And then there’s this guy…

So huggable! One of my goals is to teach some basic embroidery stitches like the blanket stitch, chain stitch, running stitch, and a few others to the women in a prison crafting program where I volunteer. So this fleecy monster seemed like a good project to illustrate the stitches. And the fleece is easy to work with so they can create their own monsters once they learn the stitches to embellish them. All of the projects they work on are donated to community agencies and programs. They have built up quite a list of groups that welcome donations of their handiwork.






I made the project using instructions in Sewn Toy Tales by Melly and Me. There are many cute stuffed dolls and critters in the book, and I’m sure I’ll make some of the others, too. But the free-form monster was simple with just two pattern pieces, and I started there.






I just had to add this photo of little Teddy, an 8-week-old Miniature Aussie. He belongs to quilting friend Deborah. She invited me to her sewing room to learn a Crazy Quilting method using photo transfers. That project is still not completed, but you can see that Teddy was great company while we worked. He is a true quilter’s dog as he headed right for the fabric piles. He was very well behaved in the sewing room, especially for such a young man. Adorable!