Another project complete! On a recent trip thru WV, we ran onto a small quilt shop, where I found a package of 5" squares by Moda, called "Figgy Pudding". Bought 'em, but had no idea what I'd do with them. (But, the best thing about this stop, was that the shop had just installed a long arm quilting machine, and they let me try it out! That was really fun. I guess they were planning to start offering a quilting service to their customers.)

So, the package of squares -- I guess they're called charms -- was a challenge. Each square was different, but in coordinating colors and styles. I found a pattern called panache on the web, and thought it would be a good way to use the charms. Hardest thing was picking out the additional fabrics I needed for the backgrounds and "setting" squares. But, after a couple of hours at Jo-Anns, I settled on a pine green material that has little colored spots that look like Christmas tree bulbs, a subtle red print, a deeper red with spots for the binding, and muslin for the setting squares and the backing.

After I got started, I realized I had gotten almost twice as much fabric as I needed : the original pattern was for 10" squares, while mine were 5". So, I cut all the amounts in half. But, a 5" square is 1/4 of a 10" square ... duh. The overall dimensions end up being about 1/2 of the original, tho. ANYWAY, I had fabric left over, as well as a bunch of half-square trianges from the setting squares of the main quilt, so I came up with a couple of pillow designs. I had been wanting to try prairie points, so I did those around the edges of the pillow. Not sure I like it, but it was fun trying it out. It's a little too "fussy" for my tastes.

I was quite pleased with the machine quilting on this. The back thread is green and red, and its almost as interesting as the front!