Today is March 11 and I named a block after my favorite middle daughter, Hilary. I even designed several quilts using the block. This block was made by Leslie P, one of my Calendar Girls. Hilary's Garden by Leslie P. - 15" block One of the quilts was made using a Benartex Collection called Arianna and appeared in a magazine about 10 years ago. That center square is 10"! Hilary's Garden using Arianna fabrics Here's one using a bold set of fabrics from Blank Quilting. Hilary's Garden Quilt Here's a quilt using some fun novelty prints from the Rumble Collection. Donated to a local kids' charity. Rumble Kid's quilt And one more: Dog Gone It Collection - quilt donated to kids' charity Now you can see how fun this block is, right?!!

Today's block is the Variable Star. It is a vintage block that's been around for a LONG time. Julia dressed it in some beautiful fabrics for an updated look. She's working with the Duchess Collection by Windham Fabrics.   12" Variable Star by Julia R. Again, let's see the fabrics she's working with in all her monthly blocks: Duchess Collection by Windham Fabrics And here's another March 7 block that just came in from Karen B. It's the Fox and Geese which I shared about yesterday. She has been working with the Insectarium Collection . Fox and Geese by Karen B. Thank you, Julia and Karen. Beautiful fabrics make for beautiful blocks!

More geese, this time there's a fox after them! Today's block in my calendar is Fox and Geese. Both Kathy G. and I made a block. First, here's Kathy's. Can you see that fox peeking out in the large triangle? Is he peering at the deer in the bottom large triangle? Is he hungry? Yikes!! Fox and Geese by Kathy G. Her fabrics are SO fun. She has the Under the Canopy Collection by Windham Fabrics. Here's my block made using Benartex's Equinox fabrics. Very simple block with a lot of possibilities. Do you have your calendar yet? I understand the next shipment has FINALLY arrived and should be in stores soon. You can click here  to see what's up. You can be notified when it comes in . . .

I am so proud of myself - to find homes for 5 more orphan blocks AND to make someone smile. These are for Meals on Wheels and I've had such fun making them. Just a few strips and scraps to finish and a single fat quarter for the back - even the batting uses up all the extra pieces from my stash. The first is from my paper piecing birdhouse workshop. Isn't this so cute? This 60s A Frame is from a pattern set I offer on Etsy - Big Birdhouse Bonanza Patterns. 60s A-Frame  - 10" tall Little chickadees from my English Paper Piecing. The center is the "Debbie" block from Katja Marek's hexagon book. Little Chickadees Another EPP block from that book and this is called "Marilyn." Don't you love all that Kaffe Fassett fabric? The center red is called Bullseye - wonder why? Marilyn block with the Bullseye fabric in the center And using up some Sgraffito leftovers (the name for some Benartex fabrics). This was rotary cut and sewn. Triangles and diamonds to...

The block for March 3 (today) is Circling Hearts. It's also known as Card Trick. The math on the block is in fiddly numbers in order to please my publishers and make it a "normal" 12" size. Here's how the block was made by Patricia Bryant of Australia. She was working from my previous calendar (2007). Card Trick Kathy M. made the Circling Hearts block using the Finding Your Way fabrics by Lisa Ruble for Benartex. Circling Hearts by Kathy M. - 12" There are 4 distinct hearts there. I call my adaptive version " No Tricky Card Trick " and made a fun quilt using some Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Easy to cut triangles and squares and rectangles, though it does create an "odd sized" block. Who cares if they all go together into one quilt?! No Tricky Card Trick : 54" x 54" The quilt pattern version is an alternate path to the traditional block (which is in my calendar). Let's see: Center of the Card Trick block All I need to do is add th...

Not my barn door - just the block in my calendar. Today is March 2 and this is what the calendar features. Two of my Calendar Girls created the block; let's see the first one by my sister, Janet: Hole in the Barn Door by Janet G. - 12" March 2 is also my dad's birthday. He has since departed and living in heaven (he was born in 1917, so he would be 109 years old!) Here he is with me, Janet (back row in pink) and another sister Kathy (back row in navy) in 2006. He used to play the guitar with the big bands in Atlantic City in the 1940s! And one more Hole in the Barn Door block created by Barb R. Hole in Barn Door: 12" And here's a beautiful quilt (from Quilt Magazine when I was an editor) using these blocks: Twin bed quilt So, I guess if this was a barn door, the hole would be that center square, right?

As I've shared here before, I'm a BenartExpert (a fabric ambassador) for Benartex. The latest fun is a FREE block hop and sew along with a new design for a 12" block revealed once a week. The first one is  March 5 !  That's Thursday and I want to give you time to sign up! (I'll remind you again in a few days.) Here is the link to sign up:  BenartExperts Spring Block Hop  . You will need to scroll down to bottom of the page for the sign up info. And what are the 12 blocks that will be offered? Yes, that's my Squash Blossom block on the bottom left! She's SO thrilled to be there. This is all based on the  Superior Solids Collection . Of course, you can use whatever fabrics you wish. With each block release, there will be a link (sent to your email - that's why you have to sign up) that takes you to each of the 12 BenartExpert's web site to get the FREE pattern. Each of us received 6 solids to create our blocks. I seem to have only used 4. I hope I...