Last year when I published my Pansies, Snowdrops and Sunflower patterns, I mentioned that someone at the Chilliwack quilt show had asked if I had a poinsettia pattern. I didn’t have one but I thought that maybe I would like to come up with a few more of those flower wall hangings. A year has come and gone, and Christmas is around the corner, so it was time for me to get to work or postpone it to next year. I am happy to announce that I did not procrastinate this time and am ready to publish my Poinsettia pattern. There is plenty of time to get this done before Christmas. I am really enjoying this flower series and have already received another request, this time for violets. Inspiration hasn’t struck yet but I will definitely give it some thought.
Für die deutsche Version mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem Kauflink unten für die englische Version folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung in der gewünschten Sprache.
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 re
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.
Für die deutsche(n) Version(en) mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem/den Kauflink(s) unten für die englische(n) Version(en) folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung(en) in der gewünschten Sprache.
It seemed to take forever but the Happy Hippo Hop pattern is finally ready to be published! It took a bit longer because I decided to make a matching pillow as well for those who don’t want to make a whole hippo quilt. The pillow has a 10″ hippo block while the hippos in the quilt are only 8″ in size. I just love this quilt, the smiling baby hippos are so cute, and they make me laugh every time I see them.
I wanted to incorporate the major elements of the quilt when I drafted the pillow design and put the colourful Flying Geese into the border. The hearts were separated and form the cornerstones.
Die Anleitung für den Happy Hippo Hop Quilt ist auf deutsch nicht verfügbar. Für die deutsche Version des Kissens mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem Kauflink unten für die englische Version folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung in der gewünschten Sprache.
Last weekend was a long weekend, with Monday being Thanksgiving in Canada, and I managed to sneak my Penguin Promenade top into the quilting queue. I didn’t really know how I wanted to quilt it, just had a vague idea of maybe some snowflakes. I should know better by now, I never just do “some” snowflakes… of course it took much longer than expected but I am really happy with the result. Here is a little sneak peek of my quilted penguins. Happy Friday, everyone, and have a good weekend!
Now this was a really fun quilt to quilt. Sharon made it as a decoration for her sewing room wall, and it has everything from traditional pieced blocks to appliqué, from hand embroidery with crayon tinting to button embellishments. She asked for custom quilting to enhance the different parts of the quilt, and I think you can tell how much fun I had with it.
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: October is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.
Für die deutsche(n) Version(en) mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem/den Kauflink(s) unten für die englische(n) Version(en) folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung(en) in der gewünschten Sprache.
“Where We Love Is Home” is a pattern by Australian designer Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched. Cynthia put a lot of work into this quilt, she did all the appliqué and embroidery by hand, and there are lots of tiny pieces. This is truly a labour of love, and Cynthia did an awesome job putting it all together.
Lynnette found herself with extra time on her hands because of the pandemic and decided to give quilting a try. She made this cute baby elephant quilt in bright colours as a gift for a baby in the family. I kept the quilting simple, it gets lost in the busy fabrics anyway, and free-motion stitched flowers and loops around the appliqué. Lynnette did a fabulous job, I hope we will get to see more of her work in the future.
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: September is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase if you missed the free download.
Für die deutsche(n) Version(en) mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem/den Kauflink(s) unten für die englische(n) Version(en) folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung(en) in der gewünschten Sprache.
Isn’t this the cutest little bunny quilt that Brenda made? The finished quilt will have embroidered bunny faces and buttons sewn on for eyes and also the flower centres. Since embellishments can only put on after quilting, you will have to imagine these details. I love how some of the appliqué extends into the outer border. The quilting doesn’t show very much on the darker fabrics, I mostly tried to add some texture, and I even free-motioned some carrots in the background. It was a really fun project to work on.
