Darius is the new Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club pattern – just released today! (Darius means “maintains possessions well” which I think is the perfect name for a dragon.)
If you’re not in the club, click here to join. You’ll get instant access to the Darius pattern, plus all the other lessons and patterns in the clubhouse.
Want to see how to assemble that block? It’s easy!
Last week in the comments on one of the Bears in the Hills work-in-progress posts, someone asked if they could see it finished.
How did I never post a photo of the finished piece? That’s crazy!
But it’s true. 😛 I shared it in the newsletter, but I never posted a photo here.
So I’m fixing that now. 🙂
Ta da! The Bears in the Hills are finished! Here they are. . .
Aren’t they cute?
I’m so happy with this project! I loved every bit of the stitching (so many lovely stitching hours on the sofa!) and now it’s framed and hanging in my studio where I see it every day.
Today I’m going to show you how to make your applique bust out of its frame!
It’s so much fun. 🙂
Here’s the video showing how.
See how easy that is? The hardest part is remembering that those loose bits are there so you don’t accidentally iron them somewhere they don’t belong. 🙂
Here are some more examples of critters busting out of their frames. . .
This is so much fun to do! Here are a few more I’m eager to play with – to make busting out versions. . .
I want to put this crocodile on a square background block, letting the extra length of his snout flow into the next block. (He’s one of the blocks from the Safari quilt pattern.)
I want this nosy goose (from the Noisy Farm quilt pattern) to poke her beak into the business of her neighbor’s block.
But my favorite method is actually to add fake WONKY sashing to my blocks. That makes blocks that dance around in your quilt, tipping slightly in different directions. It makes the appliques look like they’re peeking out of slightly Seussian windows. 🙂
It’s really easy to do! Here’s a video showing how. . .
Here are those dimensions. . .
Cut your background blocks 10 1/2 inches square
Cut your batting 13 inches square (you’ll trim it later to 12 1/2 inches square)
Cut your strips for the sashing 2 1/2 inches wide
And here are the rest of the links I promised. . .
Of course – once you make some wonky sashing to frame your applique, your next step will be to sometimes make your applique bust out of its frame – like these silly monsters.
I get a lot of questions about how to stop seeing through fabric applique – especially on my frog and monster patterns that have big googly eyes.
When you use fusible adhesive and layer a light color (like white) over a boldly patterned fabric, the print below can show through.
In this video I show you how to minimize that show-through. It’s really easy!
I rarely use light-colored solids, so this isn’t often an issue for me – but it does come up when I want to make big googly eyes. 🙂
I actually don’t mind seeing through the fabric applique a little bit (it can be kind of cool to be able to see how something is made) so sometimes I’ll use a lighter-weight interfacing like you see me use in the video.
If you want more complete coverage, I recommend this Heat & Bond Medium Weight fusible interfacing. It’s one step thicker than the one I use in the video – still nice and flexible, but with better hiding properties. 🙂
Now that you know how to stop seeing through your fabric applique, want to practice?
You can get that pond frog pattern here, a tree frog here, and there are fun googly-eyed monster patterns here, here, and here.
Here are links to all the posts showing how to applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite method. It’s fast and easy and (with the right materials) it holds up beautifully to rough use and repeated washing.
I was a little stiumped when I started to design this giraffe. How to crochet four legs together?
I really love making amigurumi that stand on two legs. Some of my favorite patterns use this basic shape and it’s really easy to do. Byron Bear here is a good example.
But when I designed this giraffe I wanted him to stand on four legs.
I did some digging online and I found that there are a lot of very different methods out there to do this, but all of them felt a little trickier than I wanted for beginners, so I came up with my own method based on how I like to crochet two legs together. The process is really the same – just with more parts!
Here’s a video showing how. . .
It works really well – and it’s pretty easy! If you can crochet two legs together (as I do in so many of my patterns) you can definitely crochet four legs together for this guy.
Every month (on the 15th) members get a new pattern for a fun applique quilt block.
The blocks are all sized to finish at 10 inches square – so you can join them together into a funny faces quilt, or mix and match them with my other quilt patterns. They’re so much fun to play with!
This is Paxton Penguin – he’s the first block in the club, available to members right now. Isn’t he a cutie?
Here’s another version – in classic black and white.
You don’t have to make a quilt. You’ll also get free patterns for lots of other projects you can make with a single quilt block – pillows, tote bags, receiving blankets. placemats, and more. 🙂
The club includes complete video instructions for Quilt as You Go and applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite way to make quilts.
As long as your membership is active, you’ll have access to the virtual clubhouse where you’ll download your new pattern every month, find all the video lessons, ask questions, and chat with other club members – and share photos of your finished funny faces!
It’s going to be so much fun!
The current club pattern is always the first pattern in this section of the shop. You can join any time EXCEPT the last day of the month. That’s my change-over day to switch from the old to the new pattern every month. 🙂
There are a LOT of free lessons here at Shiny Happy World.
Hundreds!
That’s awesome – but sometimes it can be a little overwhelming.
Do you want to learn to make a quilt using my super easy Quilt As You Go method, paired with painless applique with fusible adhesive?
Then I’ve got the perfect free workshop for you!
It pulls all of my QAYG and applique lessons together in one place, and arranges them in the best way for you to learn the whole process from start to finish. We cover everything from fabric and supplies, to picking a pattern, and all the steps of the process – including binding your quilt!
This class is for you if. . .
You’ve never made a quilt of any kind.
You’ve made pieced quilts but have never tried applique.
You’ve made applique quilts but want to try a new method.
You’ve made pieced and applique quilts but you’ve never tried Quilt As you Go.
You already know how to make all kinds of quilts and you want to make one with some new friends.
This class will take you step by step through everything you need to know to make a cute and cuddly quilt!
You work through the lessons at your own pace – using any pattern you like. There are even several free block patterns you can download to give it a try!
First of all – gauge isn’t that important for amigurumi.
You could make hundreds of amigurumi and never once measure the gauge.
When do you need to worry about it?
One – if you want your finished project to turn out the size the pattern says it will be.
Two – if you have exactly the amount of yarn specified in the instructions and you don’t want to risk running out.
So how do you measure it?
Well, because you’re stitching in the round it’s a little different than other gauge instructions.
Crochet up a swatch of five rounds. Make sure you’re stitching through the back loop if that’s what the pattern says to do. (All FreshStitches and Shiny Happy World patterns are stitched through the back loop.)
Ch 2 (I like to start with a sloppy slip knot.)
Round 1 sc 6 in 2nd ch from hook (6)
Round 2 sc twice in next st (12)
Round 3 [sc twice in next st, sc in next st.] 6 times (18)
Round 4 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 2 sts.] 6 times (24)
Round 5 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 3 sts.] 6 times (30)
Now – measure across the diameter of your swatch.
Mine measures 2 1/2 inches.
If yours is 2 1/2 inches – good! Unravel your swatch (so you can reuse the yarn) and start stitching.
If yours is a little small, try using a larger hook size. If yours is a little big, try going down a hook size. You can also try switching between different hook materials – a bamboo hook “grabs” the yarn a little more than a metal hook, for example, which can change your swatch size.
Don’t try stitching just a little tighter or a little looser. As you work you’ll tend to revert back to your natural tension, so that’s not a good way to get gauge.
Keep experimenting until your swatch matches the one in the pattern – then stitch away!
Here are handy links to all the crochet troubleshooting posts. . .
