February Hearts

                               I love hearts.

Happy February! To me, the whole month of February means Valentine's Day. I love hearts and have a soft spot for most things that are heart shaped. 

There are also a couple of heart-themed quilt patterns in my Etsy shop.

Thank goodness for February and Valentine's Day because it gives me a good excuse to indulge myself. I usually immerse myself in hearts and heartfelt thoughts all month long. 

I found this quote last week and needed to share it - 

“. . . In a time lacking in truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart.” 

                                                                                                            - Louise Bogan

It's funny that this quote (from 1970??) popped up in an old book I was reading yesterday, at the same time I decided to work on some appliqued hearts for a quilt. So I am hoping to send out into the universe one little heart a day in a very small attempt to spread some light to combat the hate and cruelty surrounding our culture. And remind ourselves that Love is what we need . . . .

I'm making one heart a day (or more if I am able to) for 14 days. Spreading some light and LOVE in February . . .

I think we need to use our art/creativity to shine a light and encourage others with compassion and love. Make a little heart, show you care.

                               

There's a heart template in my Schoolgirl Sampler book and another one in my Facebook group files. Or just draw your own and use your favorite method of applique.  I like using the starch and template method and you'll find instructions for doing that in the FB group files or in the Quilting Basics section  of some of my books. The hearts do not have to be pink and red. I may play around with a border for the hearts. Or sashing. Be creative and come up with something you like and spread around a little LOVE this month.

"The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered 

acts of kindness and love." 

                                        ~ Wm. Wordsworth

Simple Sewing, Mindless Piecing

I've talked about this before - how simple, mindless sewing can work wonders for your creativity. Sometimes I can't take the time or don't have the energy to focus on a large, complex project that involves a lot of work or concentration. I did that consistently for my Dear Jane and Schoolgirl Sampler. Pushing myself to get them finished as best I could. Writing books and making projects on a deadline also requires a lot of focus and that can drain your energy if you do it regularly. When I get tired, and quilting becomes "work," I have to take a break from it. Afterwards I find myself in a quilting slump and the only way to jump start my productivity or creative impulses is by playing around with fabric and making something small. Like this sweet little Valentine Mini. 

Years ago, I saw an antique strip quilt in a magazine made with what looked like mostly blues and browns. Not a good or  close-up photo. I cut out the page and filed it for "Someday." I ran across it last week, became inspired again and spent time pulling some fabrics to use in it - 

I started cutting and making a few blocks. mindlessly sewing four patches and hourglasses together. This one was just a picture and had no pattern, so I'm going to create my own. I realized I didn't really have a blue and brown quilt. I decided to add a little touch of pink to the blue and brown blocks and see what happens. 

Beginning a new project can be very exciting. I have about four or five of these types of simple, larger quilts started. Nothing fancy. Simple blocks, pretty fabrics, traditional settings and all based on antique quilts I've seen. I work on the blocks in between the sew alongs and my Dear Jane. And I'll finish each one when I finish. No pressure. Just sewing blocks until I feel I've got enough for a lap-sized quilt.

I really love mindlessly sewing simple blocks. The repetition and playing around with the fabrics and coordinating colors sparks some kind of creative flow. I find a nice box to store the blocks as I make them. And keep the fabric for the setting or borders along with the finished blocks.

When I collect enough blocks for a top I begin to put them together. No pressure. Sometimes I wonder if the reason we struggle to finish quilts is because we get bored with a specific project? Or become stressed by trying to make it perfect? If I take breaks from one quilt and move onto another one for awhile, I still make progress. Just not in a straight line, LOL.

The epitome of mindless sewing -  squares set in rows, LOL. Still plugging along every now and then. 

I love these plastic project cases for storing blocks for some of my in-progress quilts. I found them at Michaels in the Scrapbooking department. I'm sure other craft stores and maybe even Target carry them too. they stack nicely and I keep them at hand for when I feel the need to do some mindless sewing. 

                             

My goal for the coming weeks -  just sew and have some fun! It's meditative and good for the soul. 

2023 Valentine Mini Quilt - Step 1

Here's the first step for making my little Valentine quilt - 

Cutting

From four different red or pink fabrics, cut

            2 squares, 2 7/8"  x  2 7/8" 

From four different light or shirting prints, cut

            2 squares, 2 7/8"  x  2 7/8" 

This gives you 8 light squares and 8 pink and red squares in matching sets of 2. 

Next - Match up each red or pink print square with a light print square in matching sets of two. Make 4 sets of half-square triangles. Here's how to make half-square triangles - 

Layer a light print square together with a pink or red print square, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner across the lighter square. Stitch 1/4" away from the line on both sides. Cut on the drawn line. Flip open and press. Arrange in four groups of matching prints. Make 16 half-square triangles. Trim each to 2 1/2"  x  2 1/2". 

If you have trouble with half-square triangles, one of my favorite tools for making them is the Quilter's Rule Quick Quarter ruler. 

You may be able to find this tool at your local quilt shop or a quilt shop online. If not, JoAnn Fabrics and Amazon carry it. Here's how to use it: Cut 2 squares (usually light and dark) according to the directions in your pattern. Layer the right sides together. Line up the open notches of this ruler on the diagonal corners of your fabric squares as shown.

                              

Mark a line along each side of the ruler with a fine lead pencil. These are the sewing lines. Lightly mark the center through the notches as well. This is the cutting line.

You can see that I stitched on the drawn sewing lines. Slow down and stitch your lines carefully. I always stitch a tiny bit to the INSIDE of the line to make up for the extra fabric used when pressing the squares open.

After you sew on both lines, press the squares to set the stitches. Flip open one side and press gently BEFORE you cut the squares in half. Switch and press the other side open. THEN cut in half. This will stabilize the bias edge and keep your blocks from stretching out of shape, which gives them a wonky look. If you cut and stitch accurately (slow down!) and press this way, your half-square-triangle units will come out perfectly instead of WONKY and will need minimal trimming. Try it! 

Perfect squares, minimal trimming. Just snip off those ends.

That's it! I encourage you to join my Facebook group for motivation if you haven't already. I find that if you break down these little projects into simple steps and sew along with others it's not only more fun but you'll be much more likely to finish something. 

Stop by on Friday, Feb 3, when I'll post Step 2. 

    

Sew a Little Valentine's Day Quilt

Over the weekend, I had an idea for a sweet little Valentine's Day quilt. I kept telling myself I had too many other projects to finish but I just could not resist doing one more. You're all invited to join me in making another little project beginning on Wednesday, February1. Some of you sewed along with me last year for something similar and it was a lot of fun. Small scraps, simple pieces and before you know it you have a little quilt finished. 

We'll be making this quilt in three steps beginning on Feb 1 when I'll post the first step. Second step will be on Friday or Saturday of this week. Then the third and final step next week. This will be a quick and easy little quilt for you to display around the house, on a table or doll bed or to hang on a wall. It won't take much time at all.

                                

                                  Valentine's Day quilts are a lot of fun to make. Here are a few of my favorites -   

                      Bring out your red, pink and light fabrics or scraps and join me on Feb 1!  

Small & Simple Does the Trick

Quilters -  do you at times get bogged down and lose your motivation for quilting? I think this happens to all of us at one time or another. Sometimes it happens to me if I spend a lot of time working on one certain thing (like a large project or trying to complete many projects for a book). I get burned out easily and then find I don't even want to quilt for awhile. What gets me going again is NOT looking at millions of photos of quilts on Pinterest, thinking it will get me motivated. This just makes me feel overwhelmed and now I've got a million projects I want to make but know I never will. Believe me, this just adds to your stress.  And, people, who among us doesn't have enough stress as it is right now??  

                                  

For years, I've noticed that I feel calmer, happier and just plain better when I'm creating something. When life gets stressful, it's even more important to do things that make yourself feel good. 

I know from experience that if I stop creating for a time,  it's that much harder to be creative when I get back to it. But sometimes all you have to do is jump in and make a little something and see if you can't get it back. What helps me the most is to slowly start playing around with fabric and make a few easy blocks. Then put them together to make something small. Sometimes I'll just buy a little bit of fabric while I'm at it. You'd be amazed at how quickly you'll perk up with some new fabric, LOL. 

Last year in my Facebook group, we made a few easy little projects I called Small & Simple quilts. The patterns for these are in the group files. 

Four-patch blocks are fun and easy - 

Small & Simple quilt #1 below was inspired by an antique quilt block I turned into a doll quilt.

Sewing half-square triangles made from reproduction fabrics can be soothing to the soul - and this one was also inspired by an antique quilt.

Nine patches and reproduction fabrics - Ahhh, what more can I say??  Another one inspired by an antique doll quilt. 

We also had a fun sew along in the group that involved working with wool (or learning how to do wool applique.) It's fun to sew along together in a group. Even though this sew along has ended it's still fun to look at the photos of projects others have made from one of my books and maybe decide to get going on one by yourself. 

Make it your way . . . .

Right now in the group we're still working on hexagons for a quilt of your choice. Thanks to so many of you for participating in the Valentine Mystery we did last month. We'll do another simple little sew along in a few weeks or next month.

The lesson in all of this really is - sometimes we have to take the frenzy out of our heads in order to feel good. Making something and tapping into our creativity helps with that. Do yourself a favor and make something small and simple this weekend and see what happens. 

Valentine Mystery Quilt - Step 3

If you go to my website and click on the Valentine Mystery at the top of the page, you'll find Step 3 of my Valentine Mystery quilt. This is the last step in this little spontaneous sew along. The file will show you how the block is made and the rest of the quilt put together. You should be able to make it in time for the holiday.

 This was fun! I hope you had a good time sewing along with me. Thanks for joining in!