With An Open Heart

Well, I don’t make my plan A in time for the Project Quilting deadline but plan B did get done. However I was not going to let plan A sit idle! I’m so very happy I pulled this too-long-on-the-shelf bundle out and went for it, despite knowing it was a bit of a reach. I am even more happy that I finished it!

The warm sunshine made for a beautiful outdoor shot today.

It started with these fabrics that I collected over two or three years. Some were just .2 metre, others were fat quarters, and two creams, a blue and a pink were yardage purchases.

And this book that I bought for my birthday in 2003. So glad I write nerdy things like this in books!

You can still purchase the book at Art to Heart. I collected fabrics for two years or so, and made two items from the book, this runner in March 2005,

and the cushion on the front cover I made as a wallhanging for a dear friend around this time. 

In March 2005 I also made a table topper (shown above and below) using mostly this line of fabrics at a quilt retreat I was in charge of in my Alberta guild. The pattern is based on one by Lynette Jensen.

Some of these fabrics are directional, so there was some reverse-sewing along the way of making the blocks and geese to get everything flowing the same way. I think there is only one heart block and one or two flying geese where I was unable due to lack of fabric to do this. I also sewed most of the geese in the No Waste (four at a time) method as opposed to the one at a time method in the book. Thosecut off corners on a 4 ½" x 8 ½" flying geese unit were much too wasteful. For others where I only had .2m of fabric, I made a 4 ½" HST template like the AccuQuilt ones to maximize use of my fabrics.

This one got redone. Can you find it in the quilt? Second row.

Why I never did make the quilt all those years ago, I do not know, but when I was teaching full time, I never had any time to sew for the ten months of the school year, and other projects took precedence. The quilt top was done late Sunday evening, and after finishing round 5 on my SAHRR and writing the blog post, I pieced the flannel for the backing on Wednesday evening, and started quilting on Thursday morning, finishing that same day. I chose a light pink Aurifil thread that blended in really well with all of the colours.

What I call 'fat flowers' is the motif I'd known while piecing that I'd do

The only ditch-stitching I did is the hearts, which I also echoed on both inner and outer edges. I almost did ribbon candy between but then opted to just leave them, at first to speed things up, but then I liked the simplicity of the echoes. I'd kept the quilting fairly open, and so the approximate inch and a quarter left between the echo stitching kept that openness even. The outlining really helps to accentuate the hearts.

I had enough of the pink as well as the blue for binding, but opted for the pink as it went better with the backing. I also cut it at 2.5" instead of my usual 2.25" because of the flannel and the wool batting which is a little poofier than cotton.

As always, I quilted in my initials in the lower corner. The binding was machine stitched to the front, and then top-stitched on the back. The line of stitching will 'melt' into the fabric.

I pondered a heart name for a while, and hit upon 'With An Open Heart' meaning the way I try to live my life, as well as the open heart blocks in the quilt. Here is the label with all of the information.

I often like to make a matching pillowcase or two if I have enough fabric left. At first I considered the blue because I have enough for two pillowcases, but then I measured the pink, and there was exactly 26.5" which is what you need of the main fabric for my favourite pillowcase by All People Quilt, Roll it Up. MacGyver needs a darker fabric for his pillowcases, so this isn't suitable for him, and because this is a throw size quilt, I don't need pillow shams to match it. I whipped up the pillowcase in no time this afternoon, using some of the cream yardage for the band. The pillowcase band is done in such a way that it sandwiches the raw edges of the top seams inside it, and then the final two seams use French seams, so all seams are enclosed, worth the extra time. You can see another pillowcase, used as a sham, beside it, which matches my Shine quilt. I keep the shams on for January and February as the fabric is houses in winter. Gosh, I just realized as I type this that the cushion cover, one I did for a Benartex new fabric showcase, is Benartex, as is the houses sham and the heart quilt and pillowcase! Guess I really do like their fabrics, even before sewing for them!

I'll launder these on Saturday and look forward to using the quilt on our couch for the next couple of months (I switch out the throws frequently). I love the snuggly soft flannel backing, which I bought somewhere in Alberta, think on a guild bus trip. It still had the paper from the shop pinned into it: "3.5 metres @ $10.50" I do have some left over...maybe another pillowcase or backing for a baby quilt.

Little update Saturday morning: I had had no intention of using it as the extra quilt on my side of the bed, but after taking that photo, the quilt sat there... and yep, I did sleep under it last night! It's currently in the washing machine along with the pillowcase.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 52" x 60"

Pattern: Friends of the Heart by Teri Christopherson
Fabric: True Friends Collection by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex

Batting: Hobbs 100% wool

Backing: True Friends Collection flannel by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex 

Quilted: on Avril,  69 720 stitches

Threads: pieced on my Bernina with Aurifil 2600 Dove; quilted with Aurifil 2437; Bottom Line by Superior Threads in the bobbin.

Linking up

Songbird Designs

Quilty Girl

My Quilt Infatuation

From Bolt to Beauty

Quilting JetGirl for My Favourite Finish