My Christmas cactus is a late bloomer!  This was taken last week and many more buds and blooms have appeared since.  I'm not the only one experiencing "St. Patrick's Day" cacti instead of Christmas cacti.  Many bloggers that I follow have cacti that are in full bloom right now so I can't give myself any credit for having a green thumb.  No matter what, I'm enjoying the beautiful blooms in March!

I mowed my yard yesterday!  March....in Indiana....never, ever, ever have I mowed in March.  I still have lots of yard work to do....all of that spring clean up and trimming.  I feel like I'm behind because of all of the warm weather this past month and I have to remind myself that it's ONLY March and I'm way ahead of schedule.  I'm hoping for snow in August or September to shorten my yard work season!

My Wonky neighborhood arrived today!  Everyone made 12-12 1/2" wonky house blocks, one to keep and 11 to swap with 11 other participants.  Here are the eleven blocks that I received and the one that I made (second picture, yellow house, upper right).  Sorry about the blurry shots....

I've got a few blocks to show you today that will be going to The Gathering of Quilters on March 17th in Auburn, Indiana.  Details can be found at the link and it's not too late to plan on attending.  The featured speaker will be Edyta Sitar.

One of the optional activities is to bring a 12" block or a 6" block that contains green (March 17th is Saint Patrick's Day).  Each block that you make gives you a chance to win a group of blocks.  In other words, bringing a block does not mean you will take home a block in exchange, (you probably won't take any blocks home) it just gives you the chance to win several blocks that have been put together for a drawing.  

The first two blocks are 12 1/2".

The second two are 6 1/2" blocks.

I used the same pattern for three of the blocks, a windmill pattern, and the other block was a leftover block from a BOM series from a couple of years ago. 

It would sure be great to win some blocks, but I know that the best part will be a day spent with my quilting friends!

I recently came across a picture of a looped pot holder on Pinterest and just had to pin it.  I used to love to make these pot holders and I remember Mom having a kitchen drawer full of them.  So anyway, I was at Joann Fabrics the other day and the kids crafts were on sale.  I saw this pot holder kit and the price on sale was around $4.00.  Not bad for a little reminiscing pleasure.

Here's the kit.  It came with the plastic loom, crochet hook, and the fabric loops.  The loops seem to be made of a hosiery type of fabric, like sliced, colored stockings.

Here it is.....warped.  I'm not sure if I can call it weft too since you don't use a continuous thread through the warped loops.  Weft may just mean crosswise and not have to be continuous.  Hmmmmm....  (Never mind if you aren't familiar with setting up a loom.)

And here's the finished pot holder.  It came out about 4 1/2" square.  (It really is square, even though it looks wonky.)  It was really fun to make this and well worth the $4.00.  The kit included enough loops to make two pot holders, but the quality of the loops varied greatly.  I was unable to use the white ones at all because they were so thin and long.  I actually made a pot holder using them and took it apart because it look pitiful. 

It was fun to make a craft I used to make decades ago in grade school.  I may have to pick up some more loops to make a few more.  It's fun being a kid again!