Papa Bears

Papa Bears - Amy's Family

Shortly after my father (we call him Papa) passed away in August 2015, my daughter Emma asked if she could have a teddy bear to hug and think of Papa. Her comments triggered this immediate idea and I asked my Mom if I could have my Papa's shirts so I could make all 27 of us a Papa Bear.

Papa and Amy (me) - Bryce Canyon National Park - June 2015 - windy day

Once I had the shirts I needed to find the perfect bear pattern to use. I had an image in my head and I searched patterns online to see if I could find what I could see in my mind. I kept finding my perfect pattern and kept finding that it was discontinued years and years ago. And the replacement pattern was also discontinued without another replacement. 

In the middle of my frustration, I remembered that about 25 years ago I worked for a fabric store and when patterns were discontinued we could purchase them for really cheap or we could get them for free (without their envelopes). So, I went to my basement and pulled out the bin that I knew contained all my patterns. And I found it - the perfect pattern - I had actually bought it decades before! I was so relieved to realize that I owned the pattern for which I had been searching.

Papa Bears - Jenny's Family

I chose the large sized bear (22"). I taped the pattern pieces (all 9 of them) to copy paper and I made 10 sets of copies so that I could pin and cut them in large batches; remember I made 27 of them.

I ordered a custom label from Wunderlabel to identify these bears as "Papa Bears". Here is a picture of the label:

Papa Bears - Gabe's Family

I ordered plastic safety eyes and noses from GlassEyesOnline so the little kids can't pull them out and choke on them.

Papa Bears - Seth's Family

I stuffed them with Poly-Fil from Fairfield. I ordered the Poly-Fil from Amazon because I found after shopping around that they have the best price and the shipping was free with my Prime account. I needed 1.5 pounds per bear so I ordered four 10-lb boxes.

Papa Bears - Sarah's Family

I also made pillows from two of the shirts for my Mom. Here is a picture of her with her bear and her two pillows.

Mom with her Papa Bear and Two Pillows

I estimate that it took about 4-5 hours to make each bear. I gave each family member their bear for Christmas.

We all now have our own “Papa Bear” to hug, love, and think of Papa.

Grandma's Hug

When my grandma Leola Pierce Peterson passed away in 2012, I asked my mother to save my grandma's shirts and sheets for me. My grandmother was very athletic. She golfed, bowled, and pitched horseshoes in leagues, at the Utah Summer Games and in the Huntsman World Senior Games. She had a lot of sports t-shirts. I received a huge box of t-shirts and sheets. From those items I made 9 small wrap quilts which I call "Grandma's Hug". They are just big enough to wrap around an adult and a little bigger for a small child. I made one for each of my grandma's grandchildren - all 9 of us.

Even though I've washed all the t-shirts and sheets, to me they still smell like my grandma. One day when my children were fighting with each other, my daughter came running in the house crying and went into the living room and immediately became silent. I wondered what could possibly have made her stop crying. When I went to find out, I found her wrapped up in my "Grandma's Hug". I asked her how she was doing and she said, that she just needed a hug from grandma (her great-grandma). And the hug made the situation all better. She has since done this same thing multiple times; as has my son.

This is a great way to link the generations. My siblings and my cousins remember my grandma wearing these shirts and now they have a little part of that memory that they can wrap around themselves and their children in a nice warm hug from grandma.

Leola Pierce Peterson
Huntsman World Senior Games Medals