Playing with Hearts

The lovely sunshine of last week has surrendered to scattered snow flurries.  While I love watching individual flakes float haphazardly to the ground, I do not care for the accumulation.  Gratefully, it has largely been limited to the mountains.  (I hate having my teenagers out driving in snow!)  While the snowflakes swirl outdoors, I have been playing with hearts.

Not the hearts of people, mind you, but fabric hearts.  I am decidedly a “star” girl.  It’s my favorite shape/motif by far, with hearts falling low on my list.  Over the years I’ve wondered why it is, with no good answer.  I simply prefer stars.  But this year I decided to dabble in hearts.  Years ago I made my Scrappy Heart Quilt (free tutorial here), followed later by an all-solids Sherbet Heart quilt using the same pattern.  But I’m not in a patchwork mood this time.  So I started sketching.

These diamond hearts are making me smile.  Still in the testing stage, I don’t now if I’ll adjust or leave the block as is.  Each block is better as I play with technique while sewing.  I see potential!  This is actually my third attempt in recent months at a heart quilt I like.  Perhaps I can stop sketching?  Whatever pattern I commit to, I need to make a LOT of hearts.  As in, more than 550 of them.

This week marks the anniversary of an event that sparked a life-changing journey.  Unwelcome as it was, it also sparked a creative journey I’m grateful to be on.  My Heart, Today is among the first creative evidence of that journey, and these blocks remind me a bit of that quilt.  It is good to be alive and learning!

I’m off to refill my bobbin so I can continue playing with hearts.  I hope you’re doing something colorful and happy today!