Monday, October 23, 2023

I made a thing!

I wanted to give Dad something made from Mom's clothing for Christmas this year and since there's no way I'll be able to finish the memory quilt in time, I decided to make a pillow with Mom's chipmunk on it.  (River thinks the pillow is okay, but there should be a bunny on it instead.  Everybun's a critic!)

This is Mom's chipmunk.  The little guy has been climbing up the fence and watching Mom at her computer as though she were his TV since at least 2018.  She'd always get the biggest kick out of seeing the little guy and would wave to him.  Dad still sees him up there daily looking in the window for her.

This raw-edge appliqué was self-drafted and all sewn by hand.  The stitches going around everything are 1mm apart.  I learned a lot about how to use (and not use) double sided fusible interfacing with this project.  Overall, it took about a month to complete my first attempt at making a pillow. 

3 comments:

Mónica López said...

That's very heartwarming, I'm glad it got the River seal of approval. I'm sure your dad will absolutely love it.
It's so adorable that the chipmunk kept returning, some special bonds between animals and people are never broken.

Tarosagi said...

Wow that's great, what a lovely pillow with a cute chipmunk on it, you did an amazing job!

That being said, I think your dad will love the pillow, some of the greatest memories are these almost seemingly random repeated occurrences like the little chipmunk staring inside the window watching your mom daily. I'm sure he appreciates that fond memory, and it's nice that the little chipmunk still comes around to say hello!

Courtney said...

Hi Mónica!
I think River wants me to make her one too, but with bunnies! Oh, I hope so. I was surprised to hear the little guy was still around and going to his little spot. Apparently they can live 6-8 years in the wild. :)

Hi Tarosagi!
Aww, thanks! I had wanted to make this for him for a while, but needed the bottom pic to get the colors right and I had taken it on my Mom's camera. I had to be sneaky and offload the pic when we went back this summer so I wouldn't spoil the surprise. Dad has been known to set out the occasional peanut butter cracker for the little guy when it's really cold out (he's not in the habit of feeding wildlife, but Mom's chipmunk is a special case). :)