I made quite a few mice this year, but I was particularly pleased with how I managed to contour such a tiny face, using layers of wadding on the surface before I began stitching (1-stranded cotton) "fur". The whiskers are stiff Gutterman linen thread.
The hedgehog is from a picture by Pocurute Pocochiru (and I'd made a couple of versions of it already). I didn't use the same stitches as in the original, and in this version there's some almost-turkey stitches for the spikiest bits. I started them on the front and then turned to the back, where they were secured and then turned the finishing bit back to the front, so each stitch got the usual two ends out the front, but the securing bit was hidden. I was using the strengthened Guterman linen stitch, so the sticking out ends of thread are actually a bit spiky. It’s kind of realistic, though there aren’t really enough of them to make it feel like a hedgehog. I liked the batik spiky-berry bush in autumnal colours for it, as I thought that was appropriate for a hedgehog that looks about to go to sleep.