived for 8 months before she passed away. This grouping took me several months to finish. 

The brown striped bear and pink herring bone bear are made from very soft fleece. Two brown bears are made from pre quilted fabric. The bear 2nd from the right is made from a cable knit sweater. I had always wanted to make a sweater bear and really enjoyed making him. The bear on the far right with the blue ribbon is made from a very soft, thicker fabric. I'm not sure what the name of the fabric is, but it is thick! I had a bit of a struggle sewing him because the fabric was so thick. 

 I started putting eyebrows on bears with my embroidery bear. I love how it gives each bear a bit more of a personality. From now on each of my bears will have eyebrows.  I have also started giving each bear a bellybutton as well. I think it adds a kind a cuteness to them. 

I hope this group of bears will give comfort to some of the residents. 

 

Edna Mae and Lou's Bears and Pillow

 Edna Mae and Lou's granddaughter requested I make bears and a memory pillow for her family. I had previously made bears and a memory pillow for her. It's so hard that she lost all four grandparents in such a short time.  

Three of the bears are made from a woman's T-shirt like knit top. They were a small size so I had to use a contrasting color for their faces. I am really happy with the result. 

One bear is made from a Steeler men's T-shirt with the Steeler logo in the middle. I thought and thought about how to utilize the logo the best way possible without cutting it up too much. So I put it on the arms. It really pulled this little bear together with the gold in his face and the Steeler's logo on the arms. 

               All four of the bears together. I love posing them with their arms around each other. It's funny that sometimes one bear goes rouge and doesn't want to put it's arm around the other bears. 

Here is the memory pillow I made from Danelle's grandfather's T-shirt.  I was really happy with how it turned out. 

This is the back of the pillow. I really try to use as much of the clothing as I possibly can. The back of the pillow is the back of the Tshirt. I even use the bottom seam of the shirt as the bottom of the envelope backing. This pillow was so soft and fluffy. I hope it gives comfort to the family.

Embroidered Bear and an Update!

 This bear doesn't belong to anyone just yet. I was at Goodwill and happened to walk by the coat rack. I spotted this beautiful brown fleece jacket that had stunning embroidery on it.  I couldn't pass it up! I knew I had to make a bear with it. After a good laundering, it was ready to be deconstructed. Once I started sewing together the pattern pieces, I fell in love with her. I didn't have any idea of who she belonged to yet. The more I think about it, I think she will go to the nursing facility where my Mom spent her last few months of her life. The staff there was so very good to her and took such great care of Mom. 

I'm not sure if you have noticed, but she is my first bear with eyebrows!  I love the expression on her face!  I think all future bears may have eyebrows from now on! I think I will make a few more bears to send to the assisted living facility. People of all ages love Teddy bears, right?? 

A closer look at her embroidery..

I decided what I wanted to do with this bear. I want to keep her!  I entered her in a quilt show with a little quilt that she is 'making.'   I didn't win any ribbons, but that's ok. I'm happy with her and the little quilt I made.

 

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!