This pattern will introduce you to a new technique which I have used in a limited amount before. Instead of satin stitch for all the appliqués, some of these wolves were sewn with a darning foot. I used both straight stitch (scribbling over the fabric, drawing the fur, especially around the edges of the outlines) and zigzag stitch (to fill in noses, insides of mouths, and teeth). I traced the marks where I wanted to stitch the colored fur in black permanent fabric marker, then scribbled back and forth in the direction of the way fur grows in colored thread. Some of the threads were the UltraTwist (two rayon threads in different colors twisted together to make a single thread that stitches up in a tweed effect).

The quilt in the photo measures 25" x 29".

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.

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.

This pattern is only available to be mailed, (not available as a PDF pattern).

You need to use a thick stabilzer behind the background fabric to keep it from wrinkling like it did here. Some of this can be eased away with the quilting.		The wolf above has a white fabric appliquéd face, seed bead eyes, the body fabric looked like streaked paint.
	The ground was stitched in the same manner as the wolves: scribbling. You can even use a decorative stitch with the darning foot and come up with a nice irregular patterns. On the wolf above, the green was added on top of the stripe. The background puckering disappears in the quilting process. On the wolf below, the beige stripe fabric was added to the green. The green shows through the lighter fabric. Even though I used a thick stabilizer the fabrics still tightened up near the scribble stitching. This lumpiness disappeared after the background was quilted.	This applique was made by Madelyne Barnett on her friend's denim shirt.