Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

We saw him a few years ago.  I loved watching his percussionist.

Perfect container for stuffing.  I'll have to check that out.  I love wandering the Lowe's aisles too.

I use a giant zippered plastic bag that a king size comforter came in.  It's very sturdy and if I leave the zipper open a bit I can smoosh it and smash it into a closet if I want it out of sight.

Ikea has similar large zippered bags with handles that would suit the same purpose.

Yet another amazing bear from you Tracy ! ! !  Gabriel is fantastic ! ! !

Awesome ! ! !  Now I think they should have a sensor that turns on the Star Wars music when you open the door.  Wouldn't that be cool.

Jane, awesome little chimp ! ! !       

I've never had to make a living from bears.  If I did it wouldn't be fun for me.  I can make more than a bear a week because I've done it for upcoming shows.  Then it wasn't enjoyable and I didn't feel like I had time to perfect each one.   I like to have my bear follow me from room to room for a couple days so I can get to know him/her and decide on the finishing details. But like Daphne, the ones I had to finish more quickly were the bears that went first.

I have a few basic patterns and I tweak them each time I make a new bear such as bent arms and legs, longer snout, wider head, longer arms, longer legs, fatter body, longer body. I keep all the pieces for each basic pattern together and then for my next bear, mix and match or make a new piece to get the look I want.  Then I might enlarge or decrease the basic pattern and start with the tweaking again.  Each time I design a new pattern, I do the same.  I do the same with clothes patterns I design.   That way you might be designing only one new piece of a bear each time.

Also, do you sew your pieces together on the sewing machine or by hand?   I started out sewing by hand but after having hand surgery (due to sewing by hand) I started using the machine.  That sped up the process considerably.

Congratulations, Patsy ! ! !   Your daughter is beautiful.

I think around that same time, my dad had a pet pig named Porky.  He used to take Porky for walks on a leash.  He bought Porky from a farmer, worked for the farmer all summer to buy food for Porky and just when Porky was about to give birth, he had to sell Porky back to the farmer as Dad's family was moving out of state.  Sad, huh?

Congratulations, Julie.  Your dress looks beautiful.  I look forward to seeing more pictures.

Thanks everyone ! 

Bobbie, see Sullivan's eye update in edited first post above.

Thanks everyone.  Sullivan has grown.  He weighs 21 pounds at 8 months and so happy, smilin' all the time.

You know, I kind of feel a relief, not having the feeling that I should be in my sewing room working on bears.  I know my fur stash will be calling my name soon though.

The update of Sullivan's infant glaucoma is GREAT ! ! !  He had an exam under anesthesia (EUA) last week and the pressures were normal  He'll have the EUA every 3 months until he's old enough to allow the exam without squirming.  (He has had two surgeries for infant glaucoma (extremely rare)  that was diagnosed when he was 3 months old.  He's 8 months old now.)

Sullivan's doctor called Tracy yesterday asking if Tracy would be willing to be interviewed for a newspaper article featuring Sullivan.  The reason . . . a success story ! ! !

Like a few others here lately, I've decided to take a break from the bears.   Our recent move wore me out and I have quite a bit still to do here (paint the entire inside of the house, make curtains for 6 windows).  My sewing room won't be set up until it's painted.  So, I need to focus on these things for a while.  I will be checking in here periodically though.

My daughter, Tracy and her baby, Sullivan from Tennessee spent two weeks with us this month.  We had a wonderful visit ! ! !  Sullivan is just so precious and he started crawling while they were here so I got to witness a first! 

Tracy and Tyson want to move back to CA so my husband and I offered (as soon as Tyson gets a job here) to switch houses with them, make needed repairs and install new flooring in their home then get it sold for them.  So, I may be in TN later and for who knows how long.

Here are pics of Sullivan while they were here:  (The hubster and Tyson split the burger which was still way to much food for either one.)

Looks like a great new home, Erin.  I know exactly what you're going through.  I've almost finished unpacking boxes from our move on July 10th.

I had itunes and video games charged on my credit card a couple months ago. 

Then, last week I noticed 3 google adword charges on my debit card to the amount of over $600.  I cancelled the card and Google adwords acknowleged that it was an unauthorized charge and credited my account.

Unfortunately, I know too many 17's.   

I wanted to buy my brother an "I Wanna Talk About Me" t-shirt at the Toby Keith concert but they were out. 

Once he called me on the phone and talked 45 minutes straight.    Mind you, he's telling me interesting things, like all about the floor plan of his office at work.  Then he asked how I was doing.  After I got two words out, he said he had to go, bye.

Bobbie, I sent you a PM.

WOWIE ! ! !  Beautiful work ! ! !

Congratulations, Barbette ! ! !   What a sweet babe ! ! !

A gigantic congratulations to you Iva.  What a beautiful baby girl ! ! !

A huge congratulations to Rachael ! ! !  I know she must have put in many long hours on both endeavors and it looks like it has paid off wonderfully.

I agree, sounds like the bobbin casing needs to come out for a good cleaning and oiling.  You might want to take it to be serviced if it's been a while.

Oh no, Pat.  The tree is a Japanese Maple that turns beautiful fall colors.  It's in front of my sewing room window and is lovely to look at.  You can see plenty through it.

:crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

Thanks everyone ! ! !  I will take more pictures.  The entrire house needs to be painted on the inside.  Except the kitchen, where the prior owner had the walls painted with a beautiful faux finish which I absolutely love.  Two bedrooms have adorable murals for her two children, but, sadly, I'll have to paint over them.  Don't really want planes, trains and automobiles on my sewing room walls and alphabet pictures in my guest room.

Yipeeeee ! ! !  The movers moved all our stuff in on Saturday.  I've been unpacking boxes since Sunday and I'll probably be at it for the next two weeks.  I just love our new home ! ! !