Springtime on the farm means babies!

This spring I'm launching two new placemat patterns, Baby Jersey and Little Piglet. Aren't they adorable? I'm sure your child or grandchild would love one of these to make mealtime fun. These placemats are easy to make using fusible appliqué and simple straight line quilting.

     

 

Holiday Magic Wall Quilt Pattern

Talk about getting a pattern project finished under the wire. I really wanted to have the pattern launch done for my Holiday Magic wall quilt long before Christmas, but Christmas preparations and our new puppy took up most of my time. I love, love, love this pattern and I think you will too. It's made up of simple foundation piecing and fusible web applique. I think it would be stunning in any Christmas fabric. Anyone with basic applique and foundation piecing skills will have no trouble doing this up quickly.

We had our own special "holiday magic" this Christmas. Here is our little Pomeranian-cross puppy, Teddy. We adopted him a few weeks ago, and he's settling in quite well although Sophie can be a little impatient with him.

Our new puppy Teddy

Teddy in his favourite hiding place under the coffee table.

Halloween Witchy Boots

Halloween is almost here again. This is my favourite time of year. Costume parties, treats, tricks, and spooky stuff; I love it all. Today I'm launching my new Halloween pattern Witchy Boots for 2017. This mini quilt is a simple applique pattern that's perfect for a confident beginner. The finished size is 13" x 15" (32.5cm x 37.5cm).

The pattern was inspired by the image from the Wizard of Oz (1939) of the Wicked Witch of the East's boots after Dorothy's house crushes her. Dorothy had a whole mess of problems after that. My version looks the Wicked Witch of the East was stuffed in a trash can, but you get the idea. 

Little Puppy Placemat

Last week I launched my cute Kitty Cat placemat pattern. This week I'm introducing its partner, my new Little Puppy placemat. Both placemats are great for kids or grand-kids, but could also be used as hot pads in the kitchen. They are simple to make with basic fusible appliquè. This pattern is perfect for the confident beginner who wants to learn bias binding and fusible appliquè.

Kitty Cat quilted placemat

My favourite cat is the orange tabby. I had an orange tabby when I was young. Her name was Abby; Abby the tabby! I loved her, and it broke my heart when she didn't come home one day. Later in life, I developed an allergy to cats, but I still love them to pieces. I designed this cute Kitty Kat placemat pattern for a child, but a real cat lover could also use it in the kitchen as a hot pad.

A Taste of Honey Placemat Pattern: Honouring our precious pollinators

Who doesn't love the sweet taste of honey? These stylish and modern hexagon placemats showcase the Bee Creative and Bee Inspired fabric collections by Deb Strain. But no matter what colours you use, these placemats are sure to make a statement.

I love the quilting on the back. It reminds me of sacred geometry.

OUR HONEY BEES ARE IN DANGER!

After being here for thousands of years, their population is declining and one species of bee is on the endangered list. It’s scary to imagine what would happen if all our honey bees were gone. Most of our non-grain foods are dependent on honey bee pollination. There are 90 different food plants that depend almost exclusively on the honey bee. When my husband and I heard several years ago that the bee population was declining, we planted more flowers and plants that would attract and feed them. Also, we use only non-toxic, natural pesticides.

Photo by Monica curry

Here are five things you can do in your garden to help the bees:

• Plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering plants in your garden and yard.
• Honey bees love weeds, i.e. clover, dandelions, so leave a few in your yard.
• Don't use chemicals and pesticides to treat your lawn or garden.
• Buy local, raw honey.
• Bees are thirsty; leave a tray of stones and water to give them a place to drink.

Here are three good websites with information about honey bees and honey bee populations:

http://www.panna.org/our-campaigns/save-our-bees
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-lists-a-bumble-bee-species-as-endangered-for-first-time/
http://foecanada.org/en/

TULIP BASKET Mini Quilt

I'm excited to be introducing my newest mini quilt pattern Tulip Basket just in time for spring. The basket is two paper pieced log cabins, and the simple tulips are done in hand-stitched appliqué. It measures 19" x 18" (47.5cm x 45cm). This mini quilt uses a soft taupe colour palette inspired by the beautiful quilts by Japanese quilt artist Yoko Saito.

I think the rich tones of the tulips are stunning against the quiet neutrals. If you have basic appliqué and paper piecing skills, you can make this cheery spring project in no time at all. Hand stitched appliqué or fusible appliqué are both suitable for this project.

Kandinsky Revisited: Inspiration for a new art quilt

When I was an art student, I became fascinated by the art of Wassily Kandinsky. I loved his playfulness with shapes and colour. I also saw that his style would translate very well into quilt applique and created this art quilt below.

Mystic Bird Art Quilt by Monica Curry 

Untitled (Kandinsky Inspired) by Monica Curry

I've recently been wanting to try something different, so I thought I'd revisit my Kandinsky phase; I'm glad I did. Recently, I found other quilts inspired by Kandinsky and discovered Kandinsky quilts are quite a thing in the quilting world.

Below are a few examples of the Kandinsky quilts I found recently. You can see that Kandinsky's art translates extremely well into art quilts. If you want some inspiration for your own Kandinsky quilt, check out wassily kandinsky.net where you'll find a catalogue of Kandinsky's artwork.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Patricia Bravo - My Vision of Kandinsky

The Vision of Kandinsky quilt pattern is one of three patterns by quilter and fabric designer Patricia Bravo. Update: July 07, 2021. The Kandinsky patterns by Patricia Bravo are no longer available.

Lolly Quilts

Check out these gorgeous Kandinsky quilts at the Lollyquiltzs Kandinsky Challenge.

Carol J. Floyd - Kandinsky and Me

Kandinsky and Me. This is an award winning Kandinsky quilt from the 2010 American Quilt Society Quilt Show & Contest in Des Moines, Iowa.

Don't Call Me Becky

Inspired by the Kandinsky classic, Color Study, Squares with Concentric Circles. This quilt was created by Rebekah at Don't Call Me Becky.

Daniela Schupp - Kandinsky Goes to the Bahamas 

Kandinsky Goes to the Bahamas by Daniela Schupp for the Art Quilt Association Inspired by the Masters Show

NEW PATTERN! Sweet Hearts Placemats for that romantic dinner for two

Are you planning a romantic dinner at home this Valentine's Day? Why not make you and your sweetie these cute quilted placemats for that special night? You'll need five Fat Quarters to make two placemats. Fusible appliqué makes this project simple and quick.

I'm so glad to have this pattern complete for Valentine's Day. I think these are adorable. They would add a nice personal touch to a romantic dinner at home. Also, this is such an easy pattern to make. Just fuse the pieces together, quilt, bind and you're done.

I like how the little heart gives you a faux reverse appliqué look.

Easter Egg Table Topper

Get hopping and cheer up your table this Easter with this sweet Easter Egg table runner. My cheery table runner pattern is ready just in time for Easter. I love the Easter colours. They remind me that spring is finally around the corner. This table runner/topper measures 22" x 16" (55cm x 40cm) and could also be used as a placemat or a cute wall hanging. The kids are sure to love it.

Picasso inspired art quilts

The Psychic by Monica Curry

The Dream Diary by Monica Curry