Happy April! Here’s your new monthly background image for phones and other devices!
We had a super warm March – and last night a cold front blew in. My bird bath was frozen this morning! I guess Mother Nature is sending us an April Fools joke. 😁
I chose a giraffe this month for no reason except that I think she’s super cute. And I was in the mood for fanciful colors, so she’s a green giraffe.
Download your background image for phones, tablets or computers below. You can get it both with and without the April calendar, in case you want to keep that sweet giraffe on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
Yep, the 15th of the month means it’s pattern release day in the Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club!
The new pattern this month is a bunny.
But not just any bunny.
See those four bunnies? They were all made with the same pattern pieces!
The pattern includes one head, one body, one muzzle, and two ears – but it has four different eye/eyebrow sets and four different mouths. By twisting and turning the applique pieces and swapping out the eyebrows and mouth – you can create a kajillion different bunnies.
That’s right – your applique blocks can multiply like rabbits. 🙂
Is March coming in like a lion for you? For me it’s coming in like a bedraggled kitten, with tons of rain. But temperatures are dropping and I’m hoping for a little more snow before spring actually arrives.
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the March calendar, in case you want to keep that groovy lion on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
Here’s a quick peek at my lovebirds coming together.
Lovebirds come in lots of different colors, but I used the same rainbow color scheme for all three of my samples so you could see the difference just the fabric makes.
For the last few years I’ve participated in the 100 Day Project. Last year was the first year I actually finished it. 🙂
The 100 Day project is awesome. Participants decide on any creative activity they want to pursue for 100 days. It can be ANYTHING! A few that I remember off the top of my head are a jeweler who made 100 pairs of earrings, a potter who came up with 100 different handles, a baker who made 100 different pies, and an artist who designed 100 different alphabet fonts – the sky’s the limit!
Last year I designed a different repeat pattern every day – AND I used that pattern to mock-up a new applique design. Here’s just one example.
I hoped to have a fabric collection come out of it, but I got something else instead. SO MANY QUILT BLOCK IDEAS!
I love how it turned out – but it was relatively easy. Just design all the blocks, make a sample, record the video tutorials, and write the pattern!
But one of the ideas that the project sparked last year was a Mix & Match Backyard Birds pattern. As I was drawing some of the birds I see at my feeder, I realized that a lot of the basic parts are pretty much the same. I wondered if I could create some basic templates that could be used to applique just about any of those classic feeder birds. I noodled around with the idea for ten of my hundred days, and it seemed like it would work!
I’ve taken the months since then to draw up a bunch of templates and now I’m finally ready to test them – just in time for a new 100 Day Project!
The new tests won’t be mock-ups. They’re actually appliqued blocks that I’ll be able to join into a quilt. So exciting!
Here’s Day 1 – a black-capped chickadee, one of my favorite birds.
Will I be able to make 100 different recognizable birds using just a few pages of templates? We’re about to find out. 🙂
You can follow along with my progress on Instagram. And the applique pattern will be available at the end of the project – maybe even sooner if the testing goes smoothly and I don’t need to design too many additional templates. 🙂
Want to join in the 100 Day Project? There’s more info here.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so I wanted to do something lovey, but not something too specific to the holiday so it will work all month long. 🙂
Lovebirds!
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the February calendar, in case you want to keep that sweet pair on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
I’m ready to hunker down for the rest of the winter – sewing, stitching, reading and eating.
Basically, I want to be a snow monkey. Enjoying winter and the cold – but staying warm and cozy. 🙂
Dreamy, yes?
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the January calendar, in case you want to keep that silly monkey face on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
I love the 15th! It’s pattern release day in the Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club!
The new pattern this month is Shinji the Snow Monkey.
Snow monkeys (Japanese macaques) are one of my favorite winter animals. They do winter like I’d do winter if I had to live outdoors – they soak in natural hot springs!
In real life these monkeys look pretty grumpy – even when they’re soaking. I had to change things in my design a little bit – giving them a blissful hot water smile. 🙂
Here’s a quick peek at my snow monkey coming together.
I ended up making monkeys in three different colors. There’s the grey one (the most realistic) you see at the top of the post. Then there’s the silly green one you see in the video and here. . .
And I also made a purple monkey – just for a little extra fun.
