New! Wading Birds! A Four-in-One Pattern 🦩
Plus - Beautiful Adaptations of the Silly Sloths and One Topsy Turvy Hedgehog
Hello, friends!
There’s a new pattern in the shop!
The head and neck are the same, but the pattern includes an assortment of beaks that you can use to make lots of different wading birds.
Did you know?????
Humans have seven neck vertebrae. So do giraffes! Giraffe vertebrae are just way longer than ours.
But flamingos have 19 neck vertebrae!!!! That’s what allows them to do that snaky neck thing they do. Cranes, herons, and ibis also have anywhere from 16-21, so they have similar flexibility.
These are just some of the fun facts I learn from volunteering at the zoo. 🥰 Both the giraffes and the flamingos are in my “territory.”
Anyway. . . new birds!
This gets me one step closer to the new Pond Life bundle. 🎉 I’m working on updating the Dragonfly and Snail patterns this week and I hope to have them done by next Monday.
Get the new Wading Birds pattern here. That link will take you to the Hank Heron listing, but they’re all the same pattern. I just list it under each bird to make it easier to find. 🔎 🙂
It’s been a sloth week in the Shiny Happy People group!
Look at the pretty sofa quilt that Becki made for her daughter! She used the Silly Sloths pattern and a lovely palette that matches her daughter’s home.
Click here for another fabulous sloth quilt! I’m sorry I don’t have a photo for this one, but all the photos include the teenager who made the quilt for a sloth-loving best friend. I don’t share photos of people without permission and I forgot to ask in time. 🙁 But I definitely want you all to see it! There is such joy in this post!
Finally, look at the clever thing Deirdre did with the Heidi Hedgehog pattern in this beautiful quilt she made for her granddaughter!
She did the same topsy turvy tumbling I did with the Silly Sloths pattern!
You can do this with any single block pattern and simple grid layout - just turn the blocks every which way and you add even more fun and playfulness to the design! (I also love the cheerful monochromatic palette she used!)
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!
Thanks so much for reading! Have a fabulous week!
Happy stitching!
Best,
Wendi
🥰
P.S. - I tried the Barefoot Contessa Peach Pie recipe this weekend with some peaches I got at the farmers market and it was delicious! I loved the flavor of the old recipe I was using, but it used cornstarch as a thickener. That can be unreliable if you’re not pre-cooking the filling so I sometimes ended up with watery pie. 🙁 I don’t like pre-cooking peach pie filling - the peaches can lose their fresh flavor - but this recipe pre-cooks just one of the peaches. That makes it a little fussy, but I thought it was worth it. Perfectly thickened filling, but not overcooked peaches. Yum! I also threw in a handful of raspberries, just because I had them. 🥰
...have you ever used tapioca starch/flour to thicken fruit pies? It's an old Off-Script With Sohla trick - https://food52.com/story/26328-off-script-fruit-crumble-guide - you don't have to pre-cook, the gel around the fruit stays clear, instead of cloudy as it often is with cornstarch/cornflour, and it gels at a much lower temperature than, allowing you to not overcook the fruit - which I also hate to do. We have raspberries and mulberries this year, and I'm going to attempt to "pie" those, if I ever get more than a handful.