Monday, February 15, 2016

The Splendid Sampler -- Hearts Aflutter

It's here!  It's finally here!  The first block from The Splendid Sampler is finally here!  Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson have done a great job organizing this project and I've been on pins and needles waiting for the first block to finally post!

Pat Sloan shared her block, Hearts Aflutter, today and I wanted to show my version of her block:


I just want to hug and squeeze and pet this block non-stop!

I had so much fun making it, and wanted to share with you how I did it.  Here's an in-progress photo:


I pieced the block according to the directions and then chose to hand applique the heart onto the block.  I cut the heart out of Reynold's Freezer Paper and ironed it to the back side of the fabric.  Then, using my Karen Kay Buckley "most awesome scissors in the world", I cut the fabric leaving approximately 1/4"of fabric all of the way around the heart freezer paper.  I pinned the heart to the block using teeny tiny applique pins.  Shorter pins provide less opportunity for the thread to get caught on them.  Ask me how I know!  I use a really thin thread and a straw needle to take tiny stitches all of the way around the heart, turning the extra 1/4" of fabric to the inside so the heart has a beautiful edge.  Once the stitching was complete, I used my "most awesome scissors in the world" to cut a small slit in the fabric behind the heart to remove the freezer paper.

If you want to see all of the different Hearts Aflutter blocks in a range of gorgeous fabrics, CLICK HERE.

I had so much fun making this block and have so many ideas about how to quilt it!  While I won't be showing a tutorial on how to quilt each and every block, I will feature several blocks throughout the year.  Do you want to see a tutorial about this block?

If you are looking for a class on free-motion quilting, I am very proud of my Craftsy Class "Free-Motion Quilting with Lines, Curves and Loops."






1 comment:

Elaine said...

very pretty! I love your fabrics