A New Llama (and Alpaca!) Pattern! A New Farm Animals Bundle!
Plus - free wallpaper for June
Hello, friends!
I have more finished patterns for you this week - and I can’t wait to see what you make with them!
But first…
Happy June!
A new month means a new free wallpaper for your devices!
This month I made a cut-paper version of the brand-new Sherry Sheep pattern!
As always, you can get your wallpaper wide or tall (to fit different devices) and with or without the June calendar.
Get the free downloads here.
And get a printable sheep (to frame or to make greeting cards, stickers, and more) here.
For those who love sheep but prefer to work with yarn, don’t forget about the Sheila Sheep pattern.
She’s one of my favorites! I just love her fluffy body, made with my no-tears, no-swearing method of working with eyelash yarn. 🥰
Now that the sheep pattern is finished, there’s just one more animal needed for the new Farm Animals bundle.
Liz is a shaggy-coated llama, but llamas also come with smooth coats, so I included the pieces you need for that, too.
You can choose between open and closed eyes, too. And you can also choose to make…
These are all in the same pattern. I just list it both ways so you can find it no matter which animal you’re looking for. 🙂
When I was doing my research, I learned that the main difference between llamas and alpacas is their ears. Llamas have big, banana-shaped ears and alpacas have dainty little kitten-like ears. So the ears are key. Beyond that - go wild!
Most llamas have straight hair and most alpacas have curly hair, but that’s not a hard and fast rule, just like the variation between smooth and shaggy-coated llamas, so feel free to mix and match all the pieces as needed to make the camelids you want to see in the world. 🥰
Now that the Llama/Alpaca Pattern is finished, here’s the new Farm Animals Bundle!
When you purchase the bundle, you get all ten individual patterns.
But how do you put them together into a quilt?
I’ve added three new pages of links to all my individual block patterns.
One page has links to tutorials for extra fun ways to play with your applique.
Want to use faux fur for the tufts of hair on the goat and llama heads? There’s a link to a tutorial showing how.
Want to use lambswool fleece for your sheep? There’s a link to a tutorial showing how.
Want to give your pig satiny 3D ears? There’s a link to a tutorial showing how.
One page has links to a bunch of layout guides, where I did all the math needed for six different sizes of each layout.
Want to make a simple grid? I did all the math.
Want to add sashing? I did all the math.
Want to grab the free letters and numbers pattern and add half blocks with fun animal sounds? I did all the math.
There’s also a page with links to free patterns for things besides quilts that you can make with your patterns.
Each individual pattern becomes its own little workshop, with tons of ways you can play with your blocks and assemble them into any kind of quilt you can imagine.
I want you to have SO MUCH FUN with them, and I can’t wait to see what you make!
Speaking of seeing what you make. . . here’s a triple dose of awesomeness from the Shiny Happy People group!
Look at this fabulous quilt that Lanny made for her new grandson! She used the ABC layout without the borders and it looks super! The animals are all adorable, and I love the way she used the corners!
Linda also made a spectacular quilt with the ABC layout - but she added some extras to hers! She got a friend to use an embroidery machine to stitch the letters on white fabric, then cut out little speech bubbles around them for all the animals to say their letters. What a cute idea! I also love the addition of music notes and the ABC song. 🥰
Kathy made a beautiful pair of quilts for her twin great nieces! I’m only showing one here - you’ll need to click through to see the other! She started with the Woodland Critters pattern, but only used the bunny and the raccoon blocks, along with the trees and mushrooms. She added some flowers from the Wild Flowers pattern, and some bows from the Fancy Doodads, broke up the basic grid with added half-blocks, and used the free ABC pattern to add their names. Just lovely!
I know I sound like a broken record, but nothing makes me happier than seeing how you all adapt and play with my designs. I build them with that in mind, but you take them in directions I never imagined - whether it’s in the colors and fabrics you choose, the unexpected ways you combine blocks from different patterns, or the fun details you add. It just makes me so happy to see them!
Head over to the Shiny Happy People group on Facebook to see lots more wonderfulness people are making with my patterns—and to ask questions and share photos of your own projects. It’s my favorite place on the internet!
Here’s what I’m working on right now. . .
New Blocks - you’ll see a lot of these pop up in the shop this month
mosquito - so many requests for this and I love his sketch! I designed two faces: silly and angry. You’ll get both options! I still need to record a tutorial showing how to give him creepy, dangling legs. 😂
toucan - for a Rainforest bundle
capybara - almost unbearably cute! Also for the Rainforest bundle
a simple bird - in two sizes! The large version fills a block, and the tiny version is small enough to sit on the capybara’s head. 🥰
macaw - four different kinds, also for the Rainforest bundle
anteater - also for the Rainforest bundle (see a theme here?)
heron/crane/flamingo - for a Pond bundle and also a second Safari bundle
rhino - a complete redesign with options for one or two horns
moose - a slightly more realistic version for a National Parks bundle - still working on this design and thinking about adding an option for extra-wide antlers that will bust into neighboring blocks. And maybe a caribou option too? Same face but different horns, with an extra tall version of the caribou horns. Still noodling. . .
Updated Blocks - all to finish up the new Arctic Animals Bundle #1 or the new Rainforest Bundle
puffin
seal/sea lion
orca
snail
sloth
tree frog
Bodies/Clothes for existing animal head patterns - still sketching and testing. I know this is taking forever, but getting a pattern like this just right is hard. I want it to be perfect and work with as many blocks as possible! Now that I’m done with a big batch of patterns I want to give this more of my time.
Updating the Chirp applique pattern
Side gig - I told you a couple of months ago that I wrote a book! Status - still waiting to hear back from an agent. ⏳ In the meantime, I’ve been working on some fun ideas for a new book.
And here’s what Jo’s working on right now. . .
Tedious computer work - ALL of my quilt patterns are now (finally) listed on Etsy - for those who prefer to shop there. Next Jo will be tackling all the Printables.
Sample Making - She’s still quilting an enormous stack of background blocks. I mean ENORMOUS! She’s prepping hundreds of blocks so I can be faster with my sample-making!
Other People’s Patterns
Jo bought a very cool collection of knitting patterns called the Colorwork Cuff Club where you get a basic sock pattern, and then every month a new pattern for just the cuff. Brilliant! She posted about the August pattern here, and she’s cast on for the September pattern already.
a very cool felt goat, modified to match the goat from the movie The Witch (See the finished goat and all Jo’s mods here - she added rhinestone eyes!)
more knitting - she started making this gorgeous sweater for me!
Writing - A horror novel for kids ages 8-12. She finished writing her first draft and is working on revising it.
Thanks so much for reading - and I hope you have a fabulous week!
Happy stitching!
Best,
Wendi
🥰
PS - Special 50% off discount code for paid subscribers is below! Also - a chance to win all my sample blocks for the new Farm Animals bundle, plus three bonus blocks.