Heirlooms   Heirlooms are different things to different people and they can be fragile. As a little girl, I remember making an heirloom hand crocheted tablecloth into a creation of my own. All I needed to put a nice fringe on the border of that table cloth was to trim a little it off, all the way around. For some strange reason I do not remeber seeing that tablecloth again.    Gayle and her mother still had Gayle's grandmother's wool coat in the closet. In very good shape too, I might add. I worked with Gayle to figure out how to make heirloom bears for each of her siblings and maybe a couple extra.

To begin:   When I start a project like this it is difficult to be sure what I've got until I get the lining out of the coat and do some sample pattern layouts.    On the left is a picture of the coat without the lining. It has several long seams in the body and the sleeves are full enough to work with too. Also the liner is in good shape and will serve well for bear feet. I also found one of grandma's old hankies in the pocket that I will save for decoration.

After cutting and sewing a bit.   This looks like a litter of pups. I've got four bears cut and now have to assemble and stuff. This part is very sensitive on fabric like wool, since there is no fur to cover any mishaps.

Local Peahen.   This girl showed up this spring and now look what happened. Babies! She comes by with the chicks about once a day.

One week later.   Well after about a week look what we've got. Bears. The guy on the bottom left wears grandma's hankie.

Guess I'll give Gayle a call.   It's time to give Gayle a call and get back together to let her see what I've got.