Julie Responsibly: Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? I Hear Climate Change Messing With Julie's Head!

I really need to get on my seasonal game. I promise this is my last winter-themed project this spring, unless we get another 40 degree day and then all bets are off. This quilt is up for auction at the Youth Advocacy Department fundraiser on Thursday night at the Children's Museum, if you're interested!

YAD is my old employer, and they do some great work as the juvenile public defenders in this state. A YAD attorney isn't just trying to get successful outcomes in court - they work with social workers and education lawyers (and often in place of social workers and ed attorneys) to try to change some of the circumstances that resulted in a court appearance in the first place. I'm talking everything from getting a kid into summer camp, to finding him a mentor or a job, hooking up therapy, or making sure that a client is getting the educational services they need. So feel free to overpay, it's going to a good place!

OK, off the soapbox and onto (or should I say under?) the quilt. We're super into Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? in this house, and my auction items are always book related! So that's where the idea originated. I hand appliqued the bear and did a little bit of embroidery, inspired by Follow The White Bunny - as far as I'm concerned she's the queen of embroidered animals and I love her style. This was my second attempt; the first I had to trash because I used a dark gray floss and he looked like he'd been attacked by a porcupine. The soft gray interspersed with the white worked a lot better:

I also wanted to give paper piecing another try, and made five stars in all, though I only used the best ones!

Here's the whole thing:

And the back - still working on my free motion. I almost didn't include this picture, but I think it's important to record this stuff when you're an amateur so you can see progress as the years go by!