Welcome March!

Do you do much decorating with a St. Patrick's Day theme? Since DH was a missionary in Ireland for 2 years, back in his youth, and has some distant Irish ancestry, we usually try to celebrate in some (non-alcoholic) way. The limited decorations would come out the beginning of March and on the day itself we would usually watch the John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara classic, "The Quiet Man", while feasting on potato soup, soda bread, ginger ale, and finishing up with shortbread. This year I realized how truly limited the decor is. I found the pattern for this little quilt above in a recent online newsletter from APQ and it cried out to be made in greens. It finishes up at a 22" square.

After getting it stitched together (and making a few cutting errors along the way) I scraped together the leftover cuttings and sewed up this little piece--about 9" square. Now I need to get these two items quilted so they can sit on my hutch and dining table.

Oh, I think I have found my feathered friend, as far as quilting goes. If you read my last post you know that I am not overly fond of my FMQ feathers. Today I remembered a FMQ pattern book and DVD a friend loaned me recently. Have you heard of the Pajama Quilter? She lives somewhere north of me in Idaho and she is a longarm quilter who has put together some designs that have been successful for her. Watching the dvd was an interesting experience--she sits in her pajamas with a large whiteboard in her lap and shows you how to draw the designs. Then they are shown being quilted on the longarm. And when you get frustrated with your attempts she recommends having chocolate nearby in an unlikely container that no one else will suspect.

You can get a workbook, dvd or both. Anyway, I remembered that one of her patterns that had intrigued me the most was what she called "Wonky Feathers". After my frustration with formal feathers I thought maybe it would be fun to try the wonky approach. Now these are my kind of feathers!! It is not so much a border as an overall pattern, and it loops and swirls every which way. There is no need for an exacting 1/8" echo or getting the feather shapes teardrop perfect. It is just fun, and flowy and freeing! This was my first attempt and I'm sure I can improve on this with some repetition (unlike my repeated efforts with the more formal look). I took a photo without flash because the shadows improve visibility. I actually enjoyed doing these feathers!!

Have you tried anything like this?

I need to mention a couple of other things. When I shared the fun mail I had received a couple of posts back I inadvertently left out this little gift that almost got thrown away before it even got opened, but that's another story (which I shared with the sender).

Nancy, who blogs near Philadelphia, sent me this fun little mug rug she had made. That is a woman with a tube of hair gel and I could swear that somehow Nancy has seen me after I wash my long hair and knows I could benefit from the application of something to bring it under control.  : )  Thanks so much, Nancy!!

The other cool thing that just arrived was this book that I won on Julie's blog giveaway! I can't believe I won it. I gave away the first volume on my blog last year and loved it enough to buy myself one. I was very excited to see this one and am thrilled to own it. Little quilts have really become  a passion for me thanks to bloggers like Kathie, and Dawn, among others.

I can't wait to break out the charm packs and get stitching! Wonder when I can fit that in?

Well, I have tried yet again to fit too much into one post, but if you have been following me for any length of time you are probably used to that. : )

So, until next time,

Janet O.

p.s. My thoughts and prayers are with those in the path of the tornadoes. Please post soon if you can to let us know how you have fared!