Friday Finish: Baby Gift
My sister just welcomed her newest grandchild, a precious granddaughter with a sweet name, Harper Claire. Michelle has the quilts covered, so I made this cute little mouse cuddly toy for my great-niece Harper.
Cute mice fabric for a cuddly mouse toy
The pattern can be found in Love Patchwork and Quilting Issue 63. I made a few changes to accommodate supplies on hand. As much as I adore Liberty fabric (and have plenty I could use), I wanted to use this Cotton+Steel mice fabric I recently purchased. I love this fabric so much, that I opted not to make a patchwork body. I didn't have any white flannel for the head and back, but I think this pink double gauze in my stash works beautifully.
Crosshatch quilting on my domestic Juki
The body of the mouse is 8.5" square which made quilting crosshatch lines doable on my domestic Juki. Marking lines with a Hera marker on the basted top made the straight line quilting so quick and easy.
embroidered eyes and nose
The eyes and nose are hand stitched using Wonderfil Eleganza Perle #8 cotton thread unused from a Sue Spargo workshop. I followed the pattern suggestion in lightly stuffing the head "so that the mouse stays soft and squishy".
Added topstitching
The only other change to the pattern I made was machine stitching (rather than using a slip stitch) the addition of the head to the body, and topstitching on all four sides. I was concerned with durability, and I sure don't want the head to detach and/or stuffing to escape.
One last photo before gifting
Harper is a family name that I am, obviously, quite fond of ;-)) It's my and Michelle's maiden (and now middle) name, and my middlest's middle name. The antique baby rocker photographed above was my Granny Harper's rocker as a child. She would be quite tickled to know her great-great-granddaughter Harper!
Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy stitching,
