Friday, February 15, 2013

Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop--Day 5: Heartfelt Love

What an exciting journey it has been getting ready for my very first blog hop! I'm so excited to have been chosen by Madame Samm, who has organized the Hugs & Kisses Blog Hop, and thanks to our cheerleader for the week, Jane from Jane's Fabrics & Quilts. Thank you both for widening the world of quilting blogs for me with this opportunity! Here's today's schedule. I hope you'll visit these blogs and cheer on the other Friday participants.

Friday February 15th


Why Knot Kwilt

It's been an week of lovely new projects being revealed each day. For those who wish to go back and see what has been revealed all week, the full schedule can be found by following this Hugs & Kisses button...

And now on to my heartfelt journey... It all started when I received the email informing me that I would be included in the Hugs & Kisses blog hop. EXCITED!!!! My first thought was to find all of my pinks and reds that have been bagged up and traveled across the country with me from California to Kansas last year when I moved. This would, indeed, be a scrappy project made entirely out of my stash. I knew they were lurking, I just wasn't sure where. After some hunting and sorting through boxes and bags, I found four baggies of reds and pinks left over from various projects.

As I started sorting them out, I found there were strips of various widths in several fabrics I wanted to include. I also had a lovely red on white fat quarter that I thought would be a perfect backing if I could keep the project to that size. I started pulling strips out of the pile, cutting the wider ones down and cutting a few more out of various scraps so they were all 2" wide, and began piecing a heart together. I also found a small baggie full of wings that had been cut off of red and white flying geese from a project I made four years ago. I was sure I'd use them someday. And someday finally came! Woohoo! These were little triangles, so I worked hard at getting them sewn together with just an 1/8" seam--much more and there wouldn't have been anything left of the blocks to use!
And then came the tedious task of pressing all of those miniature seams open! That took a whole evening by itself, just pressing all those little half-square triangles. I finished up with 32 1-1/4" red and white blocks to incorporate somewhere into my project.

Next I went back to sewing the 2" strips together to finish the central pieced heart. I got a little crazy adding strips and actually had three more rows than I wanted, making it an elongated heart that just didn't look right. So, I took out my ripper and started removing rows, which was more complicated than I had planned since they were added by units of two. Another night spent playing with the design. And three rows of pieced blocks for another someday project were added to the scrap bag that doesn't seem to be getting emptier. Hmmm... How does that happen?

Finally, I had the central heart done, had added the framing strips and mini-border, and then started playing with all those little red and white blocks. Amazingly there was an even number of them, so I sewed them together to make mock-flying geese by seaming the red sides together, again with 1/8" seams, and then made two strips of mock-flying geese to put on the sides. 

In one of the bags I had found some vintage Valentine fabric that I had received in a class scrap exchange and there was just enough to fussy cut the boy and girl in the hearts with accompanying words to add to the side borders.

I configured them with the boys on the bottom and girls on the top, one side with Cupid's arrows (the geese) pointing up from the boy to the girl and the other side with Cupid's arrows (the geese) pointing down from the girl to the boy. I loved the effect and vintage look! Adding the red hearts on pink border was the finishing touch to piecing the top.

Then it was on to figuring out how I wanted to quilt it. I went through my EQ Quilting Designs and found a beautiful feathered heart and, after several test prints, got the sizing right to fit perfectly within the pieced central heart. I selected a beautiful medium orchid #2479 from the Aurifil 50 Silk Hearts collection that blended well with the patchwork heart, and continued with the white Aurifil 50 that I had used for piecing to quilt the background cross-hatching and to use in the bobbin.

I pinned on my foundation paper pattern and started stitching on the lines.
Once the stitching was complete, then came the fun (not always) process of removing the foundation paper. Luckily my FMQ practice is paying off and I'm getting smaller, more uniform stitches that make it easier for the paper to tear away without deforming the stitches. Once complete, the center of the heart was a little puffy, so I added three free motion ribbon tendrils to the center, coming up from the bottom center of the feathered heart, as well as a little spiral stamen coming out of the tulip bottom into the point of the heart.  


I continued on by cross-hatching the white on white pin dot background around the heart and used the medium orchid again to quilt a lovely heart chain stencil around the 1" finished borders. The final step was binding it with the same pink as the outer border.

And finally, here it is, Heartfelt Love, a new table topper ready for Valentine's Day!
The little cottage tea cup & saucer is one of my favorites, along with the wooden heart candle holders that my dad made years ago. Now if I could only find the candles that I'm pretty sure made it from California to Kansas! I wonder what box they got left in? The little glass heart votive holders are the final touch and my dining room table is ready for company. Oh wait, where's the bowl of Valentine's M&Ms?!? Oops! I ate them all! Guess I need to make another trip to the store before Valentine's Day.

It has been such great fun creating this project for the Hugs & Kisses blog hop! I hope you have enjoyed the week of great projects! I know I have!

As others have mentioned, I, too, enjoy making things with hearts and have a few other projects to share...
This folded point potholder was made from a lovely pinks & reds charm pack as part of my daughter Ali's Christmas gift. Perfect to dress up her kitchen on Valentine's Day or anytime.

This scrappy heart table topper was made to decorate the dining table at my dad's in California and was awarded a 2nd place red ribbon at the Contra Costa County Fair in 2011. Today I would have mixed up the 4-patch hearts and made it much scrappier!

And finally, I have to brag about my 9-year-old granddaughter Jordyn, who did the LOVE cross stitch in the center and then selected fabrics that I helped cut into strips and she sewed together herself to make a pillow cover--her first ever sewing project! Each time she visits, this is the pillow she brings with her. It's so wonderful when children LOVE what they make!

Thank you again to Madame Samm and Jane for sponsoring and cheering us on this week for the wonderful Hugs & Kisses blog hop!

More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz

126 comments:

  1. Your table topper is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing and joining the hop.

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  2. Beautiful! You are very talented. Thanks for sharing your creations with us today!

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    1. Thank you so much! It's been a great week and loads of fun!

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  3. How many cute and lovely projects, thanks for sharing!

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  4. Oh My, lovely table topper and creative....Thanks for sharing, Judith, Texas

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  5. great projects for the hop -- love that feathered heart stiching.

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  6. Cute projects! And how nice that your grandaughter is also into sewing and crafting!

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    1. Thank you! Jordyn is here this weekend so hopefully we'll start a new project together.

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  7. Great projects - I especially like the flying geese around the scrappy heart!
    Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thanks so much! It was fun watching it come together with no real plan. :-)

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  8. Wooziers, your stitching is fantastic. What a gorgeous piece.

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  9. Enjoyed seeing the evolution of your project and so impressed with how it turned out!

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    1. Thank you! I enjoy seeing other journeys and thought it would be a good way to present it.

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  10. Heartfelt Love is wonderful. I love all the little details you put into it. And the scrappy hearts are just a little icing on the cake. Great job.

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  11. Gorgeous projects,te one with the flying around is my fav.Thanks for sharing

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  12. First of all, tell Jordyn that we are so proud of her and that she did a wonderful job!!
    Your projects are all just beautiful! Great job!

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    1. Thanks! When Jordyn saw the comments today she started blushing. :-) She's here with me for the weekend. Maybe another project will get done or at least started. Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. So cute! Love seeing your process shots!

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  14. Swoon- just love the quilt you made. Your quilting is beautiful!

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  15. What lovely Valentine project you have made and shared with us. Hugs and Kisses blog hop has shown us many quilt ideas that you really are now motivated and now can't wait to make a red table topper, mug rug or quilt. Thank you for the inspiration.


    Sandi Timmons
    sandit1@sbcglobal.net

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    1. So glad I could provide some inspiration. It's been fun taking part and seeing everyone else's projects too! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  16. What a beautiful table topper! Well done with your choice of quilting design as well as the fabric! Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Gorgeous quilting! Thanks for sharing today :)

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  18. Oh my goodness - those are teeny, tiny flying geese! You know, I think the only way I'm going to get the feel of feathers into my hands is to do what you did for a while - print them out and trace-stitch them. Maybe after doing that a lot, I'll finally be able to start free-sewing them.

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    1. I still haven't tried free-hand FMQ feathers. I use stencils or designs printed on foundation paper and then follow the lines. Whatever works, at least we're practicing FMQ, right? Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  19. Wonderful projects and beautiful quilting. Judy C in NC

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  20. Beautiful work. Thanks for the tutorial on foundation paper pattern use. I'm new to machine quilting and appreciate all of the help I can get. This seems so much better than drawing the pattern on the fabric.

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    1. I've done FMQ with stencils drawn on the fabric and printed designs that I stitch through. Both work and it depends on the project. There's only a few things I do free-hand, but I keep trying out new things. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  21. Beautiful work and your flying geese are so tiny and perfect! Love the feather quilting you did in the center!

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  22. Very beautiful! I love the stitching you added to it and that vintage fabric is a prize. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I was pretty happy to find that little chunk of vintage Valentine's Day fabric! What fun to get to be totally creative and let loose! Thanks for stopping by!

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  23. Thanks so much loved your heart designs. Thanks for being part of the hop.

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    1. Thank you! I've loved being part of the hop. For my first one, it's been pretty exciting!

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  24. Sooooo pretty! Thanks for sharing.

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  25. Hi!!! I love them all!! Very pretty and sweet!!! Great that you GD is into sewing too!!! Thank You

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  26. WOW! your table topper is just amazing--the pieced heart, the borders , the flying geese, everything. And then the quilting--oh my goodness. All of it is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you! It's been the most fun project I've done, maybe ever! I'm so glad I got to share it for this hop!

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  27. Great projects! Thanks for the foundation quilting tutorial. I don't machine quilt much so this kinda new to me. I'll have to give it a try.

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    1. So glad you stopped by! Thank you! I'll put together a little more detailed page on FMQ beginnings. It's nothing to be afraid of, you just have to jump in and plan to have fun.

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  28. I adore your pink table topper and am intrigued by your quilting paper pattern. You should od a tutorial on this. But I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your sweet little granddaughter and her first sewing project. be sure to tell her a Grandmama in Alabama saw her pillow and plans to teach her 8 yr. old granddaughter to make a pillow like her pillow! I am teaching my granddaughter to sew and we have such wonderful sewing times together. She adores sewing and its all she wants to do. My sweetie pie is actually quite good at her stitching.
    Blessings
    Gmama jane
    P.S. Don't forget in the future to not forget to turn off your word ID. It's actually one of the rules but we'll forgive you this first time around! Often no one will tell you and you don't even know it's on. That happened to me in my ealry blogging.

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    1. Thank you! Jordyn saw some of the comments this afternoon and was blushing. :-) She's here with me for the weekend, so hopefully another project is brewing in the sewing room.
      I'll be sure to check my settings too. Thank you!

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  29. lovely work, and I enjoyed the tut! I am not so much a quilter but I sure do appreciate all the hard work! Thanks for hopping along with us all!

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    1. Thank you! It's been so fun hopping along and am so grateful to have been included!

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  30. Thanks for sharing your lovely projects. And thanks for showing how you quilted the heart.

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  31. Thanks for sharing your talent as well as your daughters talent. Fun blog to read. Thanks for being in the hop.

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    1. Thank you! Life is all about connecting with others--so glad you enjoy my postings. Hope you'll come by again!

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  32. What a great table topper from scraps. I like how you explained how you did the project. Great job. How wonderful that you are encouraging a new generation of crafters. I bet your granddaughter has lots of fun play days with you. She did a wonderful job, too. Thank you for blogging and sharing with us. Hope to see you in more hops.

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    1. Thank you so much! I wish Jordyn and I had more sewing play-dates, but I have to settle for the occasional 3-day weekend. I picked her up today, so hopefully another project will be ready to post on Monday. I'll be participating in the It's All About Me! blog hop with a reveal date of 2/26. Hope to see you then!

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  33. Your little table topper is so darn cute! I absolutely love the way you used all your bits and pieces to create this one of a kind piece. Those vintage pieces and the tiny geese totally make the project! And yes, your granddaughter and her pillow project are adorable. I hope I can someday teach my grandgirls to sew and quilt.

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    1. Thanks so much! It was really fun sorting through that pile of scraps. Only one of my two daughters sews and she didn't start until after she was married. I'm so happy that Jordyn likes it and wants to work on projects with me! Now to see if I can get my grandson hooked. I've some cool Star Wars scraps that might interest him... I'll keep you posted! :-)

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  34. Gorgeous projects. What kind of paper do you use for the foundation paper? I'm still new to all this quilting and have been trying to figure that out. conn_and_vans_mom(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Thanks so much! I bought a package of 100 sheets of Joan Doak's foundation paper. It's advertized for foundation paper piecing, but I use it to print quilting designs on to stitch over. It tears away quite easily, leaving your beautiful stitches! I'll email you to chat about it more. :-)

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  35. Thank for sharing your heartly projects

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  36. Love the table topper, its my favorite! They are all nice.

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  37. I am glad you shared your ideas about quilting your piece along with the actual tutorial on how you assembled your scrappy heart piece. I'm guessing that the other pieces you shared were the seeds for this one? Well done!

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    1. I'm glad the journey was helpful! The scraps actually came from 2-3 projects I made in 2009 and 2010! Long gone, given away, etc. etc. But the scraps remained. There were scraps of the black with glittered hearts from the heart table runner in the bag, but I didn't use those--I found that fabric too dark for this particular project. So, they're waiting for the next round of scrappy projects. :-) Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  38. WOW...and this is your first blog hop...great job! Love your parade of hugs and kisses, especially the Heartfelt table topper. Love the fabric choices and your quilting is perfect. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us today. Happy stitching, Pauline

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    1. Thank you so much! It's been so much fun being part of the hop! Looking forward to my next one. Thanks for stopping by!

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  39. Thanks for the directions and most importantly the quilting lesson!
    It is just TOO cute!!!

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    1. You're very welcome! Thank you for stopping by!

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  40. Rosemary B here:
    Oh my all of your projects are great! I love the table topper,
    YES your FMQ is very good... wow, verrrry good.
    I love your other projects too.
    Thank you for sharing today

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    1. I suppose practice makes perfect. :-) I've never sent anything out for FMQ, but have managed to do it all myself. Some earlier projects were questionable (at least in my eyes), but they're getting better. Thank you for stopping by!

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  41. I love your mini scrappy heart! Way Cool!

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  42. Beautiful projects! Thanks for sharing.

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  43. I am so glad you found your scraps. How I would love to play with those. I love your table topper and your machine quilting is wonderful. How special to have something your Dad made. Thank you for sharing all your goodies with us.

    PS Please turn your word verification off for today.

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    1. It was a joy to share all the goodies! Thanks so much for your cheerleading this week!
      I'll have to check my settings, but thought the word verification was off. Hmmm... I'll recheck. Thanks!

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  44. Hello, Elizabeth ... I so enjoy reading your blog that I have nominated you for the Liebster Award. Participation is entirely voluntary. If you'd like to participate, please see instructions on my blog ... :) Pat

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    1. Wow!!! Thank you! I'll check it out this weekend. I'm truly enjoying getting to share my quilting journey with other quilters. Being home with my little grandson, I don't get out much, so this is one place I know I can share and connect with other adults. LOL! Glad you're enjoying the journey!

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  45. Thank you for such a lovely post! I really like that you can do projects together with your grand daughter! :) I hope to someday have a grand daughter, too, lol!

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    1. Thank you so much! Any grandchild will do in my book. My brother learned to sew on my grandmother's treadle when he visited her. I learned from an auntie. I'm so happy Jordyn likes to sew and am working on my grandson. Maybe the Star Wars scraps will entice him to join the fun. We'll see... :-)

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  46. The project is so beautiful, but I really loved seeing how you did the machine quilting...it looks spectacular!

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    1. Thanks so much! There are so many ways to FMQ, I like sharing the ones that are easier for us beginners. Encouraging each other is what it's all about, right? :-)

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  47. Great projects and thanks for showing how you quilted the quilt. I always need some extra help with that step.

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    1. So glad I could help! It's fun to do and really not that difficult. I've even practiced just stitching without thread through copy paper printed with a design. It helps you get a sense of control for stitch length. I keep telling myself, practice, practice, practice! But I keep practicing on my quilts instead of practice sandwiches. LOL!

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  48. Your projects are great and your quilting came out awesome. Wonderful job!. Thanks for sharing.

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  49. So very pretty! I love the quilting! Thanks for sharing.

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  50. Such a sweet project! blessings, marlene

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  51. Such a sweet project I enjoyed you telling and showing us all the steps you took. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you! I hoped it wasn't too much information, but also wanted to share the journey. Glad you enjoyed it!

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  52. Love your fabulous project! LOVE the potholder, too! Your granddaughter did a wonderful job, clearly she will be following in your footsteps as a creative force! :)

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    1. Thanks so much! Yes, I learned today that Jordyn has been making scrappy projects out of paper, including the wrappings for her brother's Valentine's Day gift to his "girlfriend" (they're both 12, so puppy love?). I'll have her at the machine again this weekend. Yay!

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  53. Jordyn did a wonderful job on her first sewing project! Your table topper is gorgeous! You did a great job on the quilting.

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    1. Thank you so much! Jordyn's excited to be here with me this weekend to start another project. Stay tuned... :-)

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  54. What a wonderful project! It certainly was lots of work with all those tiny pieces but you carried it off so well. Loved the vintage fabric - it added such a special touch. Happy belated V Day!

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    1. Thank you so much! And happy V Day to you too!

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  55. Your quilting is just gorgeous! A very lovely project!

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  56. Love the vintage valentine fabric!

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    1. Thank you! It was a lucky find in my scrap bags! Thanks for hopping by!

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  57. Aren't these blog hops fun? It is always so much fun to read all the comments. Hope to see more of your projects. Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. It's been incredibly fun!!! Visiting all the participating blogs, posting and reading the comments, see all the incredibly creative projects! I'm so happy I joined up and got included in the final list! Thanks for hopping by!

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  58. You put so much work into your beautiful project, I love all of the detailed pictures, a really wonderful table topper.

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  59. So much work for your project--but it was worth it, I'm sure :) I've never seen that paper quilting technique. I'll have to try it sometime. Thanks for sharing and for showing me something new!

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it! It's a simple way to get beautiful results. Thanks for hopping by!

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  60. How wonderful that little table topper is. Your little HST made great flying geese. I love all your quilting stitches.

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