Can you believe it’s June already, and with today’s publication we are halfway through this year’s BOM? Time sure flies. We had very warm weather in the first half of May, and I decided to risk it and transplanted all heat-loving veggies like tomatoes and cucumbers two weeks earlier than I usually do. We were away for ten days in the second half of May, and it was easier for my friend who took care of our cats during our absence to just turn on the drip irrigation instead of having to water all the seedlings inside. And boy, did they love the weather. Even though the second half of the month was a bit cooler, everything grew like crazy when we were away, and I couldn’t believe the jungle I faced when I got back. I even managed to start some watermelon seeds this year. Watermelons are a bit problematic in our climate because of the short growing season. The plants are looking great already, so maybe I will get some watermelons this year.

Our hedgehog friend is starting football season today, another fall activity in North America. It feels a bit weird to me because in Germany football season started in the spring but whatever works, right? I am not sure what the little snail is doing on the football field but I liked my drawing, and I couldn’t find another block where it fit. And here was an open corner that asked for another element, so in he went. As always, the block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move over to the pattern store when the July block is released. We are tentatively planning to be away again on Canada Day, so make sure you download the pattern now because the next block might be released early.

Click to download HedgeHUGS Block #6 pattern (English/Imperial)

You might have noticed that I haven’t been very active on here or social media over the last few months. While I am having some health issues again, I am mostly doing fine, I just don’t have the time right now for blog posts. Or rather, I don’t want to take the time. My garden has kept me busy, and I am going to Germany to see my mom in June for the first time since 2019 and have been sewing gifts. The BOM is not in danger, and I will keep posting on the first of the month, everything else has to wait.

I have already had the first gardening success of the year. I started asparagus from seeds two years ago, I had a 100% germination rate, and all plants seemed quite happy last year with pretty large spears growing already. In Germany everybody goes completely crazy over white asparagus from April 21 to June 24. Market stands are popping up everywhere, restaurants have special “Spargel” menus, and everyone eats as much asparagus as they can while the season lasts. And yes, if you mention asparagus in Germany, everyone will assume you are talking about white asparagus. Green asparagus is available but the craze is just about the white one. It is the same plant, you just have to protect the spears from light when they emerge. White asparagus is available here sometimes but it is very expensive, the last we saw at the grocery store was imported from Peru. So I decided we should grow our own. I hilled up the soil as much as I could this year and covered it with a special film that protects from light and keeps the soil warm, and we had a nice harvest already and ate lots of cream of asparagus soup, so yummy. It takes about five years before you can harvest for a full two months, so I have now removed the cover and will give the plants the chance to grow and develop sturdy root systems.

Our hedgehog friend this month is presenting the sunflower he grew to feed the birds. I love sunflowers but I am not interested in harvesting the seeds. I am fine with the birds and squirrels eating them, it also entertains my cats who love sitting in the window watching what’s going on outside. In the block the sunflower is there for the taking, I have omitted any tiny seeds… that was quite a pain last year with the bunnies sowing and feeding geese. The bird’s feet and beak are pretty tiny though, so you might want to embroider them instead of cutting them from fabric. As always the block 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: If you missed the free download in May, Block #5 is now available for purchase in the pattern store.

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

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

(Kauf)Anleitung HedgeHUGS Block #5 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

After February dumped that huge amount of snow on us, March was very friendly and brought some early spring days. Suddenly gardening season was in full swing again, we had topsoil delivered and spent a whole day topping up the beds, built a new bed in the front and planted some pansies. The radishes and peas are growing quickly, and spinach and lettuce are starting to peek out. Unfortunately we have a new cat in the neighbourhood that loves to chew on our drip irrigation. I have put the chickenwire covers (that I used during the winter to make clear that my veggie beds are no litter boxes) back on. I am just not sure yet what she might do to the remay covers once I transplant the broccoli and cover the brassica bed.

In terms of sewing I am still completely obsessed with bags and purses. But I didn’t forget about April’s hedgehog, and he is celebrating Oktoberfest. That’s so not a thing in Berlin and northern parts of Germany but I think it is one of those stereotypical things that non-Germans immediately think of, so I decided to put it in. And I think the little guy is quite happy waving his Bavarian flag and enjoying a nice pretzel. As always the block 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: If you missed the free download in April, Block #4 is now available for purchase in the pattern store.

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

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

(Kauf)Anleitung HedgeHUGS Block #4 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Wow, February really got away from me. I had some time-consuming custom quilting to do, and I took a week off afterwards, and suddenly it’s March. On Sunday morning we woke up to the largest amount of snow of the winter, luckily it warmed up enough during the day that most of it melted again quickly. But the weather is still more winter than spring, and even though I am pretty adventurous in my gardening and do a lot by trial and error, even I haven’t started any peas yet. Just some parsley seeds inside, and quite a few of them have sprouted already. Other than that I think I caught the bag-sewing bug. Inspired by a guild trunk show I bought supplies for an Ultimate Travel Bag (By Annie pattern), and I actually finished it last weekend and am now looking through Annie’s other patterns to see what else I would like to make. Pictures will follow later.

Our little hedgehog friend is flying a kite this month. I have some vague childhood memories of kites mostly not flying but crashing down, and it was never my favourite pastime, but somehow autumn is still connected to wind and flying kites, so I just had to include it. As always, the pattern is available for free download until the end of the month and will move over 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 HedgeHUGS Block #3 pattern (English/Imperial)

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

Block 3 ist nun auch auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen im Pattern Store erhältlich. Außerdem gibt es auch wieder ein Bündel für die Blöcke 1, 2 und 3.

(Kauf)Anleitung HedgeHUGS Block #3 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

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

I was so busy in January that I didn’t even have time to take a few detail pictures of the Hunny Bunnies blocks in the finished quilt. I published the full pattern on January 1st together with the last block and the bundles but I never got around to actually announce it here. So here we go, the complete pattern with all twelve blocks and finishing instructions is now available both in English/Imperial and German/Metric. I only added a crosshatch for the background of the blocks, I thought the background fabric provided enough texture. The sashing fabric was super busy, and the quilting doesn’t show much but I went with some spiral pattern that looks a bit like a stylized rose (at least if you have my imagination). For the outer border I used a pantograph design called “Let It Bloom!”. I finished the quilt a long time ago and it was actually displayed at the quilt show last October.

For those of you who missed most or all of the blocks last year, this is your chance, and if you enter HUNNY20 during checkout you will get an additional 20% discount. The code will be valid until February 12, 2023 11.59 PM PST.

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Quilt Complete Pattern (English/Imperial)

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Quilt Komplett (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Edit: Of course I worried for nothing… It snowed again overnight, so we left extra early, and the roads were clear and traffic wasn’t a problem, and they were able to get me in and out quickly although I arrived way too early, and I am back almost in time. But that’s Murphy’s Law, if I hadn’t worried about it, I’d still be stuck in traffic somewhere :))

It is still too early in the year to start rambling about my gardening adventures. It is actually snowing outside as I am writing this. Just a little, and the temperatures in the forecast are above freezing, so it should be disappearing fairly soon. But I am ready to go again, maybe plant some peas towards the end of the month and start the first seeds indoors.

So let’s look at our little hedgehog friend right away, who is out in the woods this months looking for mushrooms. I really hope he knows which ones are edible! I am not into collecting mushrooms in the woods, I grew up in a big city and wouldn’t know one from the other. But I have a very distinct memory from when I was nine years old and we were on vacation in Switzerland. We found some mushrooms in the woods, and my mom insisted these were chanterelles (I hope that’s the right name, I had to look up the English word). She took them home with us and said she would turn them into a delicious dish for all of us to enjoy. My mom had grown up outside the big city and she may or may not have been right, who knows. But all three of us kids only knew stories and fairytales with poisonous mushrooms and as city kids we found eating anything that we found in the woods appalling. Neither of us would have touched the dish, and we were so afraid that our mom would eat the mushrooms and die. Luckily for us, she put them in the fridge and forgot all about them. When she remembered them, they were spoiled and had to be thrown out. Phew.

As always, the pattern for this block will be free until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the next block is released.

EDIT: If you missed the free download in February, Block #2 is now available for purchase in the pattern store.

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

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

(Kauf)Anleitung HedgeHUGS Block #2 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

Here is a cozy flannel quilt made by Thomasine. I really like quilts that combine patchwork and appliqué, and a pattern like this one is a great starting point to try your hand at fusible appliqué. Big shapes, and just a few blocks… so even if you end up not liking the technique, it’s totally doable. We finished the quilt with the pattern “Fall Leaves”.

Happy New Year 2023! Best wishes for a great year to all of you, and welcome to my brand new Block of the Month “HedgeHUGS”. Once again there will be twelve blocks with a finished size of 10″. They all feature a hedgehog doing mostly human things, as you already know from my previous BOMs, “Hunny Bunnies”, “Monkey Business” and “Penguin Promenade”. This is a fall-themed quilt but not centered around a specific holiday. When I first announced the BOM last month, I learned that hedgehogs are not native to North America. I didn’t know that! They are all over the place in Germany but of course it was wrong to assume they’d be around here too. 

The layout will be the same as the last two years, 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 hedgehogs. 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. 1.48 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, Block #1 is now available for purchase in the pattern store.

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

EDIT: Auch die HedgeHUGS wird es auf Deutsch/in metrischen Maßen geben, allerdings nur als Kaufmuster. Block 1 ist jetzt im Pattern Store verfügbar.

(Kauf)Anleitung HedgeHUGS Block #1 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

And just like that, another year is almost over. Six or seven weeks ago we still had almost 30°C (over 80F), and suddenly Christmas is just around the corner. I think everyone was surprised by that this year, my quilting Christmas rush started a bit later than usual too but then of course it came with a vengeance, and everybody dropped off their quilts at the same time. I do have another BOM in the works for next year, and timewise it is looking good for a start date of January 1, 2023. So stay tuned, I’ll announce it sometime later this month.

But first we need to get to our last Hunny Bunny block. This month’s bunny is enjoying a rainbow. I visited Hawaii once a very long time ago, and I really liked how they said “no rain, no rainbows” over there. I have been meaning to come up with a rainbow design for quite a while but it turned out to be more difficult than I originally thought. I fiddled around with it until I finally put the colours into separate arcs that don’t really connect, that makes the assembly of the block so much easier. Have fun hunting through your scraps for just the right rainbow colours! And don’t forget that the finishing instructions are also available for download now. They are very simple (sashing and outer border), and of course feel free to come up with a more creative layout. The December block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store in January. The finishing instructions will always be free.

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 Hunny Bunnies 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 Hunny Bunnies Block #12 pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies pattern bundle 10, 11 & 12 (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies pattern bundle 7-12 (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hunny Bunnies Quilt Complete Pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to download Hunny Bunnies 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 Hunny Bunnies Quilt ist jetzt ebenfalls auf Deutsch erhältlich. Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Block #12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Hunny Bunnies 10, 11 & 12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitungsbündel Hunny Bunnies 7-12 (Deutsch/Metrisch)

(Kauf)Anleitung Hunny Bunnies Quilt Komplett (Deutsch/Metrisch)

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

I just realized that I never posted pictures of my Covid Round Robin project. We started it in the fall of 2020 with the guild, to keep us occupied during the first winter of Covid when we couldn’t have any guild meetings. Four people formed a group, and there were basically no rules, each group could do whatever they wanted. Most did a real Round Robin, one group did a Row Robin and my group decided to just do a Block Robin. I picked the four seasons as my theme and made a spring block with flowers, Easter eggs and a butterfly. Connie was next and chose to make a poinsettia for the winter block. Evelyn’s block is an amazing summer garden scene with birds and sunflowers and another butterfly. Kim had to take what was left and created an autumn scene with pumpkins and a squirrel.

I actually finished the quilt rather quickly. I believe the last exchange was in March or April of 2021, and I had it assembled, quilted and bound by June 2021. Orange is not usually my favourite colour but with the blocks I had it seemed like the best choice for sashing and borders. I custom quilted it, trying to find background filler designs that matched the theme of the blocks. It was in the quilt show this October and is now hanging on the wall in front of me, over my desk which finally made me realize that I never took pictures of it, an oversight that I corrected immediately 🙂 I am quite happy with the way it turned out.

Our guild had a “Mug Rug in Autumn Colours” swap this month, and I was undecided if I wanted to participate. While working on another pattern I came up with this funky turkey and in the end decided not to use it for that particular pattern. Then it occurred to me that it would be perfect for the guild’s swap, and I started digging through my scraps and made two mug rugs, one for myself and one for the guild. The pattern has now been published and is available for purchase in the store section. The mug rugs come together fairly quickly, you can still finish them before Thanksgiving.

Click to purchase Turkey Mug Rugs Pattern (English/Imperial)

Die Anleitung für die Turkey Mug Rugs gibt es auch auf Deutsch/mit metrischen Maßen.

(Kauf)Anleitung Turkey Mug Rugs (Deutsch/Metrisch)

After finishing the Monkey Business BOM I thought I should turn the monkey into a quilt that doesn’t feature human behaviour and is less complicated than the BOM quilt. So I took the first block with the monkey swinging on a vine with a banana and put together a completely different quilt with vibrant hibiscus flowers in the alternating blocks. And since I made the monkey pillow in fabrics matching the original Monkey Business quilt, I tried to make a second one with Jungle Monkeys colours but wasn’t really happy with the outcome. I guess I was bored by doing the same thing again, so instead I took the hibiscus block and turned it into a colourful pillow.

Both patterns are now available for purchase in the pattern store. I have also created a discount code, if you enter HIBISCUS you will get 20% off. The code is valid until Nov 14, 2022 (11.59 pm PST) and applies to the Jungle Monkeys and Hibiscus Pillow patterns only.

Click to purchase Jungle Monkeys Quilt Pattern (English/Imperial)

Click to purchase Hibiscus Pillow Pattern (English/Imperial)

If you want both patterns, I have also created a bundle at a discount price that is valid until further notice.

Click to purchase Jungle Monkeys Quilt & Hibiscus Pillow Pattern Bundle (English/Imperial)

Eine deutsche Version mit metrischen Maßen gibt es nur für das Kissen, für den Quilt lohnt sich der Aufwand für mich leider nicht. Der Discount Code HIBISCUS gilt natürlich auch für die deutsche Version.

(Kauf)Anleitung Hibiscus Kissen (Deutsch/Metrisch)