This Year's Bear

 Hello All,

As some of you may know I usually make a cq bear for the the Chinese auction for the retreat.

Usually the are quite blinged out. Not this year!! I kept myself under control. There is not one single bead anywhere on this bear. All the seams were done in a variegated threads ( some of which I dyed myself) with a coordinating solid. All the fabrics were black, with a few black/colored prints thrown in for good measure

For me this is quite a departure. I love my beads and bling

 This little guy took me about 80 hours to do. I've been asked how much I would charge for a bear like this. I'd say the "bear" minimum would be $300-$400. Why should I value my work for less. If I was getting minimum wage ( which I think I deserve more than) it would be over $580

 I really liked how it turned out. The black background makes the colors POP

This bear got to go home with Helen Thorkleson

Next time I hope to show my progress and the saga of the great color disappearing pink quilt

Later,
Lauri
PS  a BIG thank you to Connie for all the pictures! She is a much better photographer than I am