After receiving pictures of the current blocks last week I realized that I never posted the pictures of blocks 7, 8 & 9 that both ladies sent me. Here are Elaine’s blocks:
And here are Sigrid’s, she still comes up with a custom background for her monkeys every month:
Once again, thank you to both of you for sending me your pictures every month, I really enjoy them!
Sharon is a fairly new quilter, and her progress is enjoyable to watch. She is not afraid to try new things and knows what she likes. Not many beginners would confidently have chosen a bold and bright colour combination for their first projects but Sharon picked red and black for her sampler quilt, and look how fabulous it turned out! Going with the red/heart theme, she chose the design “P.S. I Love You” to finish her quilt.
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. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for 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.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
Isn’t this one of the cutest quilts ever? Brenda isn’t just a fantastic quilter, she also has a talent for finding the most charming patterns. This one is an Amy Bradley design, and there is so much going on! The birds and butterflies, the flowers and gardening tools, those adorable polka dot gumboots! I think you can tell how thrilled I was when I got to custom quilt this beauty. This is one of my favourite quilts ever. Be sure to click on the gallery pictures below for a better view.
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: 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. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for 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.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
These cute quilts were made by friends Dorothy and Gerry. They purchased the patterns together some time ago and finished their quilts almost at the same time. Dorothy’s version came to me first, and I was delighted that she chose the design “Wedding Vine” for her quilt, it works so well with the appliqued leaves. Gerry agreed, and when her quilt was ready we didn’t have to think twice which panto to use. These quilts are just too cute!
Every time I think I am mostly back on track, life throws me another curve ball. I am struggling with health issues right now, and I completely forgot to schedule today’s BOM post. Luckily the blocks are all sewn, and the patterns are all written, so there won’t be much of a delay, now that I finally realized that today is September 1.
This month, we are going back to the beach where our little monkey has built a wonderful sand castle, decorated with shells and a little flag. As always, the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern 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. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for 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.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
It’s August already, and nothing is back to normal in my life but I am trying to reclaim things step by step. I have started to post again, hoping I can keep it up. I certainly have a ton of quilts to show! My garden is doing well although we are having a very hot and dry summer. Lots of watering required, next year I am planning on having more soaker hoses. It takes up a lot of time to water everything by hand. But the biggest news is that we have adopted two quilt inspectors for quality control 😉 We actually got them in mid-June when they were just three months old, and they are making such a difference in our life. We had cats in Germany and have always wanted to adopt some in Canada, and we felt we needed some emotional support and were lucky to be able to adopt these two cuties. Their names are Lexi and Lucy, and they are full of energy and mischief, always ready to get into trouble.
Our Monkey friend has cut up a delicious watermelon this month and is offering slices for refreshment in the summer heat. Funny, I just realized that I don’t have watermelons in my garden, I should write them on next year’s list. The watermelon seeds are quite small. I appliqued them all but although I don’t mind small pieces, that was not a fun endeavour, so I changed them to embroidery for the pattern. Or you could sew on small black beads. I did that for a watermelon block some years ago, and it looked pretty neat. The August block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move over to the pattern store when the next block is released.
EDIT: August is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase if you missed the free download. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for 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.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
I am going to make an effort to return to a more normal posting schedule. First up is another round of Show & Tell. Elaine has been busy making more Monkey blocks, here are her April, May and June blocks.
Sigrid has been busy as well, and I really enjoy the different custom backgrounds she creates for her Monkeys. Here are the next three blocks she stitched.
Thank you to both ladies for faithfully sending me a picture every month. I very much enjoy seeing what others make with my designs.
Happy Canada Day! As you can probably tell by the silence on my blog, my life is still very much in disarray. I am hoping to return to some kind of normal during July, but it might take until August to sort everything out. In addition to the emotional upset we spent the last few days under the heat dome in the Pacific Northwest, and no, we don’t have air conditioning. It was no fun but the worst seems to be over, and I managed to keep my vegetables well watered, and they all seem to be doing quite well. The spinach and corn salad bolted before the extreme heat, I had a great broccoli and cauliflower harvest, and the beans, cucumbers and squash seemed to love the weather. I am grateful every day that I continued with my vegetable garden experiment this year, it really helps me keep my sanity.
This month’s monkey is going on safari. This was the block that my husband thought was the most hilarious… a monkey in full safari outfit. But hey, he wants to see the animals too, right?? Coming up with ideas for twelve different blocks is not always easy, and sometimes I just start drawing and it takes me in a direction that I hadn’t really planned. I think for this block I was more thinking of a monkey going on a hike but when his hat ended up looking like a pith helmet I thought it was funny and went with it. As always, the safari monkey block will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store in August when the next block is released.
EDIT: July is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase if you missed the free download. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for 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.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
