Vintage Cherished Teddies Ilene Sewing Bear – Paste Cut and Sew, Avon Exclusive 4001719, Thread Scissors Base, Enesco Hillman 2004

Her motto is a tailor's joke: "Paste, Cut & Sew… I Love You Head to Toe." Head to toe is how a dressmaker measures you — and how you love someone completely. Priscilla Hillman built a whole series on that kind of double meaning, and Ilene is one of the better ones.

She is standing on her own workbench. Not the usual wood-grain disc but a spread of pink cloth with frayed edges, scattered with a red spool of thread, a pin cushion, a paper pattern and a little silver scissors picked out in metallic paint — a sewing room compressed into two inches. Above it she holds out the hem of her coral dress, appliquéd with white hearts and flowers, as though showing off something she has just finished. On her arm, the gingham patch every Cherished Teddy wears.

The base plate stacks three things collectors look for: Avon Exclusive — she never reached a shop shelf, only the Avon lady's catalogue; © 2004 Hillman Family LLC — the year the artist's personal signature gave way to her family company; and, next to the ®, the letters MD, for Marque Déposée. That's Canadian trademark law talking: this bear was made for the Canadian market and sold here the first time around, which is a detail almost no listing mentions.

Marked Ilene, item 4001719, with the handwritten registration number VC6/115 and all four felt pads intact.

For the Avon sub-collection, the sewing room shelf, or the quilter who deserves a small tribute in resin.