March came in like a lion ...

I'm a little behind in my upkeep of this blog, but I have a good reason. Since March came along and was/is so blustery and cold where I live, I decided to take off for warmer climates for a brief respite. Now, I am back and hoping that March leaves like a lamb, (or so the saying goes).

This past month I have created 5 more new quilt block patterns for you to download.These quilt blocks range from easy to more challenging, and feature half square triangles, rectangles and one of my favourite patches ... the flying geese units.

Images © W. Russell

• Sparkle Star is for those quilters who are comfortable with their piecing skills, as it is a little more challenging than many blocks


• Arkansas Traveller is an easy block and a good choice for beginners


• Starlight Geese features the flying geese units


• Log Cabin is probably one of the most well known quilt blocks and was very popular around the time of the Civil War in the United States


• Road to California was fun to play around with as an exercise in colour (for me)

And speaking of lions ...
"After 'The Wizard Of Oz' I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions."
~ Bert Lahr

Almost time for the "wearing of the green"

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to feature the Irish Puzzle quilt block. Naturally, I have designed the block using green -- and an assortment of greens at that. However, by no means should you limit yourself to using only green for this block.

This quilt block is a four patch, repeating the same unit in all four quadrants of the block. I have deemed it as an intermediate level of difficulty, simply because you need to be precise in your piecing due to the number of pieces in the block.

Download the Irish Puzzle free quilt block pattern

More Irish Fun - Lucky Clover free quilt block pattern

Irish Puzzle

Irish Quotes

• "Beautiful young people are acts of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."
  ~ Author Unknown


• "A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied."
  ~ Irish Proverb


• "A kind word never broke anyone's mouth."
  ~ Irish Proverb


• "Irish diplomacy is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip."
  ~ Author Unknown

P.S. to my Irish Dad:
I hope you will be on the heavenly greens next Tuesday, playing a round of golf, and smiling down at us as we toast you on St. Patrick's day. You are missed.

_{'Irish Puzzle' image © W. Russell, patchworksquare.com
'Shamrock" image courtesy of debspoons at FreeDigitalPhotos.net}