Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Valentine Mini

Introducing... just in the nick of time (whew!), a Valentine Mini quilt! :)  

I had so much fun making this little quilt and I hope you will too!  












Ok, hold on tight, here we go...


Finished Size = Approx. 22" x 22"

Materials Needed:
Scraps of 9 print fabrics, at least 6" x 6" each (hearts)
1/2 yd white fabric (background)
1/4 yd stripe fabric (binding)
25" x 25" fabric (backing)
25" x 25" batting

* All seams are 1/4" unless otherwise noted.


Step 1 - Cutting

From each of the 9 print fabrics, cut:
(1) 2-7/8" square
(2) 2-1/2" squares

From 1/2 yd white fabric cut:
(36) 1-1/2" squares
(9) 2-7/8" squares
(6) 2" x 4-1/2" rectangles (sashing)
(2) 2" x 15-1/2" rectangles (sashing)
(2) 3-1/2" x 15-1/2" rectangles (border)
(2) 3-1/2" x 21-1/2" rectangles (border)

From 1/4 yd binding fabric, cut:
3 strips 2-1/4" x WOF

*WOF = width of fabric; can cut binding strips 2-1/2" wide if preferred.



Step 2 - Sewing

For each heart block, you will need:


Using a pencil, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on all white squares.  (Note to self, white fabric does not photograph well on a white background... :)




Place a print 2-7/8" square and a white 2-7/8" square right sides together (RST).  Sew 1/4" on each side of drawn line.



Cut on the line.  Press one seam toward the white fabric and one seam toward the print fabric.




Match up the half square triangle units as shown and sew together.  




This is completes the bottom half of the heart block!  

To make the top half, begin by lining up a 1-1/2" white square with the top left corner of a 2-1/2" print square. Sew on the diagonal line.  Repeat with second 2-1/2" square in same print fabric.




Press white fabric towards corner as shown and trim seam allowance to 1/4".




Sew another 1-1/2" square to the top right corner in the same manner.  




Press right corner seam allowance toward print fabric. (Pressing this way allows the seams to lock together when joining the two units together.)




Sew both units together as shown.  This completes the top half of the heart block!




Sew top and bottom together to finish the heart block.




Repeat to make 8 more heart blocks with the rest of the print and white squares.


Join the blocks together with sashing pieces as shown.






Add borders as shown.







Step 3 - Quilting and Finishing

Layer top / batting / backing and quilt as desired.  I quilted straight lines 3/8" away from the outside of each heart block and sashing/border strip.  (Sewing 3/8" away from the seams helps prevent catching the 1/4" seam allowance and sewing over extra "bulk".)

Add binding, and enjoy!






I hope you enjoy this little tutorial (my first ever!!).  Happy quilting :)


Thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, February 8, 2014

Making Progress...

Hi everyone, happy weekend!

I'm having such fun working on my little Valentine's project. :)  Definitely making some good progress, so thought I'd drop by to share a sneak peek...




Hope to be back very soon with a finished project. :)

Thanks for stopping by!


Monday, February 3, 2014

Starting Something New...

One of my very favorite activities within the quilting process is selecting fabric for a new project.  I had the opportunity to do just that over the weekend when inspiration hit me with an idea for a fun quilting project, which may or may not have something to do with a certain holiday coming up in the middle of February... (ok, it totally does, I seriously can't keep a secret! :)

After much deliberation (enjoyable deliberation mind you, since fabric play was involved :), I landed on the selection below.  




I hope to be back later this week to share my progress on this fun little project.  (Assuming it ends up somewhat resembling the idea I have in my head that is! :)


Thanks for stopping by!