A new fidget mat

Hello, everyone.

After returning from the Frozen North, I had a request for a little gift for a relative: a fidget mat, to ease the tense fingers and allow relaxation while watching TV.

The nurse had suggested fur.

An overall view of the red fur fidget mat. The embellishments, except for the stabilizing button clusters, are all on a separate piece that was appliqued at the end. The beads on ribbon idea was shamelessly stolen from, oops, I mean inspired by a video on Youtube that a lady made to keep a record of a fidget pillow she made. The zipper is a fairly standard embellishment, but this time it is sewn on at an angle to increase the interest in the shape. There is a purple button under the zipper and a silver-toned gogo pailette strung on one of the other ribbons. It moves, but only inside the zipper space.

Detail of the zipper, the movable strung seed beads--yes, they are really big seed beads!--and various accent buttons.

Detail of the bead-woven ring. It's from an instruction for a right-angle weave bangle done by Mortira at Inspirational Beading.  The ring is formed by the difference in bead sizes. When I made the sample, to learn the technique, I discovered that the ring is almost a self-operating fidget device. My fingers kept turning it and turning it, exploring the feel of the beads. It's a natural to hang from a ribbon loop on a fidget mat!

The button clusters are texture in the midst of the fur, but they're also there to prevent the layers from shifting in use.