Some of the things I create begin with a sketch. Some begin with a piece of velvet or linen. The memory bears began with a conversation. A friend from work knew I loved to sew and asked me a question I had never been asked before. Her grandfather had passed away several years earlier. Each member of the family had kept one of his shirts as a reminder of him, but the shirts had remained folded away in closets and drawers. She asked, "Could you turn them into bears?" I had neve