'PATTERN OF THE MONTH' 2022
Oh golly we are onto the FOURTH year in this programme! What fun we have had between 2019 and 2021 and I am sure with this new year things are going to be just as exciting, and full of fabulous projects on which to work. The world needs beauty, and 'the Girls' are doing their bit to provide it, that's for sure!
The 'Calendar Girls' Pattern of the Month programme is now a firm fixure in the MWQ offering.
The story of how the 'Calendar Girls' came to be may be found on the previous years' pages so I won't repeat it. Suffice it to say we have a lot of familiar faces already in the group and plenty of new ones too. Everybody is welcome, because it's always good to make new quilting friends, and I'm sure we can all agree that waiting for the surprise which is the 'Pattern of the Month' every month is something which unites us all in anticipation and excitement.
If you would like to join, there are perqs - for starters, the cost for all twelve patterns comes down to just $5 a pattern which is a real bargain. You get a fab and very supportive group to cheer you along in all your creative endeavours AND you get a couple of surprises along the way which are exclusive to the Girls. What's not to like?
Of course, the patterns are all available singly, but then they are priced at the normal standalone pattern price of $8.99
If anybody would like to join the 'Calendar Girls' for 2022, please do get in touch (we even have a Calendar GUY) - it's great fun and you will be in good company! Either email me on zelda@modernwelshquilts.com or come and visit the MWQ group page on Facebook where all the information may be found.
The 'Calendar Girls' Pattern of the Month programme is now a firm fixure in the MWQ offering.
The story of how the 'Calendar Girls' came to be may be found on the previous years' pages so I won't repeat it. Suffice it to say we have a lot of familiar faces already in the group and plenty of new ones too. Everybody is welcome, because it's always good to make new quilting friends, and I'm sure we can all agree that waiting for the surprise which is the 'Pattern of the Month' every month is something which unites us all in anticipation and excitement.
If you would like to join, there are perqs - for starters, the cost for all twelve patterns comes down to just $5 a pattern which is a real bargain. You get a fab and very supportive group to cheer you along in all your creative endeavours AND you get a couple of surprises along the way which are exclusive to the Girls. What's not to like?
Of course, the patterns are all available singly, but then they are priced at the normal standalone pattern price of $8.99
If anybody would like to join the 'Calendar Girls' for 2022, please do get in touch (we even have a Calendar GUY) - it's great fun and you will be in good company! Either email me on zelda@modernwelshquilts.com or come and visit the MWQ group page on Facebook where all the information may be found.
January - Marriage of Sun and Frost
|
This design came about because I was reading some John Burroughs and one passage particularly struck me... "A sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost". Isn't that beautiful? Anyway, it got the little grey cells going, and this design is the result. I've called it 'Marriage of Sun and Frost‘ – there’s no maple syrup but hope it suggests the flicker and shimmer of the sun's rays when you walk through the woods in those really bright, snowy, winter days.
Size: 86" x 102" approx |
February - Hearts and Kisses
|
Many of you will know I don't really 'do' the whole Valentine's thing but I was poodling around thinking of what might 'work' when 'Noughts and Crosses' came into my head for some reason.
Then my twisted little mind started working down the other 'x and y' phrases and 'Hugs and Kisses' and 'Hearts and Flowers' came out of the mire. I already have a design called 'Hearts and Flowers' - and I didn't really want to do a flowery quilt anyway - so THIS is the result: a kind of noughts and crosses done with hearts and based around the old 'Cupid's Arrow' block. I've called it 'Hearts and Kisses' as a play on the 'hugs and kisses' idea. Size: 86" approx |
March - Freedom
|
I wasn't intending to do something in blue and yellow - mostly because I absolutely do not want to put myself at risk of being accused of profiteering on the back of the Ukraine conflict - but my subconscious had other ideas, as those two colours are everywhere at the moment. I tried to fight it, but failed, so instead, this is my show of support for all suffering in Eastern Europe just now.
I have called it 'Freedom'. Size: 112" |
|
I have patterned up the very centre bit too, to make a wallhanging .
Sadly I do have to charge something for it, because my time is very precious at the moment, but as I really want people to have a pretty way of showing support and honouring the people of Ukraine just now, I am going to just charge $3. This will mean I don't get myself in trouble either financially or with my husband - but equally if enough people make it and display it, will send a message. If I have more sales than I expect on this, and I start making a profit, I will donate all profits to the UK Red Cross Ukraine appeal Size: 48" approx |
|
April - Spring Showers
As with all of my quilts, I never insist people use the fabrics I have chosen in putting the design together. However, I take a great deal of care in my selections and if you would like to create similar effects, please pay close attention to differences of depth and tone - they are usually crucial to the overall appearance!
|
People who follow my online ramblings will know I enjoy gardening, although whether I show any degree of proficiency is another matter entirely... April is one of those months in the gardening calendar where one can never really be sure of anything other than to expect the unexpected. However, I hope this design reflects some of the common weather events we usually see in April – namely quick showers! I don’t mind them so much as I do the winter downpours, however, because I can virtually see the grass and new growth responding. The old adage ‘April showers bring May flowers’ still holds true, even in times of global warming it seems!
Size: 88" x 100" approx
|
May - Bluebell Wood
|
This was inspired by the experience of driving through a bluebell wood to get to the remote cottage where my husband and I stayed as a final recuperation from Covid. It was such a joyful experience to see the irridescent colour exploding from the woodland floor, and a real sign that Spring had come, as it had been very cold up until that point.
I have tried to capture some of that almost unnatural glow and perhaps some of the happiness seeing these little flowers in full bloom created. Size: 100" approx |
June - Midnight Rose
|
Some of you will know I have a large decking area at the front of my house which looks over our little valley and over towards the Llynfi Valley. I love to sit out here on summer evenings, enjoying the quiet - and ok, perhaps some nice food and wine too! I have a particular fondness for pink roses, so it doesn’t take much imagination to work out where the inspiration for this design came from!
Size: 88" approx
|
July - Night Fishing
|
I have a large and diverse extended family, but when I was a child the one thing which united most of the menfolk, of all ages, was they loved going night fishing either off the sands or the pier near our home. There are a lot of funny stories stemming from this activity, which I chuckled about whilst designing this top. I hope some of the humour comes through!
Size: 88" x 104" approx |
August - Corn and Blueberries
|
The inspiration for this one came from me being engaged in the never-ending need to shovel calories into my Trolls and poking around online for new recipes so I don’t get too bored cooking the same things all the time. Going down various internet wormholes researching these recipes, I came upon a blog which described August as being 'about corn and blueberries'. Such a delicious notion set the little grey cells off on a voyage of tinkering... And thus we have this quilt!
Size: 64" x 80" approx |
September - Nasturtium Pot
|
The inspiration for this arose when I was sitting on my decking and admiring the nasturtiums which seemed to have exploded over the previous few weeks . They were crawling everywhere spreading their little drops of sunshine with them! As at the time of writing it’s been a pretty grim time news-wise I thought we could all do with something cheerful – and what could be more happy than a pot of nasturtiums?
The palette, aside from the background, is also that used by my friend Jo Riou for her famous ‘Tom Jones quilt’, based on one of my designs, which now sits on this bed at his apartment in London apparently. That is also something which brings me a smile tee hee! Size: 72" x 88" approx |
October - Heron from Brecon
|
This originates from the Welsh nursery rhyme/nonsense song which I learned from my grandfather when I was very small. These days I annoy my husband with it, every time we go past Brecon, or see a road sign with that on it. You can see the look of despair cross his face when he realises what's about to happen.... Just look on YouTube for 'Heron from Brecon' and you'll get the idea...
I chose to use autumn colours as the song features lots of apples so I combined this idea with 'heron grey' . As the lyrics and tune are quite manic in many ways I tried to get lots of motion and swirling around in the design to echo this. Size: 110" approx |
November - Wet & Windy
|
Well, the clue's in the name with this one - because, let us be honest, November quite often IS 'wet and windy'!
I picked a suitably soggy colour palette and many of the blocks I've used have appropriate names. At least this quilt will be keeping you warm rather than trying to soak you to the skin! Size: 78" x 98" approx |
December - Led by a Star
|
The inspiration for this came from a number of sources – firstly I wanted to do a slightly smaller project for people to use as a lap quilt, or throw, over the festive season and my mind was tending towards the 'keep it simple' form of self-hypnosis at the time.
I have also always been fascinated by the mysterious nature of the Three Kings being 'led by a star' and wanted to use a kind of 'mystic, supernatural' palette as a result. I hope it will lead YOU to happy times keeping warm and enjoying some downtime however you prefer to relax! Size: 66" approx |