Tuesday 24 June 2014

Recycling at its best - Jibber Jabber Pastal Quad Cushbears

EK Buddy Cushbears
Jibber Jabber Jibber Jabber Jibber Jabber Jib
Jibber Jabber Jibber Jabber Jibber Jabber Jab

Jabber Jibber Jibber Jabber all the night long.

THERE IS SOMETHING SO EXCITING ABOUT RECYCLING FABRICS, WITH AMAZING RESULTS!

I love the Pastal Quads but oh boy can they talk. They were keeping me up night after night, just jibber jabbering in my ears. One sleepless night, I recall jumping up and yelling at them to 'Shut-up' as I stared at them purched upon my desk half finished. Well, they just laughed at me and continued jibber jabbering.
Penance was my initial thought, for having made the first cut to those wonderful cushions my mother had had for more years than I can remember. The jibber  jabbering sleepless nights began once I had put the stuffing in.



Those cushions followed my mother from Kilburn, when I was in secondary school; West Hampstead, where I moved from to start a life of independence; to my house in Mornington Crescent in the summer of 1998, when my mother packed up for a life in the tropics.  I actually did not discover them until May, 2013, when my mother came to visit me at my home in Edinburgh.  She had given me several bags of fabric, having been a seamstress all her life and not wishing to take unsuitably heavy fabrics.


I had allocated my hallway cupboard to the fabric amassed by her and many purchased by me .  I was fed-up with the lack of space to house the materials for my new business so decided to get rid of some, when I came across the cushions.  My mother was as surprised I was to see them.  I told her, as we sat sewing, 'I'm going to make cushbears out of these'.  My mother was adament that her 1970's retroesque cushions would not be suitable. Despite having sewn a seed of doubt in my mind, I told her to wait and see.


The bottom one looks like a lion and I very nearly didn't put eyes on him.



I had fallen in love with the quads, but at this stage I only had very large triplets and choosing their eyes was proving a challenge for me.

I must have gone through every button in the house and trust me, thats a lot.

The eyes are the soul of the cushbear so they must be just right to fit their
unusual and quirky characteristics.

Don't you just love his moustache!  This wonderful fabric had a life all of its own and provided eyes but they were too subtle



I decided to choose from a selection of unusual shaped buttons. I had hearts, stars, oblong, triangle, square, flowers with dips and ridges, oval shaped petals and round. Intitially, I wanted real looking eyes but they were just not right.





                                                 
I used three types of buttons on Pascal. Large purple squares set like deep set diamonds, a medium sized, round, light green with a smaller shiny lilac button and again, glossy black pupils, which go so well with his wooden, heart shaped, glossy black nose, that sits on a rich purple circle..

Pascal is a somewhat serious cushbear and his thick, rolled moustache gives him an air of  responsibility and his wisdom helps keep the Jibber Jabberers in check.
The red flowers work so well for Pastal especially with the black gloss pupils.  I rather think they compliment his sharp, butterfly shaped nose. Some may think it unconventional to have red flower shaped eyes on a boy, but I think they suit him and actually, they look pretty cool. His firery red hair with his long flowing fringe, gives him a very 'One Direction' Boy Band Look

Pastelle, below, reminds me of a quite classy, and rather eccentric elderly lady with a love of everything lavender.  I can just imagine her surrounded in her lavender filled garden, with rows and rows of lilac flowers and a little lavender water dabbed behind her ears. Pastelle also has stary eyes, but they are quite different to Paschelle's as they are less defined, creating a slightly more solid mass.  The paleness of the lilac really matches her feather bower halo, giving her a kind of aged angelic look.

For Paschelle (geen) left picture, stars really twinkled in her eyes. I could not have chosen better, than those green star shaped buttons with the lovely blue flower and glistening purple pupil. She is a real girly girl with that wonderful lime green, wired ribbon in her hair and the wonderful metalic green bell on her
bubble nose.

Keep Your Hair On!  Ooops, you don't have any. keekeekeekee


Pascal, Pastal and Pashelle relaxing in the bespoke, handpainted, cushion aide made specially for little Freya; nicknamed Miss FrePea.

 

At this stage, I had not even cut out Pashelle as I had not decided what I would do for the triplets hair, it certainly had to compliment their eyes.



These Quads are no pushovers, they have big features and even bigger personalities. Despite the delicate early spring colours and subtle diamond shape design of their retro fabric, these cushbears stand out and how!  Here they are in my dining room, Pascal and Pastal observing everything and Paschelle and Pastelle forever whispering in their jibber jabbering style.


Top Pascal (purple), Pastal (red), Paschelle (green) and Pastelle (lilac)






These two cushbears are examples of recycled materials. Made from my daughter's jeans and blouse. The wonderful wooden button eyes were also recycled.
Kozi Bears Feet

Bearesford Slee-Peasy


 
Pascal


Ok, so the point of the Pastals is that they have been made from recycled, although never used cushions.  The great thing is, that their purpose remains the same.  They are still cushions,
only wonderfully transformed into these fantastic, characteristic, jibber jabbering cushbears with their fabulous interactive story.
Pastelle










It is not only the fabric that has been recycled. The lovely heart shaped button on Pascal's nose, came from a very expensive designer coat - not mine.
Pascal

Paschelle


So, if you have a favourite garment, piece of fabric or even a cushion and want to have a cushbear made, get in touch. Our details are below.  Or you could just purchase one of our excellent cushbears from our website.




Visit us at 
www.EKBuddyBlanQuilts.co.uk

Contact us on facebook/EKBuddyBlanQuilts
Twitter @buddyblanquilts
Email: Enq.buddyblanquilts@live.co.uk
Mobile: 07595047674

1 comment:

  1. I liked the other one with fur on the head :)) Well, when there diligence, desire and ability to do things with their hands. I also can't throw away old things that make of niche there's a whole story!It is the life!

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