All God's critters got a place in the choir

Lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!)  It's day 5 of our "cute quilts for kids" series.  Linda Hohag’s "critter" quilts feature creatures from the forest, farm, jungle, and sea. The critters dancing in the moonlight, below, include a moose, raccoon, cat, dog, chicken, pig, penguin, turtle, duck, monkey, elephant, zebra, and more.  Where did all these critters come from? Read on...

Critters Dancin' in the Moonlight, by Linda Hohag at Brandywine Design

Each critters book has multiple projects including mini-quilts. The adorable Critter Caboodle,  below left, and heartwarming Critter Christmas (below, right) feature oodles of critters in various settings. There is even a spooky Critter Halloween !

Last but not least, here is the pattern for the original Critters Quilt (below). The description reads: "This adorable wall quilt has critters who are singing their way into your heart. From the cow to the cricket playing a fiddle, this project will keep you smiling."

So, what inspired Linda to create her critter quilts ? She explains: " 'The Critters Quilt' was the first book I published, and it was successful enough to prompt many re-prints. It was a request by a friend of mine to design a quilt based on the folk song, 'All God's critters got a place in the choir'. I obtained permission from Bill Staines, the man who wrote the song, to use it as the basis for the quilt and to include the song lyrics and music in the original book. After the book was finally out of print, we got so many requests for the quilt that we brought it back as a single pattern."  And how about you, dear reader.... do you know the song?  Here is a 2-minute video - sung by the Irish duo, Makem & Clancy - that has been viewed over 150,000 times on YouTube.

To our surprise, the lyrics have even been published on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) website (where it also explains that "pets can be good for your health".)  But they don't mention the health benefits of singing.... or quilting !

Image credits and more great quilts:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Linda Hohag at Brandywine Design. Linda is an artist who has published over 60 patterns and fifteen books with her original quilt designs and illustrations; she also designs fabric for P&B Textiles.  In addition to her books, her website is loaded with patterns for cute quilts for kids: be sure to check out Turtle Town, Just Ducky, Hooterville, Puppy Love, and Humpty Dumpty (to mention just a few). We also featured Linda Hohag's "Tulip Twirl" pattern in our article on red-and-green quilts: Inspired by Red and Green).