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.
Want to learn how to make a quilt with an easy online workshop – totally free?
Sign up for Let’s Make a Quilt here. You’ll learn how to get started, the tools and supplies you’ll need, and how to make a quilt from start to finish using Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive.
It’s the easiest, most fun way to make an applique quilt. You can do it!
Every year (almost) I release a free holiday applique pattern.
What to do this year?
Here are the links to the patterns from previous years.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with Mix & Match patterns lately, so I decided to make a gingerbread cookie with lots of parts for you to play with!
Here’s a quick intro. . .
Now let’s jump right to the instructions!
These instructions assume you’re already familiar with the applique method I use – Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive.
If you’re new to my patterns, there’s a detailed video workshop here that takes you step by step through the methods I use. It’s totally free, and you can work your way through the lessons using any pattern you like, including this gingerbread pattern!
If you’e using an electric cutting machine like a Cricut. . .
Upload the file to your machine.
Resize if needed. (To fit a block that finishes at 10 inches square, the image should be 15 inches wide.)
Ungroup the pieces and assign colors
Cut.
Step 2
Trace or print the pattern onto the paper side of the fusible adhesive.
I use Heat & Bond Lite for all my quilts, and I love these printable sheets because I’m lazy and hate to trace. 🙂
The image has already been reversed, so just trace or print. If you’re tracing, be sure to trace the eyes and (optional) eyelashes too. You’ll need those for Step 5.
Step 3
Roughly cut around each shape and fuse it to the back of your fabric.
Here’s a video showing those first two steps. . .
Step 4
Cut around each piece neatly.
This time you’re cutting directly on the solid lines.
This video has more info about that step.
Step 5
Remember back in Step 2 when I told you to make sure you traced the eyes and eyelashes? Now you’re going to use that. Hold the face up to a window so the light shines through it. You’ll be able to see all the dotted lines, and the adhesive will stabilize the fabric so you can trace on it without it crinkling up.
Trace the lines to show where the eyes go. If your cookie will have eyelashes, trace those too.
Here’s a video with more info about this step.
Step 6
If you’re doing Quilt As You Go (I did) then you can quilt your block before adding the applique. So easy!
Cut your background fabric and a piece of 100% cotton batting 11 inches square.
Layer the block with a piece of 100% cotton batting. Quilt any pattern you like!
Have fun! And share a photo of what you make! You can share it in the Shiny Happy People group or tag it with #shinyhappyworld on Instagram.
If you like this free pattern, sign up for the Shiny Happy News! Subscribers get a weekly newsletter full of sewing tips and tricks, free patterns, special discounts, and other things to make you smile. 🙂
The holiday season always puts me in a gingerbread kind of mood, but I rarely make gingerbread cookies. I usually make this Gingerbread Snacking Cake, but instead of dusting it with powdered sugar I cover it with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting with the zest of an orange mixed in. Orange and ginger are so good together!
Are you hungry yet? 😁
No eating this gingerbread man – but you will be able to decorate him! Or her. 🙂 There’s a free pattern coming soon and it will include a few different mouth options, hair, and even a version with a bite taken out. Stay tuned! I expect to have the pattern ready before the end of the week.
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the December calendar, in case you want to keep that sweet face (see what I did there?) 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 Tom the Turkey.
I’ve had a bunch of requests from folks for a turkey block to add to the Woodland Critters quilt. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, now seemed like the perfect time!
I love turkeys. We used to see them in our yard all the time when we lived in a little more rural area in the mountains. And when we didn’t see them, we heard them! Their call is very distinctive.
But my favorite turkey memory is one morning when I was driving my daughter to a class at Penland School of Crafts – just a few miles from our house. I don’t remember how old Jo was, but she was still in a car seat or booster seat – so young. We came around a bend and the road was absolutely FULL of turkeys. I counted over eighty of them! There were a lot of adult turkeys, but also a ton of baby turkeys, and they were all running back and forth, bumping into each other as they scrambled to move off the road. Jo sat in the back just howling with laughter, calling, “So many turkeys, Mommy!” It was just an absolute delight to see all those clumsy birds. 🙂
The cooler temperatures of fall always make me want to hibernate, so our wallpaper this month is a happy bear ready for his winter nap.
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the November calendar, in case you want to keep that sweet face on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
If you have the Mix & Match Monsters applique quilt pattern, you may have wondered about a mysterious dotted line that runs through some of the pattern pieces.
Wonder no more!
In this video I show you how you can use that line to give your monsters underbites and overbites and add teeth and tongues.
Here are a bunch of the samples you see at the end of the video. You can click on the images to see them closer.
It’s my favorite month of the year! I love fall weather, colorful leaves, eating soup, reading in front of a fire – and Halloween!
To celebrate the season, our wallpaper this month is a spooky black cat.
Want to make your own? There’s a free applique pattern here!
Download your wallpaper below. There are options both with and without the October calendar, in case you want to keep that kitty on your screens during other months of the year. 🙂
