Project Quilting – Hearts

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It seems like everything is having a heart theme this week. It was the theme for #OurProject52 this week, and for this week’s Project Quilting Challenge.  It kind of stressed me out because I don’t usually do hearts- they seem so childish to me. I’m much more likely to decorate with anatomical hearts than real ones- but the challenge required 12 hearts and I didn’t want to make 12 anatomical hearts, so it took me a while to come up with a concept for my quilt.

heart quilt closeup

I’m really happy with how it came out though. The concept for this quilt is a child’s drawing and I think it will make a fun baby quilt for my next friend that has a little girl. My title for the quilt is based on a quote by Terry Pratchett.

There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this.

heart quilt closeup

So I present to you “When Not to Let Go.” It finishes at about 32×44 inches, and uses only fabrics from my stash. I used yellow gingham for the background on the front, backing, and binding, and fat quarter and smaller scraps for the heart balloons.  The balloons and the girl are all created as raw edge applique, added to the background fabric during quilting. Each piece is outlined multiple times to give the impression of a child’s drawing.

project quilting heart quilt

Sharing over at:
Thank God It's Finished Friday at The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts, Project Quilting 
at Persimon Dreams, Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, Fresh Sewing Day and Small 
Blog Meet Up at Lily's Quilts

24 Comments

  1. kris on February 20, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    You did it and got 12 hearts in there. Turned out super cute!!

    • Andrea on February 20, 2015 at 9:49 pm

      Thanks so much Kris! I’m glad you stopped by.

  2. WaggonsWest on February 21, 2015 at 1:05 am

    This is adorable. I love it!

    • Andrea on February 21, 2015 at 10:58 am

      Thanks so much! I’m glad you stopped by. Did you make a quilt for this week’s challenge?

  3. Lynette on February 21, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    Hey, that is a real cute concept piece – love the idea, and it’s going to make a fun baby quilt some day!

    • Andrea on February 21, 2015 at 3:09 pm

      Thanks Lynette! Now one of my friends just needs to have a baby girl.

  4. Kim of Persimon Dreams on February 21, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    As my kids would say, “I so much love this”. Seriously! This is just so wonderful and I love what you’ve done here! I’ve loved it since you showed us on Facebook earlier this week! i keep seeing it when I use my ipad and I wanted to comment with my computer so here I finally am! This is just so wonderful it makes me almost want to have another little girl … almost but not quite! thanks for joining in the pq fun!

    • Andrea on February 21, 2015 at 5:32 pm

      Thanks so much, Kim! I’m glad you stopped by to leave a comment. I’m surprisingly happy with how this one turned out- which is surprising since this quilt includes things I don’t normally love in quilting- bright saturated colors and hearts.

  5. Carla on February 22, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    This is so cute. I really do love this idea, it’s so whimsical.

    • Andrea on February 22, 2015 at 4:48 pm

      Thanks so much Carla! I’m glad you stopped by.

  6. Shelley Folkerts on February 22, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    This heart quilt project turned out so cool. I really love your Terry Pratchett quote. That makes this extra fun. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF.

    • Andrea on February 22, 2015 at 4:47 pm

      Thanks so much Shelley. I’m glad you stopped by.

  7. Megan Null on February 22, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    What a great concept! I love the quote too. I’ve never thought of balloons like that. 12 anatomical hearts would surely be too much work so I’m glad you found an alternative. Well done.

    • Andrea on February 22, 2015 at 4:46 pm

      Thanks so much Megan! I’d still like to do a quilt with anatomical hearts, but I’m sure I’ll stick with 1 of them, or at least have more than 1 week to get it done. Thanks for stopping by.

  8. Colleen on February 22, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Very sweet design!

    • Andrea on February 22, 2015 at 6:40 pm

      Thanks Colleen! I’m glad you like it.

  9. Nita on March 2, 2015 at 6:35 pm

    That’s super! It’s so Nice to see original quilts 🙂 and nice to meet you…Popping in from A Small Blog Meet at Lily’s Quilts.

    • Andrea on March 2, 2015 at 7:34 pm

      Thanks so much Nita! I’m glad you stopped by. I’ve made several original quilts in the last few weeks, thanks to the prompts in Project Quilting. This week I’m attempting an improvised log cabin quilt.

  10. Lisa on March 3, 2015 at 7:21 am

    I like the hearts as balloons….it adds extra interest.

    • Andrea on March 3, 2015 at 8:21 am

      Thank you so much Lisa! This was a fun project to make.

  11. Heulwen on March 3, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    12 anatomically correct hearts would have been AWESOME, but this is cool too. 🙂 Love the Pratchett quote and the sketchy feel of the quilting. 🙂

    • Andrea on March 3, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      Thanks so much! I’m glad you stopped by. I may still tackle an anatomical heart quilt, but I knew I wouldn’t have time to do it in a week.

  12. Maureen on March 3, 2015 at 10:17 pm

    Love the hearts – you made such a pretty quilt with them!

    • Andrea on March 3, 2015 at 10:48 pm

      Thanks so much Maureen! This was a really fun quilt to make. I’m really new at Free Motion Quilting, so this was definitely a learning experience for me.

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