Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Polar Bear Plunge Blog Hop (My Day to Share)

Happy New Year!

I'm excited to be participating in another fun blog hop, this time hosted by Joan of MooseStash Quilting.

Here's the list of today's participants:

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The theme for this hop is polar bears. My project is a salute to four of the world's bear species. I wanted to highlight the bears in their natural habitats, especially if those habitats (and thus the bears themselves) are in peril. I had the idea of presenting snapshots of the bears in their natural environments. Then I thought, why not have the bears take their own pictures? (Of course, I know that's not really possible, but bear with me!)

So, I created a wool felt wall hanging that I'm calling "Bear Selfies." Each selfie measures 12" square. After I show each of them to you, I'll show you how I joined them together. I'm also including some information about each bear and their habitat, which I got from WWF and NWF .

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Polar Bear

Since the title of this hop is "Polar Bear Plunge," I'll start with the polar bear selfie.

Latin Name: Ursus Maritimus

Status: Threatened

"Polar bears are the largest carnivorous land mammals on Earth. They are about seven to eight feet long. A large male can weigh more than 1,700 pounds, while a large female is about half that size (up to 1,000 pounds). Most polar bears live north of the Arctic Circle to the North Pole. There are some populations south of the Arctic Circle in the Hudson Bay of Manitoba, Canada. Polar bears live in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and some northern islands owned by Norway. Unlike other bear species, polar bears are almost exclusively meat eaters (carnivorous). In 2008, the polar bear became the first vertebrate species to be listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as threatened due to predicted climate change. The chief threat to the polar bear is the loss of its sea ice habitat."

My Polar Bear is posed on a shrinking ice float with mostly wide open sea behind. There's one iceberg in the distance, and the sun is unfortunately warming everything up and hastening the melting of the ice.

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North American Black Bear

Latin Name: Ursus Americanus

Status: Not Threatened

"The American black bear's range covers most of the North American continent. They are found in Alaska, much of Canada and the contiguous United States, and extend as far south as northern Mexico. Because of their versatile diet, black bears can live in a variety of habitat types. They inhabit both coniferous and deciduous forests, as well as open alpine habitats, but largely occur where there are trees. Typically adults are three feet tall at the shoulder, and their length from nose to tail is about 75 inches. A large male black bear can exceed 600 pounds in weight, while females seldom exceed 200 pounds."

This little guy is posing in a forest, and figured he'd scratch his back on the tree while taking the picture.

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Grizzly Bear

Latin Name: Ursus Arctos Horribilis

Status: Threatened

"The grizzly bear is a kind of brown bear. In North America there are two subspecies of brown bear (Ursus Arctos): The Kodiak bear, which occurs only on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago, and the grizzly bear, which occurs everywhere else. Brown bears also occur in Russia, Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. Males can weigh up to 1,700 pounds. A large female will weigh up to 800 pounds. Grizzly bears once roamed throughout the entire western United States and south into Mexico. Control actions and habitat loss extirpated them from 98 percent of their original habitat in the U.S. A large population of grizzly bears lives inland in Alaska and northern Canada. Thanks to conservation efforts since about 1975, grizzly bears are recovering well in Yellowstone and elsewhere in the Northern Rockies and are even beginning to recolonize prairie habitats along the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana. Grizzly bears can be found in woodlands, forests, alpine meadows, and prairies. In many habitats they prefer areas along rivers and streams. Grizzly bears are omnivores."

This grizzly is posed on a northern tundra in front of river. Salmon are swimming against the current, and will probably be caught as soon as our bear puts her phone down.

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Giant Panda Bear

Latin Name: Ailuropoda Melanoleuca

Status: Vulnerable

"The giant panda was once widespread throughout southern and eastern China, as well as neighboring Myanmar and northern Vietnam. But due to expanding human populations and development, the species is now restricted to around 20 isolated patches of bamboo forest in six mountain ranges in China's Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. They subsist almost entirely on bamboo, and must eat around 26 to 84 pounds of it every day. Females can grow up to about 200 pounds, while males can grow up to about 300 pounds as adults." (Note: The Giant Panda is not related to the Red Panda, which is not a bear.)

This adorable bear is very shy, and is posing for the selfie behind some bamboo. A mighty mountain looms in the background.


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After completing all the selfies, I assembled them into a wall hanging by joining them together with wool felt "pennies" measuring 2" and 1". I used a whip stitch to attach everything on the back. I hung it up by using some adhesive strips. Here's the completed piece:


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I love to read your comments, and will respond to them all via email unless you are a No Reply Blogger.

Finally, be sure to visit everyone participating in this fantastic hop!

36 comments:

  1. Oh my! You had my attention the whole time! You put so much into your post. I enjoyed the education. You also did such a creative job by putting the four bears in their habitat and I loved the touch of them taking selfies. You did a fabulous job. Thank you.

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  2. I love this project! The bears and their habitats are beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Oh wow! I love your project and the story that goes with each selfie. What a fabulous idea!

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  4. Very clever!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Oh those are marvelous and thank you for the lessons. Isn't it sad about the polar bears, and the grizzly? When I go to visit my family in California, we always see bears.

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  6. Oh Elizabeth, you took the theme and ran with it. This is absolutely incredible. I would love to say Martimius is the cutest, but those other bears make it just to hard to choose. Thanks for playing along, educating us as well as entertaining us today! You rocked it girl!

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  7. Awww, I love Bear Selfies and thank you for all the info. Too cute!

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  8. these bears are awesome, have you seen this black bear video where I guess it's a pathway for migration but then wildlife people sprayed skunk spray on a tree and every bear for MONTHS came by and had to scratch their backs on that tree.

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  9. Excellent, excellent! Loved your idea to include other bears and to make 'selfies'! Not only did I love the selfies but I learned much more about bears, too. Thanks.

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  10. I love your bears! The shy bear is my favorite. I'm not sure why, but I love that one, and your idea. Have a great day!

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  11. Love your bears, and an explanation of their habitat. Great piece of work!

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  12. What a lovely exploration of bears! Thanks for sharing such a terrific project with great information!

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  13. Hi Elizabeth, what an amazing piece. Thanks for sharing your bears selfies with us...and the info!

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  14. What a terrific post! Thank you for taking the time to not only produce a wonderful quilt, but share information about the subjects! :)

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  15. I very much enjoyed your information about some of our bears. I live in black bear country, and I admire the maternal instinct of our black bear mothers. We often have the juveniles visit our large compost bin the first season they are on their own, and occasionally a big old adult male will stop by. You will smell him before he can be seen. Thanks for bringing some of the others to my mind.

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  16. Great project as well as post full of info on each of the bears. Thanks for sharing your creativity with all of us.
    Dix

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  17. This is beautiful, fun, and thought provoking...love it, Elizabeth! Reading the info about them was a bonus. Thank you for that. I love all things panda bear related, so that was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. super creative !!!! informative too... love it !!!! (will you be making a pattern for this? hint.hint)

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    1. I'm sorry I don't think I will be making a pattern for this piece. I figured things out as I went and wanted to treat it more like an art piece than something to be duplicated. But I appreciate you asking and that you like it!

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  19. What an amazing piece. Absolutely beautiful. I love each and every one of them, their backgrounds and their back stories. Thanks so very much.

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  20. Those are cuter than ever!! So clever and they come out looking fuzzy in the wool felt. I am smiling cheek to cheek seeing those cute faces. They do look adorable but I'm sure they wouldn't like me getting close in real life.

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  21. That is so cute I love the bear selfies good one

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  22. SEW adorable (and educational at the same time!!)

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  23. Elizabeth, I truly enjoyed looking through your photo album of bear selfies! Learning about each bear and where to find them (should I want to search them out) is so interesting! We have seen several black bears here in the US and each time, we find them wondrous and beautiful!

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  24. I love seeing bears, but not up close. Your bear selfies are wonderful, and I enjoyed reading about the different species.

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  25. Love your bears, and great way to join them with "pennies"!!

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  26. Just so wonderful! And thank you for the additional info!

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  27. I love all your bears, Elizabeth. This is such a great quilt and info. I've seen a few bears when we visited the mountains of TN! The panda is my favorite mainly because my grandson loves them so much!

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  28. Your bears are so cute with the heart noses. Clever to attach them together with pennies.

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  29. Hi Elizabeth. Love those bear selfies and thank you for the great background info. 😉

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  30. These are really cute! Love the bear selfies!

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  31. Super cute bear selfies and thank you for teaching a little bit about bears.

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  32. They are sooo cute and perfect for this hop!! xx

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