Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

I’m working on the shamrock block made from the pattern shared in the post of February 2. I suggest that when you cut your strip for the shamrock stem that you make them longer than the 8 inches the designer suggests. With 8 inch lengths you have little to no room for errors in cutting or seam allowances or stretching bias. Since you will be squaring the block up after inserting the stems, I’d suggest cutting them at 1-1/2 x 8-1/2 or 8-3/4 to give yourself some fudge factor.

I also cut my greens strips for the shamrock at 1-1/2 wide instead of the 2-1/2 the designer calls for. That was just to give me more variety in the greens. I’m taking a lunch break and will add the outer borders later. Then on to the quilting! I’m making several of these for family members, and a table topper for me.