The very day my Duck March quilt pattern released (March 2025, see below) I received several messages asking how to add a Papa Duck to Mama Duck and the littles.
To be honest, I was a bit stumped. In my mind, the white Mama Duck block could easily be used as a male duck as well. But then I understood that folks were maybe looking for some more distinct features - so challenge accepted!
Duck March (get the PDF / printed booklet)
I decided to start off with the Mama Duck block and see where I would need to make changes. After researching a few reference photos of different duck species (for your own pleasure, look up runner ducks if you’re not familiar! 🥰), I did a colour test to see what I could do with the fabrics I had at hand, and where they would need to go in the final block.
The main features I wanted to include were a green head, a white stripe around the neck and the typical colourful chest. Then I had a look at the Mama Duck templates: to achieve these, I would be able to use most of the regular templates without any changes, simply replacing some of the colours. I only added two extra sections at the neck and chest of template D.
I couldn't wait and got to work immediately. On pattern release day, lol! Needless to say there were many interruptions, but by the end of the day, Mr. Mallard was completed (see picture at the top of this post). And I was pretty pleased with myself, ha! A small change with a big impact, wouldn't you say?!
This is a quick mock-up I created to see what a whole family of mallards could look like - cute, eh?!
And because I know that some of you will want to make your own Papa Duck block and add it to your projects, I turned my modified templates into a free add-on pattern.
You can download it below.
(Please note: The Papa Duck add-on pattern works in conjunction with the regular Duck March pattern linked above.)
(Please note: The Papa Duck add-on pattern works in conjunction with the regular Duck March pattern linked above.)
Have fun!