Monkey Business BOM – Block #3
Another month, another monkey. Time sure flies even though we are not having as much fun as we would like to with the pandemic still going on. But vaccinations are underway, and we all have to hang in there just a little bit longer. With spring around the corner and warmer weather coming, it will hopefully get a bit easier. (My apologies if you are in the southern hemisphere, when I start rambling about the weather, I often forget that half the globe is in a different season.) Anyway, this month’s monkey is looking forward to dessert, he got hold of a nice cup of ice cream. Luckily he is also wearing a bib, the way he is swinging the cup around makes it quite likely that not all of it will end up in his mouth.
As always, the pattern for this block will be available for free download until the end of the month and then move over to the pattern store when April’s free pattern is published.
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Monkey Business BOM – Block #2
Welcome to February! Isn’t it nice how much more light there is in a day already? After the winter solstice it takes a little while before it is noticeable but by now I have been commenting on it at least every other day. I have stocked up on vegetable seeds, and I am eager to go. I will try to grow everything from seeds this year. If my attempts fail, I can always buy seedlings later. A very long time ago, maybe 25 years or so, I grew hot peppers on my balcony back in Germany. I started the seeds in a little windowsill greenhouse and then transplanted the seedlings later on. I had a huge success rate and a great harvest during the two years I did it, I produced many jars of hot sauce back then. It was a lot of fun, and since the pandemic will be around for quite a while longer, this will give me something productive to do (other than quilting, of course).
On to this month’s block: The dancing monkey was a lucky accident. I was manipulating the basic monkey body shape, trying to do something entirely different, and suddenly I thought, hey, that looks like the monkey is dancing! And with one arm overlapping the rest of the body piece, meaning I had to cut it as two separate pieces, I needed something to cover up the part where the two pieces meet. So I added a lei and declared the monkey a hula dancer. And yes, I know that hula dancers can be both male and female, and while I have never really thought about my penguins as male or female, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have an explicitly female monkey and added the little bow that picks up the lei colours. Some of the later blocks could actually be monkey children, so this year’s BOM will have the whole family pictured on their summer vacation. As always, the pattern will be available for free until the end of the month and move to the store section when the March block is published.
Edit: The March block was published this morning, and February’s block moved to the pattern store where it is available for purchase in case you missed the free download.
EDIT: Auch der zweite Monkey Business Block ist jetzt auf Deutsch/Metrisch als Kaufmuster erhältlich.
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Monkey Business BOM – Block #1
Welcome to 2021! May the new year be better and brighter than the last one! Let’s start it off with some fun stuff, the first block of my brand new “Monkey Business” Block of the Month 2021. This year there will be 12 blocks once again, all of them featuring a monkey. The first block has a monkey that is doing something close to what we would consider “normal” monkey things. The other eleven blocks are all more cartoonish, with the monkeys doing all kinds of summer things and carrying accessories. Think along the lines of last year’s penguins, and you’ll have the general idea. The finished block size is 10″ again. I don’t particularly like going over 8″ because larger blocks won’t fit on a regular letter page but even though I don’t mind small details, there are limits, so 10″ it is.
The finished quilt size is approx. 52″ x 64″. I will provide the finishing instructions with the last block. They won’t be anything special, just plain old sashing and a border. Feel free to come up with something a bit more creative if you find that boring. I have decided to do the same layout for future BOM projects, it makes writing the finishing instructions easier and faster. I would still like to see your finished blocks though. I have already received a few pictures of finished Penguin blocks, and I will create a gallery for all of you to see them. Hopefully next week, so stay tuned. Remember that you still have three months to send me pictures of your finished Penguin blocks to get the finishing instructions for free!
On the cover page of the first pattern, you can find an estimate of the amounts of fabrics that you need if you want to use the same fabrics for all twelve monkeys. There is no need to do that, just dig into your scrap bins and have fun. The accessories will need a lot of small scraps in different colours, and the exact colours don’t really matter, so go with what you have and use some of those scraps. You know they will multiply anyway as soon as you turn your back 😀
The free pattern will only be available in Englisch/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. 1.55 US dollars and a bit less than 1.30 Euros – you can’t even get a 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 Monkey block pattern is now available for purchase in the pattern store.
EDIT: Monkey Business Block #1 ist jetzt auch auf Deutsch und in metrischen Maßen als Kaufmuster erhältlich.
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Coming Soon: Monkey Business Block of the Month 2021
I have been posting teasers for a while, and today is finally the day to reveal next year’s Block of the Month project called “Monkey Business”. Boy, was it ever difficult to come up with a monkey that I liked! Sometimes I know in my head what it is supposed to look like but it is really difficult to bring my vision to life on my computer screen. Do you remember Monchhichis? They were all the rage in the early 80s, and my early drawings looked a lot like them, and I definitely didn’t want that. It took me two months to finally come up with a monkey face that I liked and that made me laugh. It probably didn’t help that I decided to learn how to draw in Inkscape. All my previous designs were drawn in Electric Quilt (EQ) which is a great quilt design program but I hit its limits on the appliqué drawing table some time ago. I am really glad I persisted and managed to acquire some solid Inkscape skills, it is so much easier to manipulate digital drawings with all the additional drawing options, and now that I am familiar with it, it makes the drawing much faster.
There will be 12 blocks again in 2021, and once again it will be a cartoonish style quilt showing monkeys participating in all kinds of activities. Since the penguins were skiing and sledding, I thought it would be fun to do summer things this time. The first block featured above* is the only one that remotely looks like a monkey doing “normal” monkey things, the rest of them are more along the lines of ice skating penguins. Have you heard of the saying (apparently from Poland?) “Not my monkeys, not my circus”? It has become some sort of mantra for me, trying to keep myself calm in these crazy times. Well, these ARE my monkeys, and they made me laugh a lot while drawing them. I hope you will enjoy them too and will join me in looking forward to a brighter year 2021.
Edit: I forgot to mention that it will start on January 1, 2021 at 9 am PST, and the rules will be pretty much the same as before, I will post details when I publish the first block. The blocks will be available for free download during the month of their publication (in English/Imperial only).
* The green and yellow border is NOT part of the block/quilt, there just wasn’t enough room for the text on the plain block.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #9
And here we go: It’s December, and this is the last block of my Penguin Promenade BOM 2020. This last little guy is going down the mountain on his snowboard. I went with the brown fabrics that I used for the sled but you can use your imagination and give him all kinds of crazy board colours. Dig into your scrap bins! I hope you had as much fun with this project as I did. Remember that I will email you the finishing instructions if you send me pictures of your finished blocks until the end of March 2021. My email address can be found on the first page of every pattern. (Edit: As announced earlier, the finishing instructions will be available for purchase in January for those who can’t meet the March deadline.) (Edit 2: You can send me your pictures anytime, and you will receive a confirmation email. The finishing instructions will be mailed out in January when they are published.) As for the new BOM, it’s coming along nicely, and I am almost ready to announce it but not quite yet. Stay tuned, it shouldn’t be long. I am also quite confident that I will be able to publish the first block in January. Probably on the first of the month, as usual, or if I need a bit more time, I’ll switch it to mid-month and publish all blocks on the 15th. Either way, I will announce the details soon.
Don’t forget that the Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop also starts today. I am going to post on the last day which is Friday. Head on over to Carol’s blog Just Let Me Quilt to see the schedule and visit the participants’ sites for yummy recipes and lots of fun stuff. And please come back on Friday for my recipe (lots of chocolate!) and a giveaway.
The last Penguin block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store in January.
EDIT: The Penguin Promenade BOM is now finished. Any patterns you might have missed are available for purchase in the store section, including the last block #9. I have also created another pattern bundle at a discount price. The finishing instructions are available separately for those who are not going to make the deadline for sending in pictures of their finished penguin blocks. And of course the pattern for the whole quilt is also available for purchase as of now. Don’t forget to check out my new BOM for 2021 “Monkey Business” and download the free patterns every month.
Der neunte und letzte Pinguin-Block ist jetzt auf Deutsch als Kaufmuster im Shop erhältlich, ebenso die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung des Quilts für diejenigen, die es nicht schaffen, Bilder von ihren fertigen Blöcken pünktlich einzusenden. Es gibt auch wieder ein Blockbündel für die letzten drei Blöcke zum Sonderpreis, und auch die Anleitung für den kompletten Quilt ist ab sofort auch auf Deutsch erhältlich.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #8
Can you believe it’s November already, and we have only one block left until the Penguins are complete? 2020 is a very strange year. Sometimes time doesn’t seem to pass at all with all the Covid restrictions and no place to go, and then you turn around, and it’s been eight months and we are getting ready for Christmas. With next year looming in the not so distant future, you are probably wondering if there will be another block of the month next year. The answer is, I am working on something but I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I might or might not be able to publish the first block on January 1, stay tuned for further updates, I will announce the start date as soon as I can.
Back to our Penguins, this month’s block features a snowball fight. That was one of the first winter activities that came to mind but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought to come up with a fairly simple design for the block. So here we go, our snowball-throwing buddy is about to get hit in the face by an incoming snowball. The block is available for free download until the end of the month and will be moved to the pattern store in December when the final block is released.
EDIT: Block #8 is now available for purchase in the pattern store if you missed the free download in November
EDIT: Auch Block #8 gibt es jetzt auf Deutsch. Die Anleitung ist als Kaufmuster im Pattern Store zu finden.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #7
Another month has come and gone, it’s October, and there are only two penguin blocks left after this one. On some levels, this year seems to drag on forever but then you wake up, and Christmas is coming. Well, I am exaggerating, of course, but the Christmas quilting rush is just around the corner, and the year will be over in no time. In gardening news, I have had decent success, considering that I had no clue when I started out in March. I had a huge tomato harvest and still have three trays of green ones ripening inside. I planted a second round of beans in August, and they grew like crazy and were ready to harvest within six weeks. I also planted more peas and spinach but these don’t mind cool and rainy weather so much, so they should be fine. I am definitely going to do this again next year and have already started planning.
Coming up with winter activities for our penguin pals wasn’t as easy as it sounds. After going through the obvious ones like skiing and skating, I played around with lots of possibilities to fill the remaining blocks and came up with this ice fishing guy. Isn’t he reeling in a nice catch? The more blocks I made, the more I kept looking for interesting fabrics in my scraps to use for their accessories. Stripes and plaids work really well for scarves and mittens, polka dots and flowers are also good choices. The block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move over to the pattern store in November to make room for the next free pattern.
EDIT: If you missed the free download in October, block #7 is now available for purchase in the pattern store.
EDIT: Block 7 ist jetzt auch auf Deutsch erhältlich, das Kaufmuster ist ab heute im Pattern Store zu finden.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #6
I will keep it short today as I am taking this week off, so you don’t have to read through my garden ramblings. I will be back next week after Labour Day with the start of this year’s Row Along with the theme “It’s A Garden Party”. I am scheduled to post on the first day which is September 8, so make sure you don’t miss the fun.
This month’s penguin is building a snowman… or maybe a snow penguin? The pattern will be available until the end of the month, as always, and then move over to the store when the October block is released.
EDIT: It is October, and the September block is now available for purchase if you missed the free download. I have also created another bundle for those who missed blocks 4, 5 & 6.
EDIT: Block 6 gibt es jetzt auch auf Deutsch als Kaufmuster im Shop. Die Blöcke 4, 5 und 6 sind auch als Bündel zum Sonderpreis erhältlich.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #5
After a cold and wet June, July came with nicer weather, and it has been really hot for the past week or so. It feels a bit weird to be working on skiing and skating penguins when it’s 35 degrees outside. Celsius… that would be in the mid-90s Fahrenheit, I believe. I have never been a winter person, and I don’t like snow. Unless it is on the mountains and stays up there, then it’s pretty. And while I like skating, I have never learned how to ski. I gave it a try once, maybe ten years ago or so but I never got the hang of it. I believe that it is easier to learn when you are young and don’t even think about falling down and not being able to get up again or break a leg. My husband has been skiing all his life, and our son was a quick learner and went down the slopes in no time, and I decided that it was better to let them do their thing and not get in the way. I’d rather be quilting anyway.
In garden news, I lost a bunch of broccoli plants to the cabbage root fly. They were doing just fine, and then just fell over one day. Those little maggots had munched all the roots right off. Two plants were either not infected or strong enough to survive, in any case I harvested two nice crowns of broccoli last week, and they were so good. Now I am waiting for the tomatoes to turn red. I have a whole jungle of tomato plants with lots of green ones on the vines but no sign of red yet. The potato plants are all gone, I removed the last dried up stalks and leaves last week. Since I am not very patient, I already dug up some potatoes, I had to make sure there were some, right? I prefer firm potatoes, and this is a quite mealy variety but they make excellent mashies. Considering that I had no clue about gardening when I decided to do this in March, my first season is going quite well.
Okay, now back to winter and our penguin buddies. This month’s block features a penguin on a sled, all dressed up in matching ear muffs, mittens and a bow tie. The block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the store section in September.
EDIT: If you missed the free download of the August block, it is now available for purchase in the pattern store.
EDIT: Auch Block 5 ist jetzt als Kaufmuster auf Deutsch und in metrischen Maßen im Shop verfügbar.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #4
Happy Canada Day! We had really bad weather during the first half of June, cold and wet, and while the spinach still decided to bolt, I had little hope for my remaining cucumbers. But as soon as the weather changed, the first flowers appeared on the cucumbers, and they seem quite content by now. The tomatoes ignored the weather as well and have apparently decided to outgrow their cages as quickly as possible. They are in a rather dry spot close to the house but I didn’t think they would grow that much while it was so cold. In other gardening news, I have decided to try to grow Brussels sprouts. I belong to the 50% of the population who cannot taste anything bitter in Brussels sprouts and have always liked them. And I know they grow around here, you can see them in the fields awaiting harvest in late autumn. I had to order the seeds online, I guess this is not a very popular crop. As you can tell, I am having a lot of fun with my garden experiments.
But you are not here for my veggie stories, so let’s move on to this month’s penguin. July means Canada Day, and Canada means hockey. So of course the July block had to feature this favourite winter pastime and Canada’s official national winter sport. I realize the little guy should be dressed in red and white and not in blue but it didn’t look right in the final layout of the quilt. So I have decided to have him play in Vancouver Canucks colours instead. The hockey penguin will be available for free download until the end of the month and then move to the store section to make room for August’s free block.
EDIT: If you missed the free download of the July block, it is now available for purchase in the pattern store.
EDIT: Auch Block 4 ist jetzt als Kaufmuster auf Deutsch und in metrischen Maßen im Shop verfügbar.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #3
Another month has come and gone in this weird year. British Columbia has entered phase II of its reopening plan, and I have amended my procedures for taking in quilts a bit. This is mostly interesting for local customers, please click here to read more. There is still no square dancing (and probably won’t be for a long time), and the lack of dancing has managed to turn me into a gardener. I never thought that day would come but I have planted lots of veggies, and most of them seem to thrive. We have already harvested some spinach and lettuce, the peas are blooming, and the potatoes are growing like crazy. And yesterday I found the first flower on one of the tomato plants. Just the cucumbers don’t seem to like me but I am hoping it’s just the weather. One of my green thumb friends says her cucumbers are struggling too which made me feel a bit better.
I can’t think of a clever transition from gardening to penguins, so let’s just jump right in and check out what our friends are up to this month. There is definitely no gardening going on in their world. June’s penguin is gliding serenely across the ice on his skates, all dressed up in his finest bow tie, his ears kept warm by matching earmuffs. As always, the pattern is available for free download until the end of the month and will move to the pattern store when the next block is released.
Edit: The June block is now available for purchase in the store section if you missed the free download. I have also created a pattern bundle that has all three blocks that were previously released for a special price.
Der dritte Block ist jetzt auch auf Deutsch mit metrischen Maßen als Kaufmuster verfügbar. Und auch in diesem Jahr gibt es wieder ein Blockbündel, das alle drei bisher erschienenen Blöcke zum Sonderpreis enthält.
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Penguin Promenade BOM – Block #2
Welcome to May and the second block of our Penguin Promenade. This month’s block features a chubby little guy skiing downhill, his hat and scarf flapping in the wind. I chose red fabrics for his accessories but the colours don’t really matter, so just go with what you have in your scrap drawer and have fun. The ski poles are quite narrow and not easy to cut but you can always choose to embroider them if you don’t feel like doing appliqué. I appliquéd everything and didn’t have a problem but I realize that not everyone is fond of tiny pieces 🙂
I hope you are all hanging in there, trying to stay home as much as possible. This virus will be with us for a while, and all we can do is make the best of the situation. Luckily quilting is a hobby that will keep us entertained at home for a long time. Until we run out of fabric, I guess, which for many quilters should not be a problem anytime soon 😉
As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move over to the pattern store when the June block is published.
EDIT: The second penguin block is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.
EDIT: Penguin Promenade gibt es auch auf Deutsch, allerdings nur als Kaufmuster. Die kostenlosen Downloads jeden Monat sind nur auf Englisch und in Inch erhältlich. Die deutschen Blöcke werden jeweils einen Monat später im Shop veröffentlicht.
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