Monkey Mirror: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Lunarcy Quilt: Year of the Monkey Block Release Day

And bad Christmas-cracker joke day!

What carol do monkeys like to sing at Christmas time?
Jungle Bells, Jungle Bells!

😀 Today I am wishing a very merry Monkey Christmas to you all! The Chameleon and I ape you have a safe and joyous celebration with as many of your loved ones as you can, by whatever means that you can. And here’s an early gift for you – the Year of the Monkey block pattern for the Lunarcy quilt.

At Arkaroola lately…

… we were supposed to be moving south yesterday. That plan went like a dream.

No, – the other sort -the nocturnal Equus dream. It is still 2020 after all. After madly getting everything organised over the last week in the heat, the trailer packed, the food eaten down, the house cleaned etc etc, we woke up to this…. Wetness.

The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was steady through the night. It definitely rained more than forecast.. It was very pleasant really; cool not cold, and no wind. Except that dirt roads do not like these conditions and consequently most of them were in the process of being declared closed by breakfast time. There was one remaining legal route back to civilisation available to us, but we decided not to chance it with a fully loaded trailer and two kids and a cat onboard. The thought of tyre changing in the rain and mud does not really appeal. Hopefully by the time this post publishes, we will be on the road on Tuesday, as the weather is already slowly improving as I write this on Monday afternoon. Santa is depending on me to get to the stores before the public holidays close them all, otherwise his cover will be blown wide open this year!

Apart from minor setbacks, we’ve enjoyed our last week in the Outback. Over the course of the last few evenings we have watched Saturn and Jupiter approach their grand conjunction. This shot was taken a few nights ago because I liked the effect of the moon illuminated in the sunset. The actual conjunction event tonight will be obscured by cloud (just like the Geminid asteroid shower last week, boo!) but we will try to see the planets again in Port Augusta tomorrow night.

After the rain today my beady-eyed daughter spotted a beetroot-coloured caterpillar. It is most likely a young grub of a wood borer species of the Cossidae family – the family that includes the famed Australian Witchetty grub. I am not sure whether the rain forced it out, I presume it ought to be holed up in a tree trunk somewhere until it is somewhat bigger. The Cossidae species include a number of very large moths known as Wood moths, Carpenter moths and Goat moths. Funnily enough, a large Wood/Goat moth (exact species unknown to me) visited my window only a few evenings ago.

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And as a final Arkaroola hurrah, I will share my amusement at the local booming Little Corella population on Sunday. A large flock was sitting in a couple of trees near our house, screeching and carrying on something awful.

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But then something spooked them and they all took off, wheeled around, and settled enmass in a peppercorn tree a little further over towards the main tourist village.

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Except for one.

He was left in the original tree all alone, still screeching. I could just imagine him going… “Hey, what?! Where’d you all go? What happened? Oh, that is nasty! It wasn’t me! It. Wasn’t. Me! Hey!”

Yeah, I know. Easily amused.

What to do with a spare day in Arkaroola?

I could have gone for a walk to amuse myself further, but truth be told I am quite weary from packing and carting boxes. So instead I unpacked my sewing machine and finished preparing the blocks for my version of Suzy’s Sitcom’s Esmeralda’s Garden quilt.

I had supervision, although the boss was apparently tuckered out too.

I have nearly all of the Esmeralda’s Garden appliqué to yet sew down, but the basic block construction is done. I love the cheery rainbow colours and happy scenes in this pattern.

I also still have to decide whether I will sew the blocks together as is, or float the blocks or rows in more strips of the turquoise background. My daughter thinks she’d like this quilt for her new bed…. in all likelihood a king single loft bed. While Esmeralda’s Garden is probably already wide enough for that, it needs some length…. perhaps a couple of narrow end panels to unique-it-up. For all that I enjoyed not having to think about this quilt, now it is laid out I am missing that feeling of “owning it”. So Chameleon!

Of course, my daughter also wants the Lunarcy quilt original when it is done, and she probably already has more than her share of quilts….

So mostly I just sat down and wrote a blog post…

… and organised you the next installment in the Lunarcy pattern.

If you were born after Lunar New Year in 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956, 1944 or 1932 etc the Monkey is your Chinese Zodiac animal and today I am releasing your special block. People born in the Year of the Monkey are traditionally witty and intelligent with magnetic personalities. Monkeys are fast learners and crafty opportunists…. sounds like the perfect combination for a scrap quilter!

Part Seven of the Lunarcy Quilt pattern is available to download via the button below. This new pdf supplies you with all the appliqué templates you’ll need to create the Year of the Monkey appliqué and his Chinese lantern.

This quilt pattern is very kindly supported by Island Batik, who supplied all the fabrics to me for the sample. The fabrics I used are detailed in the pattern, and are all from their Foundations Basics and Blenders collections. This means that if you wish to use any or all of the same, they are still available through your favourite Island Batik stockist.

Year of the Monkey download

**** It is really important that you print this pdf at 100%, otherwise your pattern pieces will be the wrong size for the quilt blocks. Turn off any “fit to page” options in your printer dialog and ensure that the printout size is set to 100%. There are check boxes supplied in the document. If your printout is successful, these will measure 1″ square. The document is designed to fit on US Letter and A4 paper. ****

Inside the Year of the Monkey pdf you will find the templates for the monkey and his lantern, and also an appliqué placement key. The placement of the blossoms is given as a suggestion, but feel free to add as many or as few as you’d like.

The next release will be the Year of the Goat appliqué. That will make us halfway through the zodiac.

The Lunarcy Quilt measures 75.5″ x 94″ and is designed for a single/twin bed. Part 1 of the pattern lists the fabric requirements and details how to put the quilt top together. It is your choice whether you prefer to do this before or after the appliqués. You can download Lunarcy Quilt Part 1 here. Part Two of the pattern is the Branches and Blossoms motifs used throughout multiple blocks. There will also be 12 animal appliqué files, of which today’s Monkey is the fifth. You can still find the Rat pattern, the Pig pattern, the Dog pattern and the Rooster pattern at their respective links. The remaining animals will arrive in this order: Goat, Horse, Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger and Ox.

I hope you will enjoy making something from this pattern and I’d love to see what you’ve made if you do. If there are any problems with the file, please let me know.

And, your weekly dose of Linky Inspiration….

Here are my Chameleon party highlights for you. Merry Christmas!

Now, take care and know that we are thinking of you this Christmas like no other. We wish you a wonderful week but even more we hope you will reach 2021 safely and covid free.

That’s your Chameleon Quota for the week. Now it’s your turn to share!

Tell us – what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit and be inspired. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer.  See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!

• Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
• You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
• URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
• Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
• Do it now……. before you forget!

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