Here are the finishing instructions for the Safari quilt. It will be a while before I finish the full pattern, I haven’t even quilted the top yet. But at least it is finished and looks great. Here is a digital image of the quilt, these are the actual fabrics I used for the sashing and border.
While writing the finishing instructions for the Safari Quilt I noticed that the placement guide for the elephant (Block #9) had a mistake. I am not sure how that happened as I printed the guide and used it for assembling my sample block, I should have noticed at the time that the flower stem would be on top of the elephant’s trunk, not behind it. Obviously I didn’t but I have fixed the mistake and uploaded the new version of the pattern. If you have already assembled your block, you probably notice (looking at you, Elaine :)). If you saved the download for later, please scroll down to the previous post and download the correct version of the pattern. Sorry for the inconvenience!
I am not doing great, so no chit chat today, only the missing block. Thank you for your patience.
EDIT: The period of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase.
I want to thank everyone for their kind words and messages of encouragement and also clear up one small misconception. Dancing and quilting are my two big passions. Since I cannot dance right now, quilting has become my happy place. So when I feel well enough to work on quilts or patterns, it is not out of obligation. I have always loved designing, but my brain has to be in the right place for it. Being able to return to that creative work is actually a good sign.
The August block is a fat, cuddly Crocodile. Well, maybe do not try to actually cuddle him, but I wanted him to be more cute than scary. His belly looks quite full, so hopefully he is not in the mood to attack anyone.
As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the next block is released.
EDIT: The period of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase.
I am still not doing well, but I have had a few better days and am now able to publish both the missing block and July’s block together. I do plan to release the final two blocks eventually, but I am not setting a specific timeline. I truly appreciate those of you who have waited patiently and offered kind words. I will not be responding to messages demanding to know when the next block will be released. These patterns are a free resource, and they will be available whenever I am able to share them. I did not choose to deal with serious health issues, and I certainly did not expect things to unravel so quickly. But now that they have, I am doing my best to manage the situation—and I ask that all of you respect that.
Last month’s block was a Rhino, and July’s block is a Zebra. I have a few words of advice about the Zebra block: if you have a zebra stripe fabric, please, by all means, use it and save yourself the trouble of cutting and stitching all those black pieces. I just could not find a suitable fabric, so I had to come up with a way to make the zebra look like a zebra—rather than a white horse with attitude.
EDIT: The period of free download is over, and both blocks have moved to the pattern store where they are now available for purchase.
April was a wild month for me, and not in a good way, so I am very glad it is over. I had a ventrogluteal injection right before Easter. Colloquially, you might say it was in the buttocks, but it is actually given higher up in the hip area. Everything went well until about six hours later, when my buttock muscles decided they did not like the injection and went into spasm. That put pressure on my sciatic nerve, and the pain was so intense that I had to go to the emergency room. I spent all of Easter flat on my back, unable to walk more than a few steps. It has improved since then, and I am able to walk around again and stand and sit, but the nerve is still very irritated and can be quite painful at times. The things you can get! I had scheduled a lot of blog posts ahead of time, and everything published right on schedule, but I could not keep up with social media. Here is to hoping that May will be better.
Our next Safari animal is a kudu, an African antelope with long horns that curl in a corkscrew shape. I had to simplify the curves in the horns a bit, but I think it is still very recognizable as a kudu. They are surprisingly good at blending in, even with those dramatic horns. Ours is doing its best with a mix of browns and beige.
As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the June block is released.
EDIT: The period of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase.
Just a quick heads up: I have some medical appointments tomorrow morning, so it will likely be early afternoon before I can publish the May block. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Elaine is participating again in this year’s Safari BOM project, and as always, she is very reliable in sending me pictures of her finished blocks, which I appreciate very much. Her blocks are super cute, and I thought I would share them here in case any of you need a little extra inspiration. I especially love the tiny specks of light she added to the pupils of the animals’ eyes. They add so much realism! Click on the images for a larger view.
Welcome to April! I started a lot of seeds in March, most of them indoors because it is still too cold for many to survive outside. But my peas, radishes, spinach, and carrots are all in the ground, as they do not mind the occasional overnight frost.
My veggie beds are all in the backyard. In the front yard, I have the sunflower beds but not much else, so we have started turning the area into a rose garden. There was one very pretty rose there when we bought the house, a Peace Rose, with beautiful colouring and a wonderful scent. Then a friend came across a rose called Pumpkin Patch and just had to buy it for me. We added a few more, and they are doing really well, which gave us the idea to plant as many roses out front as will fit.
But roses are expensive, so this project will take multiple years. We have eight so far, and I have ordered four more, which I should be able to pick up any day now.
As for our Safari, it would not be a very satisfying experience without seeing a lion, would it? I fiddled around with his mane a lot, trying to keep it as simple as possible, but it needed to be a bit spiky to give it enough texture. I did not like the smooth variations I came up with, so be prepared to cut plenty of points. Overall, I am now very happy with the way he turned out, very majestic but still rather friendly-looking.
As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the May block is released.
EDIT: The month of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase.
And we made it to March! I should be able to start my garden outside soon, and I am hoping to eat fresh asparagus by the end of the month. My asparagus bed is well established now, and I am really looking forward to cream of asparagus soup. It is wonderful to have something to harvest this early in the season while everything else is just beginning to grow.
For this month, our Safari sighting is a meerkat. One of my cats often assumes a meerkat position when she spots something especially interesting or exciting, and it always makes me laugh. So when I was looking for African animals and the meerkat came up, I just had to include it in this BOM. His round face turned out a bit cartoonish, but it was too charming to leave out. I hope you like him too!
Für meine deutschen Leser: Das deutsche Wort für meerkat ist Erdmännchen. In Afrika gibt es auch ein Tier, das auf Deutsch Meerkatze genannt wird, aber das ist eine Affenart und nicht mit den Erdmännchen verwandt. Manchmal machen Übersetzungen/Sprachen echt keinen Sinn.
As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the April block is released.
EDIT: The month of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase.
