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. 🙂
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. 🙂
Heat & Bond Lite (the printable sheets of fusible adhesive I use for all my quilts)
For permanent lines (lines to stitch and placement markings for solid black applique pieces) I use a fine-tip black Sharpie
For erasable lines I use either tailor’s chalk (for dark and medium fabrics) or pencil (for light fabrics). A white artist’s eraser will erase both chalk and pencil.
It’s the 15th! That means it’s New Pattern Day in the Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club!
Meet Troy the tree frog! I love this guy!
There’s already a frog pattern at Shiny Happy World, but he’s more of a pond frog with a long, sticky tongue. Troy has awesome sticky tree frog toes. 🙂
Here’s how to make him. . .
See how easy that is?
That’s a LONG video, so I’ve broken it up with a couple of time references here. . .
Building the background block – start at the beginning
Cutting and Marking the Applique Pieces – start at 4:37
Layering the Applique Pieces – start at 14:37
Outlining the Applique – start at 18:35
If you want just a very quick look at me layering the pieces together with no explanation, here’s a video for that.
Let’s Make a Quilt – free workshop teaching applique with fusible adhesive and Quilt As You Go
Troy the Tree Frog’s pattern isn’t exclusive to the club anymore – you can get it here.
If you want to join the Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club to get immediate access to the new monthly patterns, you can use this link to join.
Special note – this is the first Funny Faces pattern to include an SVG file for use with cutting machines! That’s going to be standard in all patterns from now on.
The Mama and Baby Polar Bear were a VERY close second, so we’ll probably see a pattern for them soon as well. 🙂
Want to see how to assemble Mo?
I had the chance to try out some of my new fabric palettes with my Mo Muskox sample blocks! I talk about them all in more detail at the end of the video, but here are some still photos and handy links.
As soon as I have three blocks in each new colorway combination I’ll be sharing those so you’ll have a better feel for how entire quilts made with these bundles will look. 🙂
And now one extra special bonus! For those who don’t quilt, you can still get a muskox! Mo is now available as a printed panel, perfect for making pillows and other projects.
These are out of stock right now – but there are more on order and should be here soon. 🙂 There’s more info here.
