Valentine Mini

I saw a patched heart block on Jeannie's blog and that got me to thinking. I wanted to make a double heart mini as a Valentine for my DH.

I drew a few sketches on graph paper, overlapping the hearts one square, two or three? Once I got it the way I liked it I went to my box of 1-1/2" squares and laid them out on gridded fusible interfacing; it was 9 inches high by 12 inches wide.

I was just winging it, having fun and making decisions as I went. As I laid it out I found I needed some HSTs to shape the heart, so I pieced those.

Once it was laid out I fused the squares in place using a pressing sheet, that kept the fusible from getting on the iron.

Then I folded on the lines and sewed all the vertical seams at a half inch, trimming each to a quarter inch as I went.

Next I sewed all the horizontal seams. I wanted a mini and sewing half inch seams made working with it easier than a lot of *little* pieces, it also created half inch finished squares. It was adorable and I was having a blast!

I thought it would be cute framed under glass to hang on the wall but I hadn't really planned ahead and didn't know if I'd need a custom mat and frame. So when I went to Michael's Crafts and found it fit perfectly in a 3 x 5 mat and a 5 x 7 frame I was pysched! I had envisioned a red frame and this cherry wood look was perfect.

click to enlarge

I gave it to Frank on Saturday. At first he thought it was a picture of a tile mosiac, but once he saw it in better light the appreciation showed on his face, the *wow* factor. I can't tell you how pleased I am with the whole thing. :)