Introducing....

Walter III, weighing in at 50grams (1.75oz.) and measuring 10.5cm (4.25in). Walter III is officially the smallest teddy bear I have made. He comes in a close second behind Molly. She lays down and kicks her feet behind her and is about 4.5in long. When Walter III is sitting on the table, he barely makes 3 inches tall (7.5cm). I had to put garnet sand in his belly to make him weigh anything. I was amazed at how LITTLE poly-fil it took to fill his wee arms and legs.  He is so cute. But for all his cuteness, he was a challenge. The pieces are so tiny. It wasn't that I had a hard time sewing it, that was easy. The challenge was turning it and then the joints. I had to find the tiniest method of jointing, using the thinnest joint discs I could find and t-head cotter pins to keep it all together.

 

Putting the filling in  became an art form, kind of like surgery! I used my hemostats and a chopstick. Even my skinny fingers were too big to push the stuffing in to the ends of the arms, legs, and body. Where there is a will, there is a way! (You should have seen me trying to take this picture, my nose is big for a reason!!)  His joints are 15mm (5/8") in the head and arms and 20mm (3/4") in his legs, that's pretty small. I think next time I will use washers as the depth of the plastic is too much for the arms. The inside of the body has mostly joint discs in it, making it require very little poly-fil. 

This morning, Walter III wanted to share my cuppa tea. He sneakily stood beside it for a while, showing me he was a big boy for standing on his own. But alas, the aroma of nice warm tea got the better of him and he took a nose dive. Fortunately, I caught him before he could get wet and drown! 

Hope you enjoy your day. I will be making Walter Jr. and working on melons and the double wedding ring. I also have some Christmas presents that I would like to finish and get some others going. We did some grocery shopping yesterday for Thanksgiving, we have a reasonably small "family" this year, I'm only cooking for 8.  I love to cook! 

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Please post pics to The Crafter's Thread on Facebook or here. I love seeing what you do. So many talented crafters out there.

happy crafting,

Debi 

The Sloth

The sloth (trust me, I looked it up!) is growing. These are the newest ones in the collection. The three in the second row from the top were repaired, then the others were made from scratch. The first three were the reason I began making them again. I forgot how fun they are and how much I loved and missed the entire process. I have designed and made bears since 1998 and probably have over 25 of my own designs.

It took me most of the day to get these tiny pieces sewn together, but I did it. He already has a name and a lineage. I reduced the last one I drew down by 70% and this little guy was born. Next, I will reduce the large one by forty or so percent and hopefully have one right in the middle. This one is going to be cute, I can feel it.



Today I will assemble Walter III and give him some personality. I thought the picture made him look big, but then I saw my little needle in there and decided he isn't so big after all. Shane told me the title to yesterday's blog post (Wee Tiny Fella) was redundant...wee and tiny mean the same thing!! Oh well, he is wee tiny!!

I am working on the pictures today for a couple of tutorials as well. I also have a list of things I would like to share, like free tutorials, sites that help with getting started or questions about certain crafts, and free BOMs or mystery quilts or projects. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Like dad says, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?". I won't make new tutorials, I'll just show you where to find good ones (in my opinion).

I am still proof-reading the thesis. This is hard work for one who hasn't taught in a few years. The grammar and punctuation rules are all different and I am having to do some research on the today's rules to accurately proof-read. I am learning a lot!

Hope your day is great and you have time to do something you love. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Thanks for making my day.

happy crafting,

Debi

Wee Tiny Fella

I knew this one was going to be tiny, that's why it got "painted" with Alene's Stop Fraying. I did the edges of the bigger pieces, ie body and legs, totally covering the head parts, ears, arms, and where the joint pins will go through. This wee head was tricky, but fast because it is sooo small. And he already has a name! We will have a Walter Sr., Walter Jr., and Walter III when I am finished. I am currently putting Walter III together. I will do the Jr. next.

Since my hands and fingers are so small, I can sew these tiny pieces quite easily. I think if it were different, I may try to come up with an alternate method. I do sew all the "straights" on the larger bears on my machine, it is faster that way. Although, I find I give up some of my perfectionist ways when the machine does the work for me. I like to finish the bindings on my quilts by hand as well. No better feeling than to pull that last stitch through and know you did it all!

I got some arcs and more melons done for the wedding ring, hence the reward of sewing on the teddy bear. I am working on hand stitching the bindings in the evenings when we have tv or other shared time after Shane is finished with his work day. It is coming along, nearly finished with the first one.

We've made our plans and have our invites out there for Thanksgiving. I just need some good dessert recipes to try. I know of the usual ones and my dearly beloved wants a pecan pie, so I will be doing those, but if you have a favorite sweet recipe, please let me know. I still need to get my turkey and a couple other things to boost up the table. Would like to get this runner done to decorate with, we will see.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Remember, if you have a favorite dessert recipe, please post it here or on The Crafter's Thread Facebook page. Thank you so much.

happy crafting,

Debi

Not So Wasted After All

Yesterday seemed to be a wasted day until I sat down and started to think about what I did.  Sometimes we just need to look back and realize when God changes our plans for the day, we need to run with it. Our trip to Mayo got sabotaged and the thought of coming home to reschedule and get some unexpected time to play was nice....if it had worked that way. But, it didn't and I didn't get to play. I did, however, get the HSTs finished and the arcs started. No time for the teddy bear though, I think I will only work on him today.

Our son is finishing his BS at ASU (Arizona State University) and I am proof-reading his final paper. That was my wrench in the day...a 40 page thesis. While I am uber happy that he is finishing, I hate correcting his work (only because I hate hurting his feelings for commas!!). AND, I don't want him to flunk the paper because I missed a pronoun :-(

 
SO just to make me happy, I am posting pics of some teddy bears I made a few years ago that sit on my hutch. Sweet little darlings....I love this pattern so much, I made two! They are perfectly proportioned and have been weighted to stand on their own. I love these guys, Nehemiah the First and Nehemiah the Second! 
 

And just look at those adorable faces!

I hope you smiled when you saw them, I accomplished my task if you did. I also hope you have a great day and have some time to do something you love. Our weather is cooling off, for others it is very cold. Still others find themselves headed for warmer weather....I envy you.


Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy stitching....

Debi 




 

Thankful...

Had a friend post on her Facebook page Sunday that she was too sore to stitch and her eyes were blurry, I felt so bad. What would I do if I couldn't stitch????? I am here to tell you, I prayed hard for her. What would you do if you woke up one day and couldn't do the things you love? I complain if I can't sew for a couple of hours..... Makes me thankful I can get out of bed most days and come to my studio and play.

 

Speaking of playing, Bonnie Hunter's new mystery is coming up quickly with the first clue coming out Friday, November 28, less than two weeks now.  I decided to get busy and find some scraps in her color palette.  I usually don't use the given colorway, but I am intrigued by this year's choices. Here's what I came up with, paint chips are at the bottom. Come join in, dig through your scraps and sew along! Yellow, grass green, turquoise, and bright pink....along with black and neutrals, should be interesting. Nothing bigger than 3 yards, and I made it up of several different pieces. The title is Grand Illusion, just adding to the intrigue!

I also got the rest of the arc pieces cut for the melons. I had 25 more sets of 18 pieces to cut. Phew, now to get them sewn together. The arcs are the easy part, short straight seams. After the arc is sewn, the rest of the seams are curved...I love curved seams. The are intimidating to some, but if I use a lot of pins, I rarely get a pucker. I was going to say I have never gotten one, but I have....bummer. 

I am thinking that my goal setting has been good. I don't let things sit too long before I get to them. The UFO stack is going down and the scrap pile is going up. The teddy bear reward system is hard to do, but I am being strong...so far :-)   Maybe we should have some sort of a group challenge to get things finished and cleared from our to do lists.

I hope you are having a great day and that you get some time to do those things you love and meeting your goals as well. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. I love seeing what your projects are on The Crafter's Thread. Keep those pics coming.

Thanks again!

Debi

 

 

Excited!!!

First, I am so excited to see the number of likes we have on The Crafter's Thread on Facebook. We have only had our page for three days and we have over 25 likes already. We had friends post on the wall yesterday with their projects. I am amazed by your work. I don't think I could crochet or needle turn applique to save my life, and yet those of you who can, make beautiful things. AMAZING! Thanks for posting. I am encouraged.....

I didn't make it to the joint bin sort out, but I have a good reason.  I have nothing to sort them into except the same ziplock and box storage system I am currently using. But, I did get my other goals done and dusted!!! I started the day wanting to finish two table runners and the melons for the double wedding ring quilt. I did the melons first as they were easy to accomplish.  I did all I had cut, one more set of cutting and I will be finished with the arcs, I can't wait. AND, I machine quilted and put the bindings on both table runners.  Phew, those runners have been laying here haunting me for at least a year! They are gifts, at least I made it by Christmas! Now to hand stitch the binding and some snowflakes on the snowmen.

It was garage sale weekend in our community and I manned that Friday and Saturday morning as we had a few things we wanted to get out of the garage! Fortunately, it was a very warm nice couple of  days! (And EVERYTHING sold!) We made enough to go to lunch, that's all we wanted!! 

Today, I would like to meet my goal on the melons again and start on this wee little bear. It is all painted with fray stopper and ready. I decided to hold on to it and make it my reward for getting the job done, I think I earned it yesterday. I organized so much, my husband was amazed. I am really motoring here.

Well, I need to get off here and get ready for church. I hope you have a fantastic day and get to worship in the church of your choice. Also, that you get some time to do something you love. Thank you so much for stopping by, I am loving sharing with you. You make my day.

quilt piece-fully,

Debi

  

Getting There!

Here is the mini all painted and ready to be sewn. I am really looking forward to starting this one. I did the big one and then did something I have only ever done once before....I scanned and reduced the exact pattern to get the mini. I always just sit and draw the pattern, I feel like I cheated somehow!

 

One thing I have never done is use my mohair scraps to make another bear. I saved the bigger version's scraps to do exactly that. I must be crazy! I moaned and complained about how it kept fraying and here I am using the same fabric again! One change: this little wee thing is "painted" with Alene's Stop Fraying!! I am pretty sure it's not going anywhere! I put an extra layer in the vulnerable areas (where I stuff it and where the joint pins go through). It will need to dry for a bit longer. I'll keep you posted, I'm sure, on the continuing saga. Hopefully, there won't be any further issues.

I can't believe I got it all out of scraps, I love saving money!

I also started to organize all the bits and pieces it takes to make the bears. I had a box full of eyes. Some are German glass eyes, some plastic safety eyes...all in ziplock bags in a cardboard box that has so many corners torn, I have no idea how the bags stayed in there. I now know exactly what I have and where to find it, thanks to this nice little storage set. I have the boot buttons separated from the glass eyes and the safety eyes are all organized by size in the bottom row of drawers. Every drawer is labeled with what is inside, if the drawer has a divider, both are clearly labeled on the front. Smallest eyes are on the top left and largest on the bottom right. I'm loving it! I think today I will tackle the joint bin.....

I got the cutting and sewing tables organized as well.  Just need to finish filing the "I want to make this some day" patterns in the filing box.

Well, this teddy bear is dry and needing to be sewn.  I better get to it. I am also working on the pictures for the tutorials and finishing up the melons for the double wedding ring quilt. Can't wait to get the tutorials posted and going. 

Hope your day and weekend are fantastic. I appreciate you stopping by, see you tomorrow.

hoping you have time to do something you love,

Debi

P.S. Here's the only girl puppy in the litter....little "Bobbin" is so adorable!! Her brothers all have their eyes open now too. I can't believe they are two weeks old already!