Whyner

I've been waiting to post this because it was made as a gift - and way before schedule!

I had a stuffed cat growing up (and I'm not talking little kid, but older kid) that my mom found at a garage sale or somehow we acquired used. It was a very ugly cat with a long, long tail. That tail was involved in many jokes, made mostly by my  brother.

 The cat has now become something that my oldest sleeps with every night. I decided the tradtion needed to spread to my brother's family as well, so for his daughter's first birthday I made this ugly thing:

 The fabric is from left over pieces of her baby blanket that I made. Oops! I mean have had all of it made for at least NINE months except the binding. The buttons are some old ones that my mom had in her massive button collection.

Just to make sure my brother knew that the cat came with a name, I made the removable collar and name tag (also fabric leftovers from the blanket).

Before I sent my new creation away, I made sure that the cat cousins got some time playing together. They took turns on the slide...

climbed trees (in a slightly different manner than a live cat)...

and laid on their backs watching the clouds, trying not to think about their upcoming separation.

I thought making the cat would be much trickier than it was and I had a lot of fun making it. If I did it again I think I'd try to make the ears a little straighter so it wasn't so ugly. And I might try to find an easier way to attach the head and legs to the main part of the body.

And the gift was well received by both my niece and my brother.