Emily sent in a link to a story on penguin jumpers.

Jumpers are being knitted especially for the Australian fairy penguin population. The clothing is used when the birds have been exposed to an oil spill, absorbing the oil off their feathers and keeping the animals warm in the meantime.

If you’re a keen knitter, you can make a penguin jumper to add to the emergency stores. Here are knitting instructions from the Pet Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour, who are gathering jumpers for the cause. There is a pattern and more info here.

[The news story is 2 years old but this is an ongoing issue.] (edited to add: please read the readers comments for the latest on this)

A Whiptips post from Reese Dixon about her log cabin quilt that looked like a swastika once pieced, was a reminder of the importance of testing a pattern BEFORE you cut out all of the pieces. I know, I know, I know. You finally have fabric you like and a pattern you can’t wait to make so you’re dying to get going and you just want to cut it all up and sew it together. Resist the urge. Test it first.

Some people advocate using graph paper and colored pencils to test how a design will look. I think it’s a lot more practical, especially if you are using patterned fabric, to use a digital camera, a color copier or scanner. Here’s what you do: Cut up just enough fabric for one block or a small section of the quilt. Using a digital camera, color copier or scanner, print out several versions of the block and arrange them as you intend to in the quilt. You might also find that you want to adjust the scale of the block or its arrangement. This is the time to make those adjustments. Follow the Ten-Foot Rule looking at it from ten feet away to see how the colors work and if any awkward patterns (such as swastikas) are forming. This may seem like a time-consuming step but what it takes in time it saves in heartbreak.

Here’s the final quilt as it appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting in June 2006.