Bear in Mind

Here are some fun bears I made from old shirts for a client. She wanted 4 bears from 4 shirts. It worked out well except for the fact the men's shirts were a bit smaller than the normal XL. But I added some extra fabric from my stash. The other sister wants to be a veterinarian so I found a doctor patch and added the V to it. The Walmart patch was where their grandfather worked for many years to provide for his family.

Two of these bears have special patches added. One little girl is a big NASA fan and wants to get into space. As my husband worked for the space program he had a few patches to spare.

Adding stash fabrics for the backs. One is velvet and the other is flannel. I also added weighted plastic filler to help the bears sit better on a shelf. A note that light fusible interfacing is so worth it and a must do. It is mentioned once in the pattern directions but you really have to interface all the bear parts for stability of your stitches in the shirt fabrics.

The pattern I used was Simplicity A2115 It's so easy. You can still find on ebay for around ten bucks even though the original price was $2.00 at Walmart. It is worth it as the pattern is easy. Plus, several people have posted their technique on youtube to show you how to make one. Like a second copy of the pattern using plastic sheets for multiple bear cuttings.

I did add baby proof plastic eyes and flocked noses from my collection. They have a whole community of DIYers that make just custom eyes for costume and hobby crafting these days. I ended up buying some clear glass eyes to make my own after the holidays are over.

Poppy Passing

From my husband about Poppy, our barn cat:

A cat story:
When we first moved to Missouri in 2009, we had another month before closing on a house, so we moved into a hotel and all our pets were boarded at a vet. On the second day, we stopped at Walmart for some supplies. As we got out of the car, a kitten ran under the car. Ruthlynn wanted to rescue it, but I protested saying that we didn't even have a home yet.

We compromised, deciding if it was still under our car when we were done shopping, we would take care of it. After shopping, it was still there. When she pulled it out, she noticed that it was covered in oil and its intestines were hanging out of its rear end. Evidently, it had been run over (not by us).

We hurried it to the vet who popped the intestines back in and stitched him up. We named him "Poppy" because of that. The vet kept him next to dogs for the next month, until we moved in.

When we moved in, he spent more time with the dogs than the cats and acted like a dog. He spent as much time as possible outside. Whenever we walked out of the house, he would run up, meow to be pet, and escort us around, even to the far corners of our woods. He was our pasture pal. He would even climb the trees and meow until we acknowledged him.

When we fostered kittens, he would spar with them and teach them to fight. We have a rug called the "Poppy Dojo" where the male cats would entertain us with their sparing.

About a year ago, Poppy became a bit less responsive. His appetite decreased and he started losing weight. When he started to get really thin, we brought him to two separate vets who could find nothing wrong. Poppy continued to lose weight and eventually quit eating and drinking all together. That was a week ago.

We've been watching him decline, checking on him throughout the day and night to make sure he was comfortable and alive. At one point, when he could barely stand, he headed outside and disappeared towards the woods. We hoped he was going to die on his own terms. But, he showed back up around dusk, ready to come back in.

Tonight he fell down the stairs, was yowling in pain and twitching. We didn't want him to die in pain, so we decided to have him euthanized while the vet was still open. Ironically, it was the same vet who put his intestines back in nearly a decade ago.

Losing a pet is the hardest part of owning one. But, we are thankful for the time we had with him and we feel good that we gave him a good life. His passing teaches us to value the time we have in this world.

Neat Noren

This is a Japanese noren or doorway curtain. It is used indoors in doorways with a tension rod. We use one in our downstairs to keep the heat out of our bedroom from our wood stove. It also lets our cats get into the room while still keeping privacy with the door open. So messy unmade beds are not seen and the cats can still roam freely. These noren can be use also to keep drafts down and flies out. I love that they are floating art you can use instead of a closed door. In New Orleans the old homes had these in every room for almost the same reasons. But I like these light washable Japanese ones more than the heavy velvet of the South.