Wednesday 6 February 2013

Love is in the air...

...and everywhere you look, shops, television, internet -everywhere there's an abundance of gift ideas, sweets and boxes of chocolate, jewelry, flowers, soft toys, the list is endless...  For most of the quilting blogs they too have some or other item they're making for valentines day.  So I thought of joining in the fun!

Heart shapes made from my Twister Quilt scraps
This is how I made these cute little heart shapes:

Sew two pieces of contrasting colours together, pressing the seams open.  Trace a heart shape  onto fusible applique, I used wonder under.  Iron the rough side to the wrong side of the fabric ensuring that the inside and outside points are straight in line with the seam.  Cut out once you're ready to applique the hearts to another piece of fabric, to prevent the edges from unraveling.  Peal off the backing piece of paper and iron on, using a hot dry iron.



Use any type of applique stitch you prefer and sew all around the heart shapes either by hand or machine.  I hand sewn blanket stitch with dark pink thread.


I started playing around with fabrics and placement, and ended up with this little quilt top.


I used 4 pieces, 6½ x 6½ inch light pink fabric.  12 Pieces, 2½ x 6½ strips of dark pink fabric and to add a bit of contrast, 9 pieces, 2½ x 2½ dark green fabric.  The finished quilt top is 18 x 18 inches using a ¼ seam allowance, stitch length set at 2.

I starched the quilt top on both sides to keep the fabric nicely flat.  I made another heart shape template just a little bit bigger than the applique shapes, and traced around the hearts using a fine line water soluble pen.



When I started quilting I stitched in the ditch over the entire quilt to secure it properly, then I micro stippled only on the light pink fabrics outlining the heart shapes and the drawn lines around the hearts.


It has so much texture, I love it!






Back of quilt

Happy quilting

25 comments:

Celtic Thistle said...

Your heart quilt is lovely, the quilting is very definitely the icing on the cake!

Scrapatches said...

Sew very pretty! Thanks for the detailed how-to. I wandered in from the Wednesday Link-up and am admiring all your beautiful work. Thanks for sharing ... :) Pat

Anonymous said...

the quilting really makes this piece shine!

Sonia said...

What fabulous quilting - is it naughty if I say I like the back almost as much as the front because of the quilting textures?! Sx

Hooked on Quilting said...

Absolutely gorgeous. The back is sooooo pretty.

Erin Quinn said...

The quilting on this is fantastic! I am amazed at the texture you've been able to create.
E

Jennie said...

This is beautiful. I love how you've left a gap between quilting and the edge of the hearts - it really makes them pop!

Lucy said...

love the puffy hearts xxxx

Lucy xxx
http://blog.crazyforpurple.com

Elizabeth said...

How lovely and your quilting does give it so much texture! Almost makes it look like the hearts were done with trapunto. Very nice.

Kelly Vetch said...

I love that! Your right, the texture is great!

Tina said...

Beautiful, Love All Your Qulting.

Julie C. said...

Your hearts are so cute and I love your quilting. I'm working on something very similar. I'm visiting from Freshly Pieced. And I love your numbered clouds for comments. I want those!

The Thompsons said...

Love the micro-stipling around the hearts. The whole thing is lovely.

Quiltin Jenny said...

Wow! That is so sweet and perfect for February. I love how you made the hearts, and the quilting is just to die for!

2ne said...

Love your hart quilt :-)

MalinisQuilts said...

Wow, great idea on the hearts! Love your quilting, AWESOME!
the SID, microsstippling and straight line quilting all create beautiful textures.

Vicki in MN said...

Your quilting is really enhancing the quilt!

Stella Nemeth said...

Hearts are a favorite motif for any time, but especially in February. I like how the project turned out. I wish I could stipple that well.

MC said...

So cute, I love the puffy hearts!

Karens Quilts, Crows and Cardinals said...

Marelize -- it's beautiful! Love the micro-stipple and the rest just POPS !
Awesome!
Karen

ratama said...

Wow! I love the hearts and the FMQ

Chumkie said...

Marelize, I love your pretty wall quilt! Thanks for sharing it with us and for linking in.

Chumkie.
My Favourite Things.

Sew Diva Diane said...

Very pretty! I like your quilting!

Kathy said...

Lovely... I would love to know what type of batting you used?
Thanks!
Kathy

Marelize Ries said...

Thanks Kathy, unfortunately there is no way for me to contact you, your blogger account is not linked to an email, so I hope you'll check in again. I am using loomtex woven batting, a low loft bonded polyester woven batting.

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