Nine days ago I wrote about crafting for a cause, and one of my current causes is the UC Davis Pediatric Cancer Infusion Center in Sacramento, California.

I had begun work on a porcupine that would fit in a pocket and I had gotten this far:

Today, I decided that if I am to get 25 of these toys done in time to mark the 25th anniversary of my old son surviving a life-threatening adventure, I needed to get to it, so I did.

The first thing the porcupine-to-be needed was a name. After some deliberation, I settled on Henri (in honor of Henri Matisse), as I envision him as a porcupine who, like the painter for whom he is named, favors bright colors:

Since these toys will be going to a pediatric hospital, and since I don’t know the ages of the children to whom they will be given, I decided to stick with sewn on features so that the toys are as child-safe as I can make them. With that in mind, I got out embroidery floss and a needle and set to work adding the eyes and a nose:

I then stuffed Henri and attached the bottom piece to pull him altogether:

Two ears, two arms, two feet, and one tail later, he was ready to have his quills attached:

I cannot work on Henri without recalling a tune I learned to play on the piano from my John W. Schaum Piano book. The words, if I am recalling them correctly, are as follows:

Porcupines have prickly quills;
Don’t go near their favorite hills.
If you do you’ll have bad luck,
‘Cause you surely will get stuck.

For those of you unfamiliar with the tune, many thanks to Jasmine and her piano teacher for posting this video: