The heart and soul of Shiny Happy World is in the archives. There are hundreds of free patterns and tutorials and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the information. Every Friday I share just a manageable sliver – a peek at what was happening during the same week of every year since the start of Shiny Happy World. This is Week 43.
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Click on the images to go to the posts.
2011
One of my very first embroidery patterns! Super simple, only the most basic stitches – and the pattern actually includes six dogs.
2012
Instructions for a peg leg and eye patch to add to Nelson Owl to turn him into a pirate. Fun!
2013
Make Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. (one of my favorite movies!) with this free pattern.
2014
Most of my animal applique patterns have simple black eyes. There are ways to make black eyes show up on a dark face, but for this free pattern I wanted to make the eyes more of a feature than usual. I love how it turned out!
2015
This is – by a HUGE margin – the single most common question I get. Most fusible applique is done with satin stitching around all the pieces, and everyone is worried that the edges will fray like crazy or the pieces will come loose with the simple straight stitching I use. To answer the question I show one of my daughter’s quilts after almost two years of constant use and countless trips through the washer and dryer.
2016
It really is everything you need to know – what kind of felt I like to use, how to transfer patterns and markings, how to sew pieces together, and free patterns to give it a try. I adore working with felt.
2017
I designed this free tote bag pattern to be super easy to make, and to be able to embellish it with any of my square applique patterns with no resizing needed. It’s also the perfect size for trick-or-treating! Make a themed bag to match your child’s costume – the post has loads of suggestions.
2018
Fall is the perfect time for making cuddly rag quilts out of flannel. In this post I show you how you can do that with any of my applique patterns!
2019
For years I closed up amigurumi by slipstitching across the opening. That’s the instructions you’ll see in almost all my patterns. But in 2019 I decided there must be a better way – something that would leave a more consistently smooth, rounded top. I played around until I came up with this easy solution.
2020
In my Mix & Match Monsters applique pattern, some of the monsters have a mysterious dotted line that runs through their bodies. In this video I show how to use that line to create monsters with fun underbites!
2021
All the animals in the Arctic Chill applique pattern came from drawings I originally did as part of a 100 Day Project. In 2021 I put those drawings together to create this fun cheater quilt fabric.
2022
I drew three chickens in the style of my Silly Chickens applique pattern and made a printable out of them. You can use it to make greeting cards, framed art, and all kinds of other projects.
2023
A cute collection of holiday fabric that coordinates with all my free Christmas applique patterns!
2024
I decided the Farmers Market color collection needed blenders in two new hues – a purply beet red and a slightly blueish spinach green. Just showing the beets here because they’re my favorite!
