Chocolate Hearts

February 2015.... Heart Month

Here begins my new Pieced Strings Series for the New Year... After having fun creating these mini quilt blocks (last year) using pieced strings from my fabric stash; I am ready to embellish the blocks.

Instructions for preparing the blocks using narrow fabric strings, are also shown in these projects, available on my Craftsy page:

BLUE MOON

IS THERE COFFEE?

OH.. LOLLIPOP!

I will not be repeating that portion of the mini quilt, here on the blog, as these will be available for free download, to compliment this series.  (Find the links on the right-hand column of this blog.)

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1.) PINKS, REDS, WHITES

I have chosen my pink block to embellish for my first mini quilt project in this series. I felt this color theme fit perfectly with the month of FEBRUARY.

PINK BLOCK -- FRONT

PINK BLOCK -- BACK

To help hold the strings from shifting too much, I added the batting layer to the wrong side of the top fabric piece; and then, added some stitched lines. To add the lines on this pink block, I used an asterisk shape. Next step, is to prepare the templates for the applique design.

MAKING YOUR TEMPLATES
To make your heart templates, use a small piece of paper, and fold it in half. Then cut out your hearts in a variety of sizes. Trim them, until you have the shape and sizes, you desire.

In the following photo, the hearts shown are in three sizes:  Measurements are across the widest part (from side to side only). Large: (4.5"); Medium: (2.5"); Small: (2")

Make your hearts in the sizes you desire for your quilt block. Use as many or as few as desired.

PAPER TEMPLATES -- HEARTS

Now that your heart templates are made, you will need to decide what type of fabric you will use for each of them. As we are focused on using fabric scraps, why not try one of these options:

1.) FABRIC STRIPS: 
Sew together several strips of fabric until they are wide enough to use for your hearts.

2.) SCRAPPY FABRICS: 
Use fabric scraps and stitch together enough pieces to make unique scrappy hearts.

3.) WHITE FABRIC: 
Start with a square of fabric and cover it with fancy stitching, in two or more thread colors. Fuse or pin a piece of medium-weight interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric piece before starting to add the stitches. Then cut out your hearts from this embellished fabric.

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Now, what could be better then adding hearts to this mini quilt done in browns to remind us of yummy chocolate hearts that are everywhere as Valentine's Day approaches.

The BEST THING about these chocolate hearts is that they are CALORIE-FREE!! 

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MY VERSION:

I really wanted to experiment with embellishing a fabric square with fancy machine stitching to see what it looked like; and it was pretty. However, since my background block was not well suited to hearts made from these squares; I had to rethink my design.

EMBELLISHING WITH FANCY STITCHING

So if you need to use another color, why not chocolate brown? They really did pop when placed on the pink background; and I was happy to try out an optional layout.

MY CHOCOLATE HEARTS

Since, I had to rethink what applique design would really work on my chosen block, I thought adding another element would really bring out my new design. Thus, I constructed an envelope template to add to the block. Sew together several strips to make your envelope fabric and cut out when ready.


ENVELOPE TEMPLATE
To make the envelope template, find a paper envelope; and open it up to see the shape you'll need to draw out, if needed. My envelope is 4 1/4" wide from side to side; and from the bottom edge to top tip is: 4" high. (Make sure you add an extra allowance to the envelope flap, (bottom edge of flap) so it can be placed correctly underneath the bottom section of the envelope.)

PLACEMENT OF ENVELOPE FLAP

QUILT BLOCK CONSTRUCTION

Once the templates are prepared; trace shapes onto the paper-side of the fusible web. Then iron to your chosen fabrics and cut out around each template. Position them on the quilt block and when happy with the arrangement, fuse them in place.

Machine (or hand) stitch around each applique. I added a fancy stitch along the seam lines on the outside portion of the envelope for added embellishment. Thread colors used matched the fabric colors on this project.

To fasten the backing fabric layer to the batting/top fabric layer, stitch around the applique design, through all three layers. Add any other stitching, as desired. (You may use temporary spray or pins to hold the layers together, while you add the stitching.)

Prepare the binding and add to the quilt block. I will not be showing that step, at this time; as I wish to consider combining several of these blocks into larger projects. These will be determined later.

CHOCOLATE HEARTS QUILT BLOCK

A pattern will be placed on my Craftsy page, when it is ready. (Templates will be included in the pattern.)

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So what I have decided to do, is this:
2015 SERIES OBJECTIVES

1. PROVIDE an instructions only tutorial (no templates) on this blog. 
2. IF YOU would prefer to download a pattern that includes the applique templates, I plan to post a complete pattern on my Craftsy page. (Each pattern will be available for a FREE download once it is posted; and only for the duration of that month.)
3. PATTERN will be available to purchase as a single pattern; once that month is over, for anyone that missed out. However, the blog post will remain available, if you choose to draw out your own templates for the project.
4. ONCE this series has run its course, I plan to also provide a 'templates only pattern' available for purchase to include the complete series of templates.
5. PLAN TO provide at least six new applique designs for this series, in this calendar year.
6. BLOG entry will include photos and instructions to embellish the mini quilt block.  
7. FINISHING of each of these blocks is up to you. I will be leaving the binding until later... (so as to explore other possibilities in using these blocks.) 

Happy Stitching!!

Oh.. Lollipop!

The third and final FREE project for 2014 in this PIECED-STRING SERIES, is available now at my website. I am providing a few more details here; to add to the pattern instructions. You can also check out the other two projects previously posted, if desired.

"Sometimes life just needs candy!"

Sew up these delightful lollipops to sweeten the day... Or if you wish, they are easily adapted to become a bouquet of flowers.

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As you can see from the photo, the complete quilt top is make from 1-1/4" wide strings. The lollipops are made using blues and purples. The candy jar uses whites; the background uses two alternating browns; and the border uses the same colors as the candy.

So have fun with this one; and select your favorite colors to stitch up this cute mini quilt!!


FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:
  Front : 11 fabric strips (1-1/4” wide x 9-1/2” long)
  Border: 4 strips (1-1/4” wide x length of side)
  Backing: 11” x 11” piece
  Binding: approx. 58" long x 2-1/4" wide

Applique Design – (made with pieced fabric)
  Lollipop: 3 strings x 2-1/2” wide (each)
  Candy Jar: 6 strings x 4” wide
  Candy sticks: 1 string x 4” long

OTHER SUPPLIES:
  Fusible web – 7” x 8” piece
  Batting – 11” x 11” piece
  Sewing thread – colors of your choice

PIECED FABRIC STRIPS FOR APPLIQUES

SOME TIPS WHEN MAKING THIS QUILT

APPLIQUE PROCESS

1.
Sometimes when adding applique to a single layer of fabric, it can distort the shape. One way to prevent this is to add another layer of material behind it when stitching on the appliques. However, to avoid adding more bulk, why not use the batting layer to give this support. On a small project, this works well.

To keep both pieces in place, add some stitching that will secure both pieces and also give some added dimension behind the applique design. In this mini quilt, all I added was a diagonal line from corner to corner, creating an X. Certainly, more can be added, if desired.

2.
When adding multiple pieces; it is sometimes very time consuming to stitch around all those edges, especially if you wish to match the thread to the fabrics used. So one way to make the process easier is to add only certain pieces; stitch around them; and then continue adding more appliques.

So for this design......
A. Lay out your appliques on the background piece to figure out placement of all the parts; then remove those not needed; fuse on the lower portion of the candy sticks to hold them in place.
B. Then fold back sticks so they are out of the way of the stitching. This provides easy access to the top of the white piece which will get stitched first.
C. Once done, unfold the sticks and fuse in place to continue. Stitch.
D.* At this point, either add the border and finish with the candy and candy jar. Or add all the remaining appliques first; and finish with the border.
E. Photo shows finished mini quilt. An outline stitch was added around the applique design.

A.)  POSITION PIECES ON BLOCK

B.)  STITCH ON JAR PIECE (white thread)

C.)  STITCH ON CANDY STICKS (green thread)

*D.)  ADD BORDER TO QUILT BLOCK

E.) FINISHED MINI QUILT

Originally, I was going to make these into flowers. In quilting, you make the final choices in fabric selection and any adaptations to the design. So....you can decide!

Have a cheery day!

Is There Coffee?

The second FREE project in this PIECED-STRING SERIES, is now available at my website. I am not providing a tutorial, as you can follow the instructions in the PDF pattern. Or if you wish, check out the BLUE MOON tutorial from last month, to see how easy these mini projects really are to make.

MINI QUILTS:

• Provide quick gifts for someone special.
• Are easy to make and completed in only a few hours.
• Use up fabric scraps and so are not costly to make.
• And when free, provide no excuse; so go sew one today!

How it began... 
I enjoy finding interesting objects and turning them into appliques. So, when I was looking through my leftover applique pieces, for this project; I found several ready-prepared cups. After making my TEA PARTY quilt; I had thought to one day use those extra cups in another project.

Suspended Coffee

Therefore, with coffee on my mind, I thought for more inspiration, why not do an online search. It was there that I discovered the term: 'suspended coffees'. And that was a perfect backdrop for this project. So this quilt is entitled: Is There Coffee?

Then, I added the letters: 'S-H-A-R-E' to represent what we could do with only a small bit of kindness; and it would give more meaning to my two simple cups.

This mini project is to pay tribute to the many individuals that share their kindness towards others, enabling the world to be a better place for those that need it, when it really matters.

So... if you like this mini quilt project and want to share it, please share this post, so others can learn about 'suspended coffees', as well. And, also receive the link to this cute, mini project.

Spread kindness, everyday...