Rats! Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

2020 – Year of the Rat

In the beginning there was the Rat. And the Rat jumped the queue.

According to Chinese legend, it was the Rat who (somewhat dodgily) won the Emperor’s race that decided the identity and order of the Zodiac animals. And so it is the Rat who is the first animal of the 12-year Lunar Calendar cycle. As one version of the story goes, the Rat caught a ride in the amiable Ox’s ear to cross a river during the race, but then abused the favour by dashing across the finish line first, claiming the honours.

And it seems that the ancient precedent for the Rat jumping the queue still holds. I started designing the Lunarcy quilt in 2018 with the Dog appliqué, and then followed in 2019 with the Pig appliqué, but it is the Rat appliqué that is released first. It seems only fitting though – 2020 is the Year of the Rat, the Year of the Lunarcy quilt, and coincidentally, also somewhat dodgy.

And so, today is the day to grab your copy of the Lunarcy Rat appliqué pattern. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

At Arkaroola lately – Nature’s fireworks

Spring is still sending surprises to the Outback. Last Friday and then over the weekend, much of our state was treated to a colossal thunderstorm system. It’s not that unusual for October, but being here in Arkaroola with expansive views in all directions made it a very different experience in comparison with past storms experienced from suburbia. There was no more rain for us this time, but there was such frequent lightning that I was able to catch plenty on camera – simply by taking random shots out the windows! Here’s a taste.

The first storm came through in the mid afternoon, the rest came much later. The late show was well worth staying up for.

There was some wind associated with all this activity, but I am pleased to say, no damage here to speak of. We didn’t even have a power out.

Do you like Rats?

Animal lover that I am, I’m still not really a fan. I know they can make good pets, but… nah. I was even slightly surprised to find that Australia has a native Rattus species when I checked. I knew about our hopping mice and many other interesting small rodent-y Australians, but the rat was news to me. This is Rattus fuscipes or the Australian Bush Rat. Fuscipes means “dark foot”. Apparently it is shyer than the black pest rat and has a shorter, hairier tail. Still a bit dodgy looking to me though.

Rats do get a bad wrap most of the time, don’t they? Love rat, rat-race, dirty rat…. the insults roll on. They are even blamed in many stories for the absence of the Cat in the Chinese Lunar calendar….. the Rat tricked the Cat out of competing in the Zodiac race, or caused him to drown, and either way started a continuous feud between the two species. Banksy hasn’t helped their reputation in recent times either. Who’d invite these guys over?!

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A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

But if you are a Zodiac Rat, take heart. If you were born after Lunar New Year in 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948 or 1936 etc, you have been endowed with more than your share of intelligence, adaptability, quick-wit, charm, artistry and gregariousness! And I am sure you are house trained. So I have designed you an alert and friendly-looking rodent for your corner of the Lunarcy quilt. We love you really.

Get the Year of the Rat Lunarcy Quilt installment

Part Three of the Lunarcy Quilt pattern is available for you 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 Rat appliqué and his Chinese lantern. There is also an optional embroidery motif of a Chinese knot to decorate the lantern with if you wish.

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 rat 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 Rat pdf you will find the templates for the Rat 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 Pig appliqué. We are going to work backwards through the Lunar calendar until we eventually finish with the Ox to celebrate the New Year of the Ox 2021.

Oh Rats! AN important announcement

As I was finishing up the animals appliqué patterns on the weekend, I realised there is a small mistake in the Branches and Blossoms pattern pdf I put up last week.

Motif Branch D, of which you only need a singular copy for the Dragon block, was originally drawn about an inch shorter than the motif that I eventually used in my quilt. Somehow my change did not make it into the final pattern. But if you return to the Branches and Blossoms post and re-download the pdf file you will now get the corrected template.

If you happen to be super organised and have already cut out your branches, and can’t/don’t wish to replace the offending part, don’t fret. The branch is only about an inch shorter than I preferred it to be, so:
– you can decide it is a feature and leave it as is, or
– if you place a blossom on the very end of the branch, no one will know it does not extend that extra inch. Blossom placement is totally arbitrary and can be used to hide many sins.
Either way, it is no big deal, and I hope it has not inconvenienced you.

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 Rat is the first. The others will arrive in this order: Pig, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, 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 highlights for you this week. If you are looking for Halloween inspiration, there were also several very fun Halloween projects in the line up – click here and scroll to the bottom for the party links to those.

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A post shared by Daniela Martisovitsova (@daniela_from_pella)

In the blogs:

News from the Chameleon’s Clipboard

Island Batik are seeking applications for their Ambassador program for 2021. I’ve loved being a part of this program in the past and it pushed me to be a better quilter and designer in all sorts of ways. Island Batik fabrics are to die for, and they have a whole raft of great industry partners too.

If you’re interested in applying click HERE. If you are a blogger and a quilter who wants to become more professional, this may be ideal for you!

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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Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest, IG or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour & Inspiration Linky parties!