Category Archives: Color

Sewing Therapy and More

Posted on September 18, 2021 by heARTs Creations

I found myself floundering the past week as I was working through emotions on the loss of my sister. She had been sick for a while and although her passing was imminent, it somehow doesn’t seem real when it actually happens. To help clear my mind, I went to my 2 1/2″ strip box and began to sew. Mindless sewing can be so very therapeutic!

A few hours of sewing resulted in this scrappy Hospice quilt. I cut a backing from a pretty printed fleece and hung both in my flimsy closet to be quilted another time. Of course, there’s many more strips to sew together for many more quilts!

Cooking is also therapeutic for me. After sewing, I made a batch of dough for a pizza. We are spoiled with homemade pizza and no longer order out for it. It was yummy and some is in the freezer for a quick fix dinner another night! That is always a win.

In the garden the red spider lilies were popping up in several places – so pretty and such joy!

I’ll be retreating this coming week in Blowing Rock and am so looking forward to it. Those coming are always such a joy. We sew, laugh, share and laugh some more. Lucky me.

Note: The 2021 retreats are full. You may put your name on a wait list.

4 Comments

Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, garden, Hospice Quilts, Projects, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

It’s a BIG Fish!

Posted on September 12, 2021 by heARTs Creations

Fifty Five inches long, thirty six inches wide! How fun this was! Hubby was responsible for the fabrics I chose. He suggested I use some of the home dec fabrics in my stash. They are all bright. colorful and a nice heavy weight, and a no brainer as I have a ridiculous amount!

It was a bit odd to be cutting such large pieces and even odder to be sewing 5/8″ seams. My quilter’s brain had to really work on placing the fabrics at the right place under the needle!

The sewing was easy, but the stuffing – oh the stuffing. It took four large bags of poly stuffing and several hours. As much as I stuffed into the corners, it didn’t stay. I do know, however, once the fish is on the floor, played on and laid on, the stuffing will shift and disperse evenly.

The eyes are painted on with acrylic paints. It was definitely fun to play, even if just a little bit, with paints again – so artsy craftsy!

Then came the hateful part of this project. Hand sewing the openings on the bottom. Because of the size of the fish and the location of the openings, it was a bit awkward. I had to lay the fish on my cutting table to get a little comfortable. My back was definitely happy when that task was completed!

My brother will be delivering the fish to NY for me. It would have been a chore to mail it. It’s going to an almost three year old. I hope she gets as much enjoyment with this big fish as my children did when they were young.

3 Comments

Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Gifts, Stash. Bookmark the permalink.

“Snuggle”

Posted on June 19, 2021 by heARTs Creations

Finished the baby rag quilt I started here. It was a quick sew, but the clipping took a while. I’d clip, rest, clip some more, do something else, then clip, clip, clip! The quilt has been washed and dried twice to get it fluffed up. Each washing & dry will make it more snuggly.

I secured the outside of the quilt with an extra strip doubled over instead of binding. It too is clipped. The stripe brightens the quilt and pulls it all together.

For the backing I used a bright directional print, but altered direction of the design. SNUGGLE is labeled and ready to gift!

And…my newest addition to my garden. Couldn’t resist this sign.

Yes, sometimes it does happen!

4 Comments

Posted in block pattern, Color, Fabric, garden, Gifts, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Stash and tagged Baby Quilt, Flannel Quilt. Bookmark the permalink.

Two More!!

Posted on June 5, 2021 by heARTs Creations

So happy to have completed two more quilts for Hospice. These will be the last of my finishes for a while as I will be concentrating on a few of my personal quilts.

The first is a quilt with triangle blocks that were cut on the Sizzix and sewn together by attendees at a retreat in 2019. Seems forever ago, especially since there weren’t any retreats in 2020. I’ve been going through my donation bin lately and pulled these out – put them together – quilted – sewed the binding and done!!

Next was a quilt that was donated quite some time ago. It was already backed and there was a little bit of quilting done. It really was a pretty quick finish to get this quilted – oh why, oh why did I wait so long?? I also love that it’s all blue. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a great pic – the colors are really much more vibrant in person.

I especially love that so many hands were involved in the completion of these quilts. A few more finished to add to the pile and they’ll be on their way to Hospice.

3 Comments

Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Hospice Quilts, Quilting, Scraps, Stash. Bookmark the permalink.

Two More Quilt “Kits” to go

Posted on May 16, 2021 by heARTs Creations

Last week I shared the flannel rag quilt kit I prepared for a week long retreat I’ll be attending. Of course one isn’t enough, so I now have two more ready to go!

First up is a string block kit. I pulled from some beloved batik greens and blues and one almost white and cut into varying strip widths. The plan is to sew them onto paper piecing paper doing a diamond design. I love to do string quilts! For me its both fun and therapeutic sewing. Sewing this quilt will also be perfect for a retreat as it doesn’t require much concentration. And again, I planned, made notes, and saved them in the kit box.

The second kit I prepared this week isn’t really planned out. When diving in a bin of blocks and miscellany, I came across these triangles cut from sewn very colorful strips. I barely remember these!

And then there were cuts randomly sewn into blocks. That was it! I’ll bring these to retreat , cut them randomly, sew and put together however the mood strikes at the moment. This will be fun play!

I am really so excited for this get away. I have a retreat checklist that I prepared years ago and having been going through it and putting everything in a guest room ready to pack. Good thing I’m traveling alone – it’s a lot!

6 Comments

Posted in Art, block pattern, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Organization, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Scraps, Stash and tagged Improv quilt, string quilt. Bookmark the permalink.

Trifecta of Quilts!

Posted on April 11, 2021 by heARTs Creations

It’s been a couple of weeks. Spring has really sprung here and I’ve been outside enjoying all the color and amazing nature. Uhhh, the pollen not so much! In absolute contrast, last week we went up to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday and it snowed! It didn’t stick, was pretty to watch – the best kind.

And now for a fabulous delivery made to my home last week. Thank you to Dolores for three amazing quilts she has donated for Hospice. She is an excellent and long time quilter and her generosity is greatly appreciated.

All three were made from her scraps and are just so cheerful. The different designs and use of the pieces are so smart and I’ll be sure to be copying at least one very soon. I am partial to the one below – the arrows are so clever.

All the colors in the next quilt are so fun – this is sure to be a cheerful welcome!

The third pops with color like crazy! I’ll be checking my scraps to see if I can put together one similar – wow!

It is always so thrilling to experience the amazing generosity of quilters. Not only do they use their own fabrics, there is much time invested in each of these quilts. Thank you!

5 Comments

Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Pattern, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

CAN – CAN, the Quilt!

Posted on February 28, 2021 by heARTs Creations

Cut, pieced, quilted and bound in five days! Amazing how much I enjoyed making this quilt. No contest when I auditioned border fabric. The bold black and white was a definite winner – perfect for all the bright, pretty and fun strings in the quilt body.

A very simple quilting – diagonal wavy lines – was perfect. I wanted this quilt to be about the fabrics, not the quilting. And I am tickled the way the black and white prints come together in the center of the blocks and where four blocks meet. I finished the binding by hand which quickly reminded me why I rarely do that anymore. My hand cramped and ached so I had to take many breaks along the way.

The backing – oh the backing! I bought this Brandon Mably fabric when I took a workshop from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably a few years ago. Brandon, who knows my daughter, brought a bolt of the Can Can fabric up to me and thought I had to have it as it reminded him of my feisty daughter! Of course I bought some, but I never did use it in the workshop project. So glad because it is perfect for the back of this quilt, thus the name Can-Can! She’s already living in my living room – bright, cheerful and warm.

Links: Oh Scrap! N&TT Whoop Whoop Friday Brag About Your Beauties

11 Comments

Posted in block pattern, Color, Fabric, Kaffe Fasset, Modern Quilting, Projects, Quilting, Scraps, Stash and tagged Color, scrap quilt, string quilt. Bookmark the permalink.

Some “Joyful”

Posted on February 14, 2021 by heARTs Creations

“No new Works in Progress this year until a few more of existing ones are complete” is what I told myself over and over again at the end of 2020. Well, inspiration hit and a quilter’s gotta do what a quilter’s gotta do! It all happened because while rummaging through a bin, I came upon some long forgotten Robert Kaufman Christmas fabrics. They are so pretty! “Joyful” was born.

Never having done a sixteen patch, but having admired them for such a long time, I decided to do one with this batch of fabric. It’s a fast and easy block which was my Psyche needed at this time (you guessed it, Pandemic Syndrome or maybe more likely just Quilter’s Squirrel Disorder!!)

Having gotten bored with the sixteen patches, and wanting four more blocks, I did stars! It was a quick finish and a lot of fun. However, the border is now a bit troubling. I put the narrow green border on thinking I was going to put a wider border on the outside using one of the prints in the collection. None of them worked. They looked absolutely terrible! I now would prefer to use the green with gold dots as a slightly wider border alone and also as the binding. Can’t – not enough fabric. A pieced border? That could work, but I just don’s want to! I’ve scoured my fabric closet and came up with nothing. I’ve also looked on line and, your guessed it – nothing. This top will now hang in the closet of flimsies until next fall when I’m sure there will be something in a fabric Christmas release that will work. Should be fun to pull this out after many months and give it its needed finish!

Wishing all of you a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Linking up with: Oh Scrap! NT&T

9 Comments

Posted in block pattern, Christmas, Color, Design Wall, Quilting, Stash and tagged Christmas Quilt. Bookmark the permalink.

Scrappy Finish

Posted on October 11, 2020 by heARTs Creations

Another Scrappy Finish and soon to be another quilt to go to Hospice! I began piecing this quite some time ago and a few blocks sat on the design wall for much too long. In a moment of boredom, a few more blocks were added. Finally, last week, I got a bit annoyed with myself for having let it go for so long, so…I sewed!

I really got into it and by the end of the day all the blocks were together, a pieced border added, and it was a flimsy. was just the sewing therapy I needed. It now hangs with several other to be quilted tops, a few which are also for Hospice.

Just waiting for the urge to quilt to strike!

6 Comments

Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Hospice Quilts, Projects, Quilting, Scraps and tagged Hospice quilt, scrap quilt. Bookmark the permalink.

A Happy Flower

Posted on August 30, 2020 by heARTs Creations

sunflower

There’s been a lot of sunshine here but with that has been intense heat and humidity. Many hours of sewing and quilting was becoming somewhat unjoyful for me so I went down a different path. I had ordered some large art paper and the first happy thought I had was a sunflower and I drew a very simple drawing

sunflower drawing

The center of the flower is strip pieced, cut and sewn again to give the illusion of a woven center. Beading in the center gave it more dimension and made it look more like a seed center.

center

The leaf is three dimensional.

leaf

Lots of fun was had when choosing bright yellow batiks for the flower. I sewed narrow strip piecing of yellow batiks, then cut for the petals. Hubby helped me choose the unconventional green striped batik background. It surely makes the flower pop!

sunflower