By focusing on slow, tactile practices like felting, quilting, and hand-applied surface design to create anthropomorphized objects, I build empathy for difficult experiences. The accumulation of material in piecing and the coarse/fuzzy nature of felt exposes my self-image as a Frankenstein-thing, informed by my compounded experience as an LGBT person with serious mental illness. My cluttered, overflowing visuals express overwhelm and suffocation, contrasted with a sense of belonging and placement. I lean heavily on craft's history of baked-in empathy, embodiments of care, and building upon the work of one’s predecessors as a model for connection with others.