Thursday, January 20, 2011

February Season Tree Ornaments - Hearts Anyone?

I decided that it's time to start getting ready for the Season Tree for February. I saw some heart shaped potholders on Martha Stewart's site and thought that was a nice jumping off point for inspiration. Did I just admit that I was looking at Martha Stewart's site? Please don't tell!

I started digging through my heart themed fabrics and found a few I liked.

Then I had to find a heart to use as a pattern. My freehand drawing is not the best, so I found a picture on the web and resized it up and down for the heart and what was soon to be the heart center accent pieces. Then, came the cutting - hearts of both sizes and a piece of batting. I chose to make these flat and quilted rather than stuffed. Maybe the next batch will be pillowesque.
I practiced some edge stitching on a piece of the fabric and then jotted down te settings for what I decided to use. I'm not sure why I remembered this step, but I did! I can safely turn off the machine and not have to wonder "what in the world was that stitch I used?"

I stitched a small heart in the center of one of the large hearts with the decorative stitching. Then I made a sandwich of two large hearts right sides together with the batting on the wrong side of one of the hearts, sewed around the edges, leaving a turning area open, turned the heart, and top stitched around the edge. I did a quick machine quilting stitch inside the smaller heart so it would show on the back of the ornament as well.


These photos are the first heart I made. It still needs a hanger (probably thread) and when I make more, I'll add a hanging ribbon before I stitch the two pieces together. There's always a first! These were mighty simple, but I believe I could gussy them up with ribbons, strip/string quilting, etc.

1 comment:

  1. Lovely & festive!!!

    I wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on my hexagon. I couldn't respond to the comment because no email is associated with your profile.

    Thank you for your idea...I am thinking small, like a mug mat or a candle mat. My mom used those ginghams for a dress for little sister, so I think a candle mat out of them would be a lovely gift for her.

    I went to youtube to watch some videos on machine piecing hexagons and have to say I thought it was just as tedious and think I'd not stick with it. All that starting and stopping at the machine. Ick! I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed doing some by hand...and can see a quilt as a future project.

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