Happy Canada Day! It seems it took forever this year for summer to arrive. With this crazy weather we have had, everyone in my gardening group is complaining about what went wrong for them this year, and I could also tell quite a few stories like that but have decided to instead talk about what worked well. The peas loved the cool weather, and I ended up with a wall of peas, higher than ever before. I have started picking the pods, and I will be very busy for the next few days blanching and freezing peas. The potatoes were also fine with the weather, the first variety has started flowering. And I managed to harvest some broccoli before it bolted. The head were fairly small but at least I caught them in time and was not greeted one morning by a field of yellow flowers, as so many others experienced this year.

And in the spirit of gardening, our bunny friend is planting seeds this month. The pieces for the seeds are big enough for fusible appliqué but you can always choose to embroider French knots or maybe use some beads or other embellishments instead. The block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the August block is released.

Click to download Hunny Bunnies Block #7 pattern (English/Imperial)

Welcome to June and (almost) summer! Although it sure doesn’t feel like summer up here in the Pacific Northwest! May Long Weekend was quite nice, and we are supposed to have a few warmer days this week but other than that the forecast looks not very promising. But at least the overnight temperatures are warmer now, and I was able to put out all my tomatoes, cucumbers and squash plants. The cukes and squash collection especially was quite a jungle already! I started them later than last year but once they sprout, they just grow like crazy. The brassicas (brassicae? I studied Latin for seven years, I guess that still shows sometimes LOL), seem to like the weather though, as do the peas. The potatoes are looking good too. My husband suggested last week that we should grow sweet potatoes next year. Ha… I wouldn’t even know where to put those. We are definitely running out of space in the backyard. Maybe we need to put a bed or two out in front of the house? Something to ponder next fall/winter.

For this month’s bunny block, we have a little guy riding his scooter. My original idea was riding a bicycle but that would have been too complicated. The scooter was difficult enough to simplify, a bike would have been impossible. I didn’t even know where to start and quickly changed the plan. Of course he is wearing a helmet for safety reasons, get ready to dive into your scrap bins for just the right kind of fabric. The pattern will be available for free download (English/Imperial only) until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the July block is released.

Edit: If you missed the free download in June, the pattern is now available for purchase in the pattern store. I have also created a discount bundle for the first three blocks, if you missed more than just one download. And there is also a six-block-bundle for those who are just catching up now.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #6 pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies pattern bundle 4, 5 & 6 (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies pattern bundle 1-6 (English/Imperial)

Auch Block 6 ist jetzt auf Deutsch mit metrischen Maßen erhältlich, ebenso gibt es auch wieder Bündel für drei oder sechs Blöcke zum Sonderpreis.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #6 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Hunny Bunnies 4, 5 & 6 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Hunny Bunnies 1-6 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

I was trying to stay positive last month when talking about the weather. This month… not so much! It has been much too cold for this time of the year although I have to admit that we had a couple of really nice weekends. Brian Minter who is among many other things the garden king of this town said the other day that we are about three weeks behind “normal”, so that gives you an idea. I have been trudging along, following my garden schedule, and it looks pretty good overall. I planted potatoes, the brassicas are covered and from what I can see love the cool weather, the radishes are almost ready to harvest, and I have planted sunflowers in the front yard. Underneath I sprinkled Nemophila/Baby Blue Eyes seeds. I got this idea from a Facebook gardening group, hoping for a sea of blue underneath the yellow sunflowers in honour of Ukraine. Seems like a pretty useless gesture but hopefully it will at least be pretty. The summer is supposed to be really hot again, and we spent the last two weekends installing drip irrigation. I am really excited about that. It looks like it is working well, and it will not only save water but also save me a lot of time. Last year I spent so much time watering everything by hand that it became a chore, and I’d rather avoid that feeling this year.

Of course our bunny is spending some time in the garden as well. As you probably know, April showers bring May flowers, and this month’s block features a bunny watering flowers. The block has quite a few pieces because of all the flowers but is not difficult to put together. Just scatter the flowers in a way that pleases your eye, and don’t obsess about exact placement, it doesn’t matter at all. As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the next block is released. Hopefully I’ll be back on schedule in June but if something comes up again, I’ll let you know in advance to make sure everyone has the chance to download the free pattern.

EDIT: If you missed the free download in May, Block #5 is now available for purchase in the pattern store..

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #5 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Auch Block 5 ist jetzt auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store verfügbar.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #5 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

I try to post my BOM blocks on a regular schedule but sometimes life has other plans. I won’t be able to troubleshoot potential problems on Sunday (May 1), so I have decided to publish the May block a day early, on Saturday April 30. This means that the April block will move to the pattern store a day early as well. So if you haven’t already downloaded and saved the pattern, do it now before you forget 😉

The download link can be found at the bottom of the original post.

March has been pretty wet around here but overall much better than predicted. There was always rain in the forecast but we had quite a few nice and sunny days in between, and I did get some gardening stuff done. My peas are going strong, even the ones that I planted before the cold spell in late February, and the spinach and lettuce are growing as well. A friend gave me some raspberry canes and strawberry plants last weekend, so I am not only growing vegetables this year but also trying my hand at some fruit. What I am most happy about though is my asparagus that I started from seed last year. It is coming back, and the spears are growing so fast that I can almost watch them grow, it’s unbelievable. Asparagus takes patience, and I am at least two years away from my first harvest but the spears actually look pretty good already, compared to the tiny stalks last year.

As for our bunny friend, he is experiencing Pacific Northwest weather this month… April showers. That’s why the Easter egg was already delivered in March. He has a huge umbrella, big enough to accommodate his ears, so he won’t get wet. And next month, the weather will hopefully be better and a lot warmer. The pattern (English/Imperial) is available for free download until the end of the month and will move to the store when the May block is released. NOTE: The next block will be released a day early, on April 30, so make sure you save the pattern right away.

EDIT: Block #4 is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #4 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Auch Block 4 ist jetzt auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store verfügbar.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #4 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Welcome to March and hopefully spring! A couple of weeks ago we had the nicest spring weather, and I spent some time digging around the garden. It was nice and sunny and felt almost warm and I was eager to get some vegetable seeds started. And then the weather changed, cold air from Alaska came in, and suddenly we had -10 degrees Celsius overnight. So much for an early spring. The cold air has moved on, and we are back to normal rainy weather. With all the craziness in the world right now I am really looking forward to puttering around the garden again, it keeps my mind off things and makes me feel much calmer.

Spring means Easter, and although Easter isn’t until April this year I have decided to publish the Easter block in March. Our little bunny friend is bringing the biggest Easter Egg he can carry, complete with a bow. This is another fairly simple block. Be creative with the fabric you use for the egg. My purple floral is fairly conservative, you can go all out here with your craziest scraps. 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: If you missed the free download in March, the pattern is now available for purchase in the pattern store. I have also created a discount bundle for the first three blocks, if you missed more than just one download.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #3 pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies pattern bundle 1, 2 & 3 (English/Imperial)

Das Problem mit der deutschen Version der Hunny Bunnies ist behoben. Alle drei Blöcke sind nun einzeln oder als Bündel zum Sonderpreis im Pattern Store erhältlich.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #3 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Hunny Bunnies 1, 2 & 3 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

I hope you all had fun with the first block of this year’s BOM. Before we get to the next bunny, I have a favour to ask. If you purchased any of my patterns through my website, you probably noticed that I make you read a paragraph about a PayPal error message during checkout. Most purchases go through just fine, and we have never been able to determine the cause of the error. The weird part is that even though the error message appears, the purchase goes through, and that leads to a lot of confusion and extra work. If you encounter this error, I’d appreciate if you could take a screenshot and send it to me. When we put the pattern store in test mode, it all works fine, and we never receive an error message. My son who has a BSc in computer science went through a huge log file of communication between my store and PayPal over the weekend, and he says it all works the way it is supposed to work. So seeing the actual error message would be extremely helpful and maybe give him a better idea of what is going on, and any help you can give us is very much appreciated.

And now let’s move on to the second Hunny Bunny. This month’s block is much easier to assemble, it doesn’t have as many pieces. Some spring activities are quite obvious but after a while I had to think about what else the bunnies could do. Well, bunnies hop around, so jumping rope seemed like a good idea, and I came up with this little guy. The rope is embroidered, I figured we didn’t really want to handle skinny, curvy pieces, and the fabric would be mostly covered by stitches anyway. If you add embroidered details by machine as I do, don’t forget to put some stabilizer underneath the fabric, you really need it for the rope, or the fabric will pull. As always, the February block will be available for free download until the end of the month and then move to the pattern store in March when the next block is published.

EDIT: Block #2 is now available for purchase if you missed the free download in February.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #2 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Auch Block 2 ist jetzt auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store verfügbar.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #2 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Happy New Year 2022! I’ll repeat my wish from last year that this one might be better. 2021 has been a particularly bad year for me, and I really hope it will just be uphill from here. But I did manage to work on my patterns a lot during the last few months, and one of them is a brand new Block of the Month for 2022 called “Hunny Bunnies”. Once again there will be twelve blocks with a finished size of 10″. They all feature a bunny doing mostly human things, as you already know from my previous BOMs, “Monkey Business” and “Penguin Promenade”. It is a spring-themed quilt but not an Easter quilt, there will only be one Easter block.

The layout will be the same as last year’s, the finished quilt size is approx. 52″ x 64″. The finishing instructions will be available for free download in December as a separate pattern. I am always happy to see pictures of your finished blocks, my email address can be found on the cover page of every pattern, in the lower left corner, so feel free to send them my way.

I have also provided an estimate on the cover page of the amounts of fabrics you need if you want to use the same fabrics for all twelve bunnies. For the accessories just dive into your scrap bin and see what you have. The exact colours don’t really matter, just go with what you have and don’t forget to have fun!

The free pattern will only be available in English/Imperial again. There will be a German/metric version available for purchase later. The rest of the rules are the same as always, and I copied them from last year’s post:

A new block will be published on the first day of every month at 9 am Pacific Standard/Daylight Time. Any changes I might have to make due to unforeseen circumstances beyond my control will be announced here on the blog. Since I am in the Pacific time zone,  it will already be the second day of the month for some of you. Please be patient and please don’t email me asking when the next block will be published. I don’t like to schedule posts to be published in the middle of the night. There can always be a problem with one of the pattern files, and I would like to be able to fix it within minutes instead of waking up to dozens of messages complaining about the bug. If you find an issue, then please don’t hesitate to contact me, so I can fix it ASAP.

Each block will be available for free download during the month of its publication. It will be moved to the store section when the next block is published. If you miss a block, you can still purchase it for a small fee. Please do not email me asking me to send you the pattern for free. I will ignore these requests. I only charge $2 per block (and that’s Canadian dollars – as I write this, this amount equals approx. 1.56 US dollars and  1.38 Euros – you can’t even get a decent coffee for these amounts anymore!), and I will make bundle packs available again for three or six blocks, once we get there, that will give you an additional discount. Please respect my copyright and don’t pass your copy of the pattern on to your friend who might have missed the free download. This will just result in designers not offering free patterns anymore.

Thank you for reading all this, and without further ado, here is the download link for the first block. Enjoy!

EDIT: If you missed the free download in January, the first block is now available for purchase in the pattern store.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Block #1 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Nach anfänglichen Schwierigkeiten gibt es die Hunny Bunnies jetzt doch endlich auch auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #1 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Drumroll… I proudly present next year’s Block of the Month project called “Hunny Bunnies”. After doing winter and summer in 2020 and 2021, the next logical step was a spring quilt, and when I thought of spring, bunnies immediately popped into my head. I also like rhymes and alliterations, and I have been a fan of the phrase “honey bunny” ever since watching the movie Pulp Ficton for the first time a very long time ago. I tried to make the basic bunny design less complicated than the monkey, he was fairly intricate with his hands and feet and all those points that needed to be cut for the fur. I also tried to make the blocks a bit less involved which didn’t always work.

This will be the first block* to be published in January. It has quite a few pieces but they are not as tiny and intricate as the monkey ones. The next blocks will be a lot less complicated. I debated just using the bunny with the carrot without the basket but it didn’t look right to me. The turquoise bow is the needed dot of colour that balances the whole block. The whole design came together surprisingly fast. Once I started thinking about it, it all poured out of me, and I think I drew all the blocks within two weeks. I had a lot of fun putting it all together, and I hope you will join me for next year’s Block of the Month. There will be twelve blocks again, finished block size will be 10″, and the final layout will be the same as for the Monkey Business quilt. The finishing instructions will be available for free download next December. It will be a spring-themed quilt but NOT an Easter quilt although there will be one Easter block.

The instructions for the first block will be published on January 1, 2022 at 9 am PST, and the rules will be pretty much the same as before, I will post details with the first block. The blocks will be available for free download during the month of their publication (in English/Imperial only).

Someone asked last week about my handmade Christmas cards. Here is this year’s design which is a smaller version of my gingerbread man from my Ginger & Fred Mug Rugs pattern. They are not always this involved and most of the time not based on my patterns, it depends on what pops into my head and what fabrics I can find. The cards have a finished size of 4″ x 6″, and I create them like the AMCs that were all the rage about 15 years or so ago. I appliqué the top like a quilt block, then iron it to a stabilizer (I am using Timtex which is the closest thing I could find to the product I used in Germany). I also iron a piece of fabric to the back (not a busy design, something that I can write on), then I zig zag around the edges, and voilà. Easy enough to do, just time consuming, especially if the object is quite detailed. I usually make around twenty cards, and they go to a list of people who I know appreciate the effort.

Thank you for stopping by, and have a happy and safe holiday season. I am going to take the next two weeks off, and I will see you all in 2022 with the first block of the Hunny Bunnies BOM.

* The green border is NOT part of the block/quilt, there just wasn’t enough room for the text on the plain block.

And here we are, starting the last month of the year. It doesn’t really feel like December yet, especially with this warm and rainy weather. Not that it gets really cold here, compared to most parts of Canada, but still, it is too warm even by our standards. Now that gardening is pretty much on hold, I missed it and started a batch of radishes under grow lights. And of course I have been drawing a lot, and next year’s BOM seems to be right on track for a start on January 1. I am not promising anything yet but if nothing comes up unexpectedly, we should be good.

As for our Monkey friend, he is relaxing in a hammock under a palm tree today, not a care in the world. This was actually one of the earliest blocks I drew but then I decided it would make a great last block for this BOM. And I have also said that Block #12 would contain the finishing instructions but I have changed my mind about that. They are now available as an individual pattern with no charge, so make sure you download two patterns below. Block #12 will be free until the end of the month and move over to the pattern store in January. The finishing instructions will always be free. They are very simple, just sashing and one outer border, and I will use the same layout and measurements for next year’s BOM, so I can concentrate on the fun part (designing the blocks) and won’t have to worry about doing the math and double checking it seventeen times.

EDIT: The year is over, a new BOM has started, and block #12 has moved to the pattern store and is now available for purchase if you missed the free download. I have also created special pricing bundles again for blocks 10, 11 & 12 and also for blocks 7-12, in case you missed a whole bunch. The full Monkey Business pattern is also available for purchase now for those who missed most or all of the free blocks. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for free download.

Click to purchase Monkey Business Block #12 pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Monkey Business pattern bundle 10, 11 & 12 (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Monkey Business pattern bundle 7-12 (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Monkey Business Quilt Complete Pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to download Monkey Business Finishing Instructions (English/Imperial)

Auch Block #12 ist jetzt auf Deutsch und in metrischen Maßen erhältlich. Es gibt auch wieder Blockbündel zum Sonderpreis, entweder die Blöcke 10, 11 und 12 oder die Blöcke 7-12 komplett. Die Anleitung für den kompletten Monkey Business Quilt ist jetzt ebenfalls auf Deutsch erhältlich. Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.

(Kauf)Anleitung Monkey Business Block #12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Monkey Business 10, 11 & 12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Monkey Business 7-12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitung Monkey Business Quilt Komplett (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Anleitung zur Fertigstellung des Quilts (Deutsch/Metrisch) kostenloser Download

Can you believe it’s November already? The weather has been pretty nice so far, some rain, of course, but not too cold yet. I still have one butternut squash outside that isn’t quite ripe yet, so I am hoping for a few more nights without temperatures below freezing. Other than that, there is still some spinach and lettuce growing, and my Brussels sprouts are still a bit undecided. As much success as I had with all the other brassicas this year, for some reason the Brussels sprouts don’t like me. Too bad, because I really like them! Yes, I am am on of those people… if you hate them, don’t worry, it’s genetic. Neither of us can help it.

As for our monkey friends, this month’s block features where you would find me: sitting in the shade with a tropical drink in my hand, enjoying the view and a moment of leisure. As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the last block will be published in December. And before you ask, yes, I have something new in the works for next year, but with all my health challenges right now, I can’t predict yet when exactly we will start. Just keep checking back or even better, subscribe to the blog or follow me on social media, so you don’t miss out. The links to my social media profiles can be found at the top of the sidebar.

EDIT: November is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.

Click to purchase Monkey Business Block #11 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Auch den November Block gibt es nun auf deutsch und mit metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store zu kaufen.

(Kauf)Anleitung Monkey Business Block #11 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

It is October already, and we are going into the last quarter of the year and this year’s Monkey Business BOM. While I am not a big fan of winter, I am not too unhappy that this super hot and dry summer is over and I don’t have to spend so much time watering my vegetables anymore. Next year it will be drip irrigation for sure! I am still harvesting my second crop of broccoli, it was so worth the effort to install the cover for the brassicas. And my cherry tomatoes are still going strong, I can’t take off new suckers as fast as they are regrowing. I have decided to pull them this weekend though. I topped all tomato plants in mid-August, and the remaining green ones will ripen indoors. I just want to clean up as much as possible before the weather gets really ugly.

Our monkey friends are still on summer vacation and don’t have to worry about bad weather. I was trying to create a surfing monkey but all my attempts looked too much like the snowboarding penguin from last year’s Penguin Promenade. Then I realized that there is another kind of surfing, and now our little monkey is happily windsurfing across the water. Please make sure to double check that the pattern prints at 100% size, otherwise the design will be cut off in the middle of the block. (Ask me how I know… I have been printing my placement guides for years with the same settings, and I don’t always check, and Adobe Reader decided to switch from “Actual Size” to one of the other options, and I didn’t notice until I couldn’t make the block fit.) As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store in November.

EDIT: The October block has been moved to the pattern store and is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.

Click to purchase Monkey Business Block #10 pattern (English/Imperial)

EDIT: Der Oktober-Block ist nun auch auf deutsch und in metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store verfügbar.

(Kauf)Anleitung Monkey Business Block #10 (Deutsch/Metrisch)