A New Partner! A New Bundle! A Bunch of New Patterns!
Plus - free wallpaper for April
Hello, friends!
Those of you who’ve been with me for a while probably remember my daughter, Jo.
When she was nine years old she made the samples for every one of the stuffed animals in my book Creature Camp. Click through to that post to see her sewing journey - starting at age four.
When she was eleven she made this awesome video teaching kids how to use a sewing machine - a video I still refer people to.
When she was in high school she helped me develop the Mix & Match Monsters crochet pattern. She also made all the samples you see on the cover, and taught a class based on the pattern to a group of middle schoolers.
Well, she’s not a kid anymore! She’s graduated from college and she’s pursuing a writing career - and she’s also my new partner here at Shiny Happy World! She’s joining both sides of the family business!
She’ll mostly be handling a lot of stuff behind the scenes, but she may make an occasional appearance in the newsletter. In addition to sewing, embroidery, and crochet, she’s also a master knitter, a sewer of clothing (which is a whole different thing from sewing stuffed animals), and an excellent wardrobe refashioner.
Welcome, Jo!
Happy April!
There are new free downloads of wallpaper for all your devices - this month with a handsome rooster! 🐓
As always, you can get your wallpaper wide or tall (to fit different devices) and with or without the April calendar.
Get the free downloads here.
And get printable chickens (to frame or to make greeting cards, stickers, and more) here.
But wait! There’s more!
As I mentioned back in February, learning (the hard way) about copyright law has changed the way I’m releasing my patterns. Now we’re starting to see the results of that change! Namely - a whole slew of new patterns at one time!
I updated the Taylor Turtle pattern - now with SVG files and an option for heart spots instead of simple ovals.
With the release of Taylor - there’s a new discounted bundle available!
You can see the heart-spots option on the turtle in that bundle image. 🙂
🎉 🎉 🎉 Paid subscribers! Keep reading past my signature! You can enter a drawing to win all the sample blocks I stitched up for this bundle - plus three bonus pets in the same color palette. 🎉 🎉 🎉
These bundles are a terrific deal and I’ll be doing a lot more of them. Next up will be a Farm Animals bundle and a new Arctic Animals bundle. Neither of them is quite ready yet, but some of the individual farm animals are finished.
For the first time ever, the chicken pattern from the Noisy Farm quilt is available as a stand-alone block. While I was at it, I updated it with SVG files, and added templates for both a hen and a rooster.
While I was in barnyard birds mode, I also added a solo pattern for a duck/goose. (There’s an extra template for a little cheek patch you can add to make it a Canada goose. You can click through to the pattern to see what that looks like.)
I updated the Gracie Goat pattern to add optional eyelashes, a beard, and a cute little tuft of hair for the top of her head.
If you’re interested in a bunch of farm animals, DO NOT BUY THESE PATTERNS YET. There will be a heavily discounted bundle available in May or June (depending on how the timing of my copyright registrations works out).
Finally, I updated the Russell Rat pattern.
Now it has optional eyelashes, SVG files for use with cutting machines, a video showing assembly using a light box, AND additional pattern pages showing a bunch of different layout options, fun extra ways you can play with your pattern, and free patterns for non-quilt things you can make with your applique.
Whew! That’s a lot! Have fun with them!
Here’s a dose of awesomeness from the Shiny Happy People group!
Look at this fabulous quilt that Zoe made to raise money for the National MS Society! She used the Scary Squares pattern and some terrific fabrics for the non-applique blocks. I especially love how she laid the blocks out and made the monsters look at each other! This kind of perfectly-balanced irregular layout is very hard to do - and she did it beautifully!
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 - and there have been so many awesome projects shared recently that I made them the focus of this Five Happy Things post.
Here’s what I’m working on right now. . .
Farm Animals Bundle - I’m just waiting to wrap up two more animals - a sheep and a llama/alpaca. I’ve got samples made, and the patterns written. I’m just waiting for enough finished new blocks to be able to do a copyright registration.
Lunar Zodiac Bundle - I just need the sheep for this one, delayed for the same reason as above. I’ve made my samples and written the pattern and it’s SUPER CUTE! I can’t wait to show you! 🥰
Arctic Animals Bundle #1 - Canada Goose, Otter, Muskox, Ermine, Fox, and Rabbit (Arctic Hare) are finished! Puffin, Seal/Sea Lion, and Orca are next in line for updates/solo patterns. Bryce Bear will be included in the bundle as a polar bear, but I need to make a new sample that includes a baby. 🥰
Bodies/Clothes for existing animal head patterns - still sketching and testing
Side gig - I told you last week I wrote a book! Status - still waiting to hear back from an agent. (Where’s my patience emoji? While I wait, I’m starting to plan my next book, but it’s still very early stages.)
And here’s what Jo’s working on right now. . .
Tedious computer work - Going through ALL my patterns to make sure they’re all listed on Etsy. This is such a huge job, and I’m so grateful she’s doing it!
Sample Making - Quilting an enormous stack of background blocks.
Knitting - The August sock design from the Colorwork Cuff Club by Summer Lee.
Writing - A horror novel for kids ages 8-12.
Thanks so much for reading - and I hope you have a fabulous week!
Happy stitching!
Best,
Wendi
🥰