Monkeying Around!

If you need to whip up a quick kid's quilt, we suggest you consider this adorable "Monkey" quilt designed by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton of Tailormade by Design. The pattern is featured in the Fall 2014 issue of Easy Quilts magazine, and uses a fun monkey focal stripe from Kanvas' Monkeying Around collection that makes the quilt sparkle. 

"Monkey" designed by Tailormade by Design;
pieced by Sue Homan; machine quilted by Naomi Polzin; featured in Easy Quilts fall 2014 

We asked Joanie and Melanie to tell us about this bright, playful quilt, and the monkey stripe that takes center stage.

What do you like about the Monkeying Around collection?

The fabrics are very playful and the monkeys were really cute.It was just so fresh--perfect for a toddler or young kid. And the colorway we used was gender neutral, which is nice. 

Tell us about the monkey stripe.

There are always a lot of great stripes but sometimes they can be hard to use in different ways. The focus of this quilt was finding a way to use it in a block rather than the border. The large strip block we designed worked out well and is simple to sew together. It makes for a contemporary, easy-to-sew style quilt. The two different versions of the block create a woven design, which we liked.

What great appliqued vines you have on the border! What prompted that addition?

We added the vines on bottom right and top left. The quilt just didn't feel quite finished--we felt like it needed something extra to tie everything together. The vines, made out of coordinating solids, was the final piece.

How was the quilt quilted?

It has an overall design with a bit of a vine look that didn't take away from the busy-ness of the fabric. 

What is your favorite part of the quilt?

I love the big monkey stripe. It's what drew me to design the quilt. 

Click here to see the entire Monkeying Around collection.

Click here to find the kit for this quilt project.

Click here to find Easy Quilts.