Squirrels come in a variety of colors: white, black, gray, and rust and combinations of gray and rust with white bellies. You can take our basic squirrel designs and color them like your local squirrels. I've included acorns and oak leaves because most people associate them with squirrels. In my yard, the local squirrels are gray with white bellies and they eat walnuts which grow on the walnut tree out back. The squirrels dig holes and bury the nuts in the grass and flower beds and sometimes they sprout before the squirrels come back to dig them up. Sometimes I find peanuts buried as well. Since peanuts don't usually grow here in the north, a neighbor must have put them out in a feeder for the them. Squirrels spend a lot of time chasing each other and playing together.

The techniques I used are satin stitching and raw edge applique, both of which are explained in the instructions. Raw edge technique was used to draw the fluffiness for the tails. If your local squirrels have tufts on their ears, you can use raw edge to draw the tufts. I sewed on iridescent glass beads (the color is called "iris") for the eyes. The layout is up to you. You can copy how I put the designs together or make up your own arrangement.

The quilt in the photo measures 29" x 22".

We have made several quilts with this pattern and they all come out with different measurements because the arrangement of the blocks has been different.  Should you leave out a block the whole configuration changes.  If you make one block twice (reversing the design and using in a different fabric) the whole configuration changes.  Also, if you used all the designs in this pattern twice, the quilt could be really big.  Combining this pattern with other Critter Pattern Works patterns will vary the size of the finished quilt even more. 

How do we combine blocks of different sizes?  If you have a long block and a shorter one and you want them to go together, add a strip of fabric in a different value (darker or lighter than the ones around it) to the shorter one.  Sew those two fabrics to the longer applique block and square them up on the outside edges.  This is now a unit.  Make more units.  If the units don't fit exactly together, add more strips to make them work together.  When all your units sewn together and are big enough to make it the quilt size you desire, add a border and quilt it.

When you order a PDF pattern, the download location will be sent within 24 hours of placing your order. 

We have How to Applique videos if you learn visually.  Watch our designer, Debora Konchinsky take you through all the steps to make a Critter Pattern Works quilt.