Tag Archives: Patterns

Sew Scrappy Fun!

Posted on October 28, 2018 by heARTs Creations

4 Patch Scrappy

This quilt was started as a leader ender. How fun it is when it gets to the point when there are blocks to sew together! I also enjoyed remembering that many of the scrap pieces were from years of many other quilt projects.

I decided to use all purple in the border instead of scrappy – it brought a cohesiveness to the quilt that I rather like.

4 patch scrappy distant

Something I rarely do – I hand stitched the binding down! I brought it with me on vacation and worked on it in the evenings. How nice to come home with a completed quilt.

4 patch scrappy distant

We were in Southport, NC overlooking a marina.  I couldn’t resist the photo ops with the finished quilt. This big rusty boat was fun to look at – and boy was it rusty! It is a working boat that retrieves copper from the ocean floor. Obviously boat body maintenance and pretty are not part of their agenda. I was very careful and my quilt came away clean.

4 patch scrappy full boat

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Falling into Fall

Posted on October 4, 2018 by heARTs Creations

My goal for 2018 has been to reduce my Works in Progress (projects that have been started.)  These do not include Hospice quilts.  I had about 25 in January and now I have exactly 11 in project boxes.  In addition, there are  2 quilt tops that need a border, another that needs stitching around the appliques and one quilt top that I will quilt. One quilt top is on the way to the longarm this week and another that I am hand stitching the binding.

Then there are the projects – yummy fabrics and a pattern or sketch in a box that hasn’t been started. There are 8 of those. I could easily add about a dozen more, but am tying myself down! Chasing less squirrels!!

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Something fairly simple and fun planned for these great prints!

There are labels to be added to several Hospice quilts and bindings on a few that are being quilted by other volunteers. I love looking at the pile of quilts being donated this year. It warms my heart knowing they will be giving comfort to those in need.

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Oh the fabulous colors of Blueberry Park – can’t wait to dive into these!

Three of my WIPs are going to retreat with me in a few weeks. It’s a four day retreat so I’m hoping to get lots done!

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A fun kit waiting patiently for its turn.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the progress. I’ve committed next year to more finishing. I want to get the WIPs down to four before I begin one of the projects waiting in the wings. (I can hear my quilty besties laughing wildly). I will be opting out of some obligations which will give me the time to enjoy my projects more. The tendency to over commit is crazy and I know I’m not alone! I am also looking forward to more travel, 5 or 6 retreats (2 are my Quilt & Sew-Ins) and day trips with Hubby.

Do you have or make goals in your creative life?

Project listing Sept 2018

I hope you’ll continue to join me on this journey. I really appreciate all my readers and love all the comments – thank you! Your support means so much to me.

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Squirrel! Club

Posted on September 16, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Squirrel

It was not difficult at all for me to become an official member of the Squirrel Club for quilters started by Julie at Me and My Quilts. I was not, definitely not starting another project until I’d completed many of my Works in Progress. Well….the other day, anticipating the possibility of Florence taking down our electric, two friends and I sewed all morning to complete the table runner project for a church I told you about here.  I loved the group effort – lots of talking, laughing and we were very industrious and finished the project! Unfortunately, I have no pics – guess I was too focused on the job at hand, but the topper below is my fave.

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For some reason, whenever I complete a sizeable project, I find myself floundering, unable to get into something else.  The cure? Cut out a new project! (Yup – squirrel – not starting a new project!) I’ve loved this pattern by Kathy Dougherty for a very long time. I already collected all my Kaffe fabrics for it and my “neutral.” I even had an acrylic template cut! You guessed it – I’m getting all the cutting done. This will be a perfect project for retreat in November. I classify it as “mindless sewing.”

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Then I saw this on Em’s Scrapbag. I’m eyeing my scrap bins and my Big Kick Pro cutting machine.  So tempting! If not today, I know it will be very, very soon.

 

And then strips to make some rope bowls.  Those won’t take very long, right? I can certainly justify that!

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The good news is that Florence behaved her self when she came through our area.  Light winds and much needed rain is all we’ve experienced. I hope all my readers are safe and my heart and prayers go out to all who experienced the negatives of this hurricane.

How about you – – – do you qualify for the Squirrel club?

 

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Love the Birds – Great Outdoors Blog Hop and Giveaway

Posted on September 4, 2018 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik AdventureGreat Outdoors Blog Hop

“The Great Outdoors” – what a broad subject! Hubby and I do love the great outdoors. we walk, hike, bike ride, and kayak.  The heat of the summer, however, doesn’t agree with us for such activities and we do spend a great deal of time on our screened porch enjoying the great outdoors of our yard. We have lots of plantings, live among the trees and have a LOT of birdhouses.  Several bird couples have moved in at different times this season, had babies and have now relocated.  Several bird feeders and a bird bath keep the winged activity going quite strong. We even have owls and hawks – oh my! My decision for this challenge was made when I went through my pattern bin (yes, a bin full of patterns!) and revisited this cute birdhouse and bird wall quilt design, Remembering Annabelle by Bloom Creek.

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The collection of batiks that Island Batik provided for this project is Whatnot.  Such amazing fun colors to work with!

Whatnot

I did not follow the pattern exactly.  I added the suns in each of the corners. I thought the black and white checked border really helped to set off the whole design.

The center of the pattern had words. I chose, instead to add a butterfly.  At that point I was not wanting to do any more applique, so I cut a square, starched it heavily and found an origami tutorial for folding a butterfly. It worked! The first one was too large for the center, so I perched him in one corner and did a second, smaller one to add to the center.

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The end of this fun and talent packed blog hop comes to an end today. There’s still time to visit the other blogs, enter their giveaways and to enter the Island Batik giveaway below. Now for heARTs Creations giveaway! – 1 fat quarter and 7 fat eighths.  All you need do is leave a comment telling me what you like about the Great Outdoors.  Please note, I will need to contact the randomly chosen winner by email and this giveaway is for US addresses only. Winner will be announced Sunday, September 9.

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Monday, August 6 – All A Flutter – Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde
Tuesday, August 7 – Birds N’ Bees – Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen
Wednesday, August 8 – Canterbury Manor – Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting
Thursday, August 9 – Eclectic Garden – Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created
Friday, August 10 – Vintage Morris – MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter
Monday, August 13 – Safari – Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs
Tuesday, August 14 – Spring Blossoms – Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk
Wednesday, August 15 – Victoria and Albert – Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon
Thursday, August 16 – Wild Things – Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs
Friday, August 17 – Petting Zoo – Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts
Monday, August 20 – Ocean Odyssey – Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler
Tuesday, August 21 – British Rose – Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts
Wednesday, August 22 – Dear William – The Inquiring Quilter, MMM Quilts, Living Water Quilter
Thursday, August 23 – Dragonfly Dreams – Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter
Friday, August 24 – Fur-ocious Friends – Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter
Monday, August 27 – Globetrotter – Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations
Tuesday, August 28 – Jungle Cruise – Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts
Wednesday, August 29 – Lavendula – Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting
Thursday, August 30 – London Calling – Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting
Friday, August 31 – Spirit Rhythm – Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore
Monday, September 3 – Sweet Tweets – Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Tuesday, September 4 – Whatnot – heARTS Creations, Me!;   Slice of Pi Quilts

Linking up with WIPS on Wednesdays, Needle & Thread Thursday

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Posted in Applique, Art, Blog Hop, Color, Fabric, Give Away, Hexagons, Island Batiks, Modern Quilting, Pattern, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Sewing Machine Pin Cushion

Posted on July 29, 2018 by heARTs Creations

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Here’s a quick and fun little project – and it’s very handy! I wrote this pattern and prepared little kits for a quilt retreat as a make and take for each person attending. I find this very handy on my Passport sewing machine which is the one I travel with. Hope you enjoy it and I would love to know if you made one!

Materials:  Strip fabric 2 1/2″ wide x size needed. (Decide where on the vertical portion of your sewing machine you want your pincushion and measure around, add 2 1/2″.)

Batting: cut rectangle 4 1/2″ x 4″ ; Velcro – 2 one inch squares; Tacky Glue or “Okay to Wash It” glue

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Press under 1/4″ on one lengthwise side. Press under 1/4″ on each short end.

Batting: Starting at a short end, fold batting over 1 inch, then continue to end. Secure with a little glue. Place batting on center of strip.

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Fold over raw edge of fabric, then finished edge. Glue the length in place. Stitch beside both sides of batting, as close to batting as possible.

Stitch short ends closed. Place around sewing machine and mark where Velcro should be placed. Sew Velcro in place.

Attach to your machine, fill with pins and enjoy!

 

 

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Two More!

Posted on June 27, 2018 by heARTs Creations

My goal for June was to quilt and finish as many Hospice quilts as possible.  I have been working on it for the last few days, but because so much of my time went into finishing my new sewing table, I could not begin earlier.

I pulled out all the quilt tops and if I had not already had a backing stored with them, I chose one. I also prepped the binding for each. Oh my – look at all those bindings!

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I prepped the batting for two of the quilts and sandwiched them. Now it was time to quilt!

I especially like this one because it is well suited for a male. See the lion peeking out?

Lion Hospice

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This paintbrush quilt is so bright and cheerful and is sure to bring a smile to someone in Hospice care.

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The blocks for both of these quilts were pieced by those attending the Quilt & Sew-In retreats. I then put the blocks together and finish the quilt. It is a great way to get more charity quilts done and is fun for all!

Hospice, 2

Comments:  It is always so much fun to read your comments. The encouragement is just priceless!

Linky Tuesday,   (too) Cute Tuesday,       WIPs on Wednesdays

Needle and Thread Thursday

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Big Shabby Chic Finish

Posted on May 23, 2018 by heARTs Creations

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Much of my stash has bright colors and bold prints. In contrast, I do love white on whites and off-white on off-whites.  A couple of years ago I gathered whatever of those two I had in my stash and bought many, many fat quarters. Apparently it was meant to be because I happened upon a warehouse type fabric shop that had a ton of these fabrics for just $1.25 a fat quarter – score!

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I wanted the fabrics to speak and not an elaborate design.  I cut a ton of triangles (starched to avoid stretching) and proceeded to sew many, many half-square triangles which I then put together as hourglass blocks, alternating the white on whites with the off-whites on off-whites. I layered a backing square, same size muslin square and the pieced square on top and quilted a simple motif on each. Yes, this seemed to take forever, but every so often I would do about 8 or 10 a day. I then pieced them wrong sides together with a half inch seam, then clipped the seams.

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It is definitely the Shabby Chic look I was going for and I am using it on one of our guest room beds. I also love the way my scrappy bedskirt contrasts on the bottom of the bed. The best part – I love it! Or maybe, the best part is that it’s done!

Linking up with: WIPS on Wednesday   Let’s Bee Social Needle and Thread Thursday   Moving It Forward

 

 

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Playful Pillow

Posted on May 16, 2018 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Adventure

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Such a fun adventure – “Playful Pillow.”  It wasn’t much of a decision for me as I knew I wanted another pillow for my sofa to go with the one I made last year with our curves adventure. I got the idea from potholders made by  Patchwork Pottery.

The pillow top was easy and it was the first project I attacked at my Spring retreat.  As soon as I got home I embroidered the face, backed the pillow front and quilted it.  I kept it simple because I wanted the kitty’s face to be the focus of the pillow.

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It finishes at a generous 20 inches and I love the way it looks side by side with my other Island Batik pillow.

The fabrics were provided by Island Batik and the threads by Aurofil.

 

Linking up with: Let’s Bee Social, My Quilt Infatuation, Midweek Makers

 

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Applique – So Much Color

Posted on May 2, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Several years ago I saw the applique pattern, “Lollipop Trees” by Kim McLean and immediately fell in love. An impossible task? I was up for the challenge! The pattern was gifted to me on my birthday and I began block one and finished it! But…I didn’t care for the background fabric I used so that block got tossed into the maybe I’ll see you one day bin and I began again. This time I chose a gray on white fabrjc and for all the applique pieces I am using Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Two blocks are complete and I am part way through block number 3.

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I am in love! And I am enjoying the applique process. I work on it for a little while in the evenings and have found it very relaxing. I’m not sure how many of the blocks I will do. I plan on using this as a wall hanging, so maybe six or eight. Four complete this year? That’s my goal! We’ll see!

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Two Projects Ready to Sew!

Posted on April 18, 2018 by heARTs Creations

It’s time to pack up and head to Blowing Rock for the Spring retreat. I’ll be setting up our sewing room for the Thursday morning start when I’ll greet all the happy, ambitious and anxious quilters as they gather to sew until Sunday!

I have several projects ready to go. The first one I will be doing as a leader/ender project. It is just a simple four patch with a one patch sewn in between each. It will be colorful and fun and fairly mindless – the kind of project I need when I lead a retreat.

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In my stash I had a pile of little triangles that I’ve looked at several times wondering, “what should I do with these?” Then when I came across 1 stack of 2 1/2 inch squares, it all came together! These will make a cute wall hanging or table topper – I’ll decide as I progress.

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There are a few more projects prepped, but as they are Island Batik Ambassador projects, I won’t be showing those to you just yet. I am excited about working on all of these and hopefully will get much accomplished!

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And here it all is – the pile of retreat goodness ready to go!

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