Bowie the Destroyer
Our sweet puppy Bowie is the sofest, happiest pup I've ever met. Unfortunately he's also the biggest toy destroyer as well. Just as I sat down to write this he began barking incessantly at the shelf in my workshop where I have all the poor mangled stuffed animals he's gotten his paws and teeth on. I can't fully speak dog, but I'm pretty sure he was saying "THOSE ARE MINE! GIVE THEM TO ME!". Unfortunately for him and me, they're not his. and I will not give them to him.
My daughter is a big stuffie lover and has so so many (it's all she's asked for her birthday and Christmas in years), she loves them all and her favourites change from day to day. My son however only has a few, but adores them and was heartbroken when sweet Shadow was mauled by Bowie while he was at a birthday party on the weekend.
Thankfully I can sew and I have a nice little stash of toy supplies. Although I've got a bunch of sewing projects on the go and some photos to edit (and am a bajillion years behind on posting here), I decided to take a bit of time this morning and operate on a few of my stuffed patients. I neglected to take photos before I started, but after I finished Shadow, I thought I should because (insterts pat on the back) I think I did a damn fine job.
First patient: Shadow the wolf
Shadow is my son's very favourite stuffed animal. Shadow has a white wolf partner named Sarah, a cub named Teddy and a best friend named Sleepy Teddy (who is not a wolf, but the first stuffie he ever got pre-birth).
Poor Shadow had his nose torn off by an over exuberant puppy. He was a special souvenir from our family's first adventure to Parc Omega, and is one of his most prized possessions, so my boy was pretty heart broken to come home and find him howling in pain with no nose.
I didn't have any leather on hand, but I created his nose with some black fabric and a thick interface behind it. I also repaired some torn bits around his muzzle using a ladder stitch and added a little black strip (which he didn't have before) with thread. I gave him a little grooming around his eyes and used a permanent marker to darken around them. After years and many turns in the washer and dryer, his fur has seen better days and some of hte facial colouring had worn off, but a little brush, and the re-darkening around his eyes really brought out his cute factor.
To top it off I made him a simple Mario bandana and my little girl used her Fisher Price doctor bag to give him a once over and make sure he was in tip top shape and ready to get back to work as the best darned stuffed wolf out there.
I'm no pro, but pretty happy for my first (of many) nose reconstructions. I just wish I took a before so you could see how bad poor little Shadow looked.
Shadow is a Douglas Toys wolf that was mauled by our puppy. I did my best to fix him up. In the background you can see a quilt I'm working on.
Patient 2: Siberian Tiger
The White Tiger was horribly mangled by sweet Bowie. Tiger had a previous encounter where they lost their tail (thankfully we recovered it and were able to reattach before any permanent damage occured).
This time around, Bowie removed one of Tiger's eyes and knawed on the other eye a bit too. Thankfully I still have a stash of toy eyes and a smidge of fur from my days of toy making and I was able to really fix Tiger up.
Steps:
- I removed the second eye and added a bit of stuffing to the head.
- I cut 2 pieces of white faux fur larger than the existing holes and attached a child safe blue doll eye to each piece (ensuring the fur was oriented up like the fur on the tiger's head).
- Using Karen Kay's 6" Perfect scissors I pushed the fabric into the tiger's head and maneuvered until I felt I had it in a good position (I love these scissors and also used them for trimming the area).
- Using a ladder stitch I sewed around the edge of the existing tiger fabric and attached the eye piece in place, leaving excess fur fabric on the inside.
- I repeated the process on the other side and noticed the muzzle needed some help too. Using a ladder stitch I repaired the small tear and bam! Complete!
Patient 3: TY Cleo the Kitty
Little Cleo got the worst of it. Bowie must have really liked her because she lost her nose, mouth AND her eye. Poor kid. This little orange tabby cat needed lots of help so I looked through my stash and was able to find a similar sized eye. I opted to leave her existing eye and replaced the other with a greyish eye I've had kicking around for ages. Scars give us character right?
The backing from the original eye was still inside Cleo's head and there wasn't a gaping hole where the eye had been so I was able to place the new eye in the same spot as the old one. Once that was complete I cut out around where her muzzle once was, added a smidge of stuffing and used the same technique I used with the Tiger's eyes for Cleo's muzzle. Once that was complete I did my best to find a pink embroidery floss that matched her previous nose and embroidered a wee nose. Using 3 thin strands of black embroidery thread I created a line going down and a little smile. My final step was to use standard thread and create a few whiskers for her. To do this I tied a small knot and pulled it through from the opposite side, then cut the whisker to length and repeated for the other 3.
By no means do they look brand new, but I'm incredibly happy with how their surgeries turned out.
There are quite a few more toys that need surgery, but the OR is closed for the day. Mama has to do some work!
What's going on in Quilt world?
After a recent little snafu I received some beautiful Wideback peppered cotton in Peacock from an amazing shop in Toronto called Country Clothesline. I wasn't able to find enough of it at my local shops and I was so happy to find a Canadian shop that carried exactly what my clients wanted. I can't speak highly enough about the great customer service I received from Country Clothesline and the quick shipping.
The fabric, which is currently taking a ride through my washing machine, will be used for the backing, sashing and binding of a gorgeous queen size hexagon quilt I'm working on. There are some beautiful pieces of woven wrap in the quilt and the family decided that the Peppered Cotton in Peacock would add some nice texture to the back and tie in well with the some of the colours in the wrap and the quilt in general. They were also quite pragmatic and also liked this colour as it won't show marks as easily as a cream or white will.
One of the most beautiful lessons I've learned over the years is that sometimes, often actually, a quilt is more than a quilt. It's an honour to work with people as they face the changes that come with their kids growing older, and it's an honour to work with people as they travel through some of their grief.
In addition to the hexagon quilt I mentioned, I have some beautiful memory and memorial custom panel quilts that I'm excited to be working on too. Some may ask why I have more than 1 project on the go at a time. Simple answer is, I want people to have the option to go at their own pace. Custom panels tend to involve a lot of back and forth. These pieces of clothing are special. They carry the magic of the every day. Decisions can be hard to make, especially when with a memorial quilt. My goal is that the process of working together not add stress to anyone's life. I want people to feel like they can take the time to think and ponder and reflect. I've had quilts completed in a month, but I've also had quilts take multiple years to complete. Not because of the actual work time involved, but because some decisions take time, sometimes a lot of time and sometimes a lot of tears. To ensure that people have the time they need and to ensure I can continue to help supporting my family, my system allows people the space they need. When one person is deciding on layout, and another is waiting on backing fabric to arrive, I can be working on a design, or preparing fabric or quilting a quilt.
I haven't been sharing much in a long time. I often forget that sharing here and on social media is part of the job too.
I'd like to get in the habit of sharing more here and on Social Media and even share some videos on Youtube. If you have anything you're intersted in hearing about please drop me a line to let me know.
Thanks for stopping in!
