The Making of Cushbear Mandela is a tribute to a great man. A few people submitted some good ideas and we came up with this fabulous little fella. Actually, he is not so little. It a was important to use the colours of the South African Flag. We wanted to use an actual flag, but cutting out the template would have eliminated some of the colours. This way, we were able to incorporate all of them.
Thembu Tribesman
On Cushbear Mandela's right ear is the year he was born and the year he
died. 1918 - 2013 in a glitter green which stands out wonderfully.
Because Mandela spent 27 years of his young life in prison, we thought it appropriate to put his prison number 46664 and the word FREE above it. His freedom symbolises so much to so many, and for me personally, imprisonment is not necessarily about being behind bars. It is about choices and the freedom to live our lives the way we wish to without prejudice and judgment. These things are going to happen anyway, but if you are 'Free' inside, you will find 'freedom' on the outside.
I'm not a photographer clearly, lol. But I like to take a snap of the various stages of my work. At this point, I have partly sewn on the face, which is taking shape, and stuffed the bottom lip and chin.
Ok, this one's a bit blurry but you can see the outline better than in the first one. Really!
Haha! 'ears getting there. His face is stuffed, literally and his ears are taking shape.
I really love his nose. I think it looks a bit like a lion's, the red bit does to me anyway. A couple of people said it reminded them of the map of Africa. I thought that was very positive feedback. What do you think?
At this point, I have outlined the various cotton coloured fabrics making up his face with a metalic almost royal blue.
This helps to add depth and make the colours standout more. The top stitching is still visible, which I like, it gives authenticity to the fact that all our products are handmade.
Ok, another blurr lol. But here Cushbear Mandela is, all stuffed and waiting for his head to be closed. Yes, that's his hat on the table. I was doing some tweaking to him while visiting my daughter in hospital. Incidentally, the nurses thought he was pretty cool too.
Nelson trying on his cap for a good fit.
'What are you going to put on his head?' My mother asked me. My intention was to give him some grey hair. 'Oh no', she said. 'You have to put that green cap on him. The one he wore at the 1995 Rugby World Cup when South African Springboks won!' That was a landmark victory for Nelson Mandela, in more ways than one. Of course the number 6 T-Shirt was far more significant, but we needed to cover his head, so for us, the hat capped it. Besides, it was much more out of character to see Mr Mandela in a cap. Mandela wore his silver grey hair with pride, so his Cushbear has a little of that too.
We would be very happy to hear what you think of him and any ideas you might have for an appropriate story to give him.
Thank you for reading our blog again. Keep in touch and let us know if there is anything in particular you want to know.
Best Wishes from us at EK Buddy BlanQuilts
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