I like to cut out large groups of dolls from the same pattern at the same time. I get inspired by the colors and materials. The pile of cut-out dolls gets bigger and bigger as I am thinking, I could do this! and this! Mostly it is a good thing but sometimes I go off in odd directions. I cut out this fellow a while back- more than a year I know? I was cutting out traditional lumberjacks (just a shirt), tattooed lumberjacks ( shirts pieces, chest and arm pieces) and then I thought, what about a man in a vest. And apparently a teddy bear vest was what I thought he needed. It is a teddy bear vest because it is made of mohair fabric for making teddy bears. The fabric is in my stash because years ago, when I was making painted dolls, I experimented with using it for hair but it was almost always not quite the right color. So, it has been sitting in the bin for all this time because every time I looked at him I wondered, Is that just too silly? or weird? or something? With this last batch I decided, what the heck. And I finished him up. He is most certainly a very huggable fellow- that mohair fur is so so soft. I am glad he has finally stepped forward!

We’ve had a few days where the temperature has gone above freezing so the snow is beginning to melt a bit. But, as you can see, it will be a while before it is gone!