Thursday, February 18, 2010

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. :)

3 comments:

Lena Möre said...

Very nice hearts!
We celebrate Valentin, "All Hearts Day", in Sweden, too.
Hearts are very popular quilting motives among Scandinavian quilters.
Thankyou for giving me how to do your hearts!
Lena Johansson/Stockholm

Fabricfaire said...

I just loveit!!!

Lindah said...

That is really neat, Leslie! The frame is perfect for it. I have seen the gridded fusible, but never tried it.