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Super Slug!

Super Slug plush art toy, yellow and purple-blue, by Elizabeth RuffingI finished a Super Slug!

Bias-cut, chevron striped lining of Super Slug's cape, by Elizabeth RuffingI got caught up bias cutting and piecing the lining for his turquoise and purple striped cape, making the stripes chevron in the center, that I made his cape twice the size I meant to make it. I didn’t realize that until I went to bed last night.

Super Slug plush art toy, yellow and purple-blue, by Elizabeth RuffingI thought it looked surprisingly voluminous! It has a purple and turquoise star print cotton fabric on the outside.

Super Slug plush art toy, yellow and purple-blue, by Elizabeth RuffingHe has my new custom-printed colored eyes. His are turquoise and green. I wish my camera would capture turquoise more accurately because the colors all set each other off so beautifully. He looks very dramatic.

Super Slug plush art toy, yellow and purple-blue, by Elizabeth RuffingI also made and pen-and-ink drawing of him for his hang tag. The tag can be personalized and comes tied to the Super Slug with a ribbon. This guy is already adopted, and was spoken for before I posted him. I just heard the “ping” of my mail from his adopter as I typed the last sentence. I plan to make more. I have a long list of toys that I am finishing for people who called dibs on the partially done ones already. I’ll make a second post to cover some of the busy-ness of the past weeks.

Super Slug hang tag by Elizabeth Ruffing

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Hug Me Bunny stuffed animals and a helpful orange kitten

Juno orange kitten playing with superhero Wonder Bunnies fleece stuffed animals

Juno the orange kitten, in my box of Wonder Bunny stuffed animals by Elizabeth RuffingAt least one of my Wonder Bunny superhero bunny stuffed animals, which I am working on finishing next, grew an unusual tail, as you can see here.

I needed more assistance sewing stuffed animals than I realized!

Juno the orange kitten, in my box of Wonder Bunny stuffed animals, chewing cording by Elizabeth RuffingJuno, orange kitten helper extraordinaire, has been using her super powers to help me in any way she sees fit. Here she is helping cut a piece of cording with her sharp little teeth.

I use that to cord center my details on my toys. I didn’t really need it to be trimmed, or at least I didn’t know I needed it to be trimmed. Juno is insightful and has many creative recommendations for me.

Juno the orange kitten, napping with her elephant rattle, by Elizabeth RuffingI traded Juno’s elephant rattle for the toys I was sewing. It is a good thing she takes naps.

Juno the orange kitten waking up from her nap, by Elizabeth RuffingShe is growing up, and was 4 pounds at her vet visit today. She was only 14 ounces when Cheryl first found her. She is doing very well, and has started to have more frequent bursts of sweetness. She purrs, and gives head bumps and kisses. She still ends up biting us, but thank goodness she is calming down and learning to be nice.

Juno the orange kitten curling up for her nap in my toy box, by Elizabeth RuffingNow, if she can learn to behave around the bunny, I will be even happier. She doesn’t yet understand why throwing up her paws and pouncing on everyone isn’t always taken in the spirit of fun in which it was intended.

Hug Me Bunnies plush art toys, mauve, pink, and soft orange, by Elizabeth RuffingI have been finishing up fleece bunny stuffed animal art toys. I will post these in our Ruffing’s shop.

Hug Me Bunny plush art toy, pink fleece plushie, by Elizabeth RuffingThis pink Hug Me Bunny found a home already, but her mauve and soft light orange bunny friends are, at the moment, still available.

Hug Me Bunny plush art toy, mauve-pink fleece plushie, by Elizabeth RuffingThey have my new custom-printed two-tone eyes. I attached their eyes and hearts with embroidery floss, using a blanket stitch.

Hug Me Bunny plush art toy, soft orange fleece plushie, by Elizabeth RuffingI hand embroidered their smiles and noses too.

Hug Me Bunny hang tag with pen-and-ink art by Elizabeth RuffingEach one comes with a hang tag that can be personalized with a name and a message.

Hug Me Slug plush art toy, pink fleece plushie, by Elizabeth RuffingI finished my first Hug Me Slug with the new eyes as well. She is a very soft light pink fleece.

Hug Me Slug hang tag with pen-and-ink art by Elizabeth RuffingJust like the bunnies, she comes with a tag that can be personalized.

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Hug Me Kittens, stuffed animal fleece art toys

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, vanilla cream with a red heart, by Elizabeth RuffingI have a new batch (litter?) of Hug Me Kittens in my toy shop. They are fleece and they have my new two-tone custom-printed eyes.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, charcoal, oatmeal, and cream, by Elizabeth RuffingThe eyes have one color on the outer rims and another closer to the pupil, with one blending into the other. I made them in all kinds of combinations, many not existing in nature, like lavender fading into purple. I don’t know of anyone who has had eyes like that, except maybe Elizabeth Taylor.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, oatmeal with a lavender heart, by Elizabeth RuffingI added some neutral shades of fleece to my collection. An online Etsy course suggested that neutral colors were important, and I realized I hadn’t thought to include them before. I asked friends and they liked the idea.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, oatmeal with a lavender heart, by Elizabeth RuffingSo here are vanilla cream, oatmeal, and charcoal gray kittens. The oatmeal color reminds me of the adorable Pusheen the cat.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, oatmeal with a lavender heart, by Elizabeth RuffingLike all my toys, these are handmade, stitched mostly by hand with a needle and thread or embroidery floss. These kittens have just two machine-sewn seams. The rest is done stitch by stitch.

Hug Me Kitten hang tag by Elizabeth RuffingThey come with hang tags that can be personalized with a name and a message.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, yellow, made and held by Elizabeth RuffingThe kittens are about 9 inches tall.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, charcoal gray with a teal heart, by Elizabeth RuffingI couldn’t resist adding color to the charcoal gray, bright yellow-and green-eyes, and teal and rose-red, polka-dotted hearts.

Hug Me Kitten plush art toy, charcoal gray with a rose-red polka dot heart, by Elizabeth RuffingI have been watching movies while I stitch, staying out of the heat as much as possible, but when I have gone out, I’ve spotted some surprise wildlife. This baby robin was out learning to fly. I kept watch to make sure none of the real cats who were outside interfered.

Baby robin in the grass, by Elizabeth RuffingA beautiful fox has come to visit, three times so far, while I was outside, toward the evening. She must be used to me because she stepped out of the woods in front of me and watched me mowing the lawn. I missed her the last time she came for a visit, but my mom saw her walk behind me while I was petting cats. She walked over to our deck, looked around, and then trotted back into the woods. I was sorry I missed that. I tried getting a camera one time she was watching me out walking Jude, but she was gone by the time I came back outside. Jude missed her that time, even though she was about ten feet away from us. I picked him up and took him inside with me, and then went back to keep an eye on the other cats who had shown up for a visit. She is so quiet and graceful, I am not sure who sees her and who doesn’t. But I know she sees us.

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Hug Me Monsters, sock monsters

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, red, orange pink striped, by Elizabeth RuffingHi there. I’m catching up with my toys and catching up with my life too, I guess. I have to break down my post into three parts, to catch up with the toys I have made.

Hug Me Monsters, sock doll art toys by Elizabeth RuffingI finally have Hug Me Monsters! These are chenille, soft and fuzzy, sock dolls, and I have had them in progress, in my workroom, since January! It feels good to be pushing through to the other side, finishing toys and showing them to you.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, pink, by Elizabeth RuffingThis pink one with turquoise horns was my mom’s favorite. This Hug Me Monster got adopted by the time I woke up the next morning, after putting her in my shop.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, pink and tan striped made and held by Elizabeth RuffingMy mom was so kind and patient to photograph me with a monster, so I could show their size in relation to a person. We have been having such awful heat, as I am sure most of you have, and it wasn’t too much fun being outside, melting while trying to look pleasant. It was so humid, my hair began to frizz and stick up in the air. Photoshop Elements is handy for neatening one’s self up after the fact!

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, royal blue and turquoise by Elizabeth RuffingThis royal blue and turquoise Hug Me Monster also found a home already.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, teal by Elizabeth RuffingThese have the first incarnation of my custom-printed fleece eyes, which I designed and then had printed by Fabric on Demand. I sealed all the colored parts with non-toxic Liquitex fabric medium to make sure the color was secure. Then I hand embroidered around each color of the eyes with floss, using a blanket stitch. The monsters are almost entirely stitched by hand, with a needle and thread or floss. There is only one machine-sewn seam in each horn, which I attach by hand after I stuff them. The monsters took me a while, hours each, as do all my toys.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, hang tag by Elizabeth RuffingMy Hug Me Monsters come with hang tags, that can be personalized. I can print a name or “For + a name” on the front of the tag, and I can print a message on the back of the tag. I then insert the tag into a clear vinyl sleeve, run a satin ribbon through it, and tie it to the monster.

Hug Me Monsters, sock doll art toys, pink and tan striped, by Elizabeth RuffingMy dad especially liked the pink-and-tan striped monster with the gold horns. When my mom and I were taking photos, he started laughing. I didn’t understand why. Then I realized he was laughing at the monster. He got a big kick out of it, which made me feel good. If they make someone laugh or smile, then I am doing my job right.

Hug Me Monsters, sock doll art toys, by Elizabeth RuffingI really like these cuddly chenille socks I used for the monsters. I have a couple pair I put on my own feet in the winter, socks not monsters. I reserved most of the chenille socks I collected for Hug Me Monsters.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, green and blue-purple polka dotted, by Elizabeth RuffingTheir horns, along with their eyes and hearts, are made from fleece. I used pearl cotton floss to chain stitch a smile on each one.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, pink and tan striped made and held by Elizabeth RuffingI have been feeling better, still tired a lot of the time, but better. I’ve been having my blood retested every six weeks at the hematologist’s, and although my white blood cell count is still high, it is going down. It remains a mystery. I was a bit alarmed when I realized I had been referred to a cancer center, and they sent a sample to the Mayo Clinic for testing, but they don’t seem to think it is anything like that, since normally it would go up in that case. I feel sad and a little scared when I go there, because I know the other people there are sick and trying to make the best of it. I was drawn to all the pillows in the lobby that people make and donate. I instinctively grab one while I wait and it is comforting. That is a kind use of a craft. One had kitties on it, and you know I love kitties. I took the measurements down from the pillows, about 9 x 18 inches of fabric, a convenient size to cut from a yard or fat quarter of cotton, two pieces, sewn together with about 1/4 inch seams. They are a good size for hugging.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, lavender by Elizabeth RuffingMy next blog installment will be…Hug Me Kittens. I have more of those finally too. I had hoped to be well stocked by now, as I wanted to make the August submission deadline for the Brown Alumni Magazine holiday gift guide, but I don’t want to apply and then run out of toys by the holidays. I have a feeling I cannot sew that many in time. I’m trying to focus on the fact that I am getting things done, and trying not to dwell on how much time it takes me.

Hug Me Monster, sock doll art toy, royal blue and turquoise striped by Elizabeth Ruffing