Hopeful Homemaker

Heart Mini Quilt

February 5, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing, Valentines Day

What a fun project this little quilt was! When I realized I’d gone a little crazy cutting pink squares for my Scrappy Swoon Quilt, I decided to use them right away instead of tossing them in the scrap bin. With Valentine’s Day approaching, a heart came to mind and I had just enough squares to put it together. I decided to use grays for the background squares.

Once it was pieced and basted, I quilted it in straight lines on both diagonals. Simple and cheery, it’s adding a bit of festivity to our wall.

I backed the quilt in an old Anna Griffin ticking stripe print I had on hand, and the binding is a Flower Sugar print from Lecien.

A few quick stats on making one if you’re interested:

fabric needed: 48 – 3.5 inch squares various pink or red fabrics for the heart, 9 – 3 7/8 inch squares of both pink AND gray fabrics, and 34 – 3.5 inch squares of various gray prints for the background.

Pair each 3 7/8 inch pink square with a 3 7/8 inch gray square and make 18 half square triangles using a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Lay your squares out as follows, from left to right :

Top row: 10 gray squares 2nd row: 1 gray, 1 half square triangle block, 1 pink, 1 HST block, 2 gray squares, 1 HST square, 1 pink, 1 HST, 1 gray 3rd row: 1 HST, 3 pink, 2 HST sqaures, 3 pink, 1 HST 4th row: 10 pink squares 5th row: 10 pink squares 6th row: 1 HST, 8 pink squares, 1 HST 7th row: 1 gray, 1 HST, 6 pink, 1 HST, 1 gray 8th row: 2 gray, 1 HST, 4 pink, 1 HST, 2 gray 9th row: 3 gray, 1 HST, 2 pink, 1 HST, 3 gray 10th row: 4 gray, 2 HST, 4 gray Sew each row together (1/4 inch seam allowance, of course).

Sew strips together to complete quilt top:

The quilt top should measure 30 inches square. Choose a backing, then quilt and bind according to your taste. Done!

With all the projects I’m in the middle of right now, it was a pleasure to put together a quick little project just for fun. It’s also my first finished quilt of 2013. It will keep a smile on my face this month when I walk past it, and that’s no small thing on gloomy February days!

Thanks for visiting, Jennifer

3 comments quilting, valentine

Scrappy Swoon-Along: Sections 7 & 8

February 4, 2013 jennifer Quilt Alongs

Welcome back to the Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along! Today’s post will knock out sections 7 and 8. I can hardly believe how close we’re getting to a finished quilt top! Let’s get started!

Section 7 Section 7 is another simple patchwork block. You will need 36 – 3.5 inch squares in your secondary color. These are the last of your secondary color squares!

Each block requires 9 – 3.5 inch squares. Lay them out in a 3 x 3 nine patch pattern as below:

Sew them into three strips:

And once again, the strips into a 9.5 inch square block.

Make 4 of this block.

These blocks will fill in the corners of the secondary color sections, completing the points on the corners.

Now we’re done with your secondary color! Next up is section 8 and the last of our primary color squares as well.

Section 8 Section 8 comprises the last of your half square triangles and the last of your primary color squares. For this section you’ll need 12 – 3 7/8 inch squares of both your primary color AND your background color. You’ll also need 24 – 3.5 inch squares of both primary and background prints.

Pair up your 3 7/8 inch squares and make 24 half square triangles.

Each block will require 3 half square triangles, 3 – 3.5 inch sqaures of background fabrics and 3 – 3.5 inch sqaures of primary color squares. Line them out in three rows of three with the half square triangles making a diagonal line throught the square.

Sew the squares into three strips.

Sew the strips together to make a 9.5 inch square.

Make 8 of these blocks.

(Remember the stacked paper method from section 4!)

These blocks will be placed along each side of the section 6 blocks.

OK. There we go! Finished with all the half square triangles (and we’ve made a lot of those!) and finished with your primary and secondary colors. Next Monday we’ll wrap up the background fabric with blocks 9 & 10. I’ve had so much fun watching all the color combinations and fabric choices popping up in the flikr group . Keep them coming! Can you believe you’re almost done? Have a great week!

Jennifer

One comment quilting, Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along

Aim Higher: Drops of Awesome

February 2, 2013 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty, Simple. Quality.

Earlier this week I linked to an amazing post that I read a week or two ago. It’s really impacted me for the better and I wanted to find a way to share it with my family.

Then I remembered these vintage medicine dropper bottles that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. I’ve considered getting rid of them several times but never did. I dug them out of the box they were in and was thrilled to discover I had ten. The perfect number!

Out came some ribbon and tiny tags, and soon I had a “drops of awesome” bottle for each member of our family.

I shamelessly patterned our lesson after the one I’d read about in the post , using a pitcher of water to overflow the bowl when my children were sure we’d never get there with our little drops.

We talked about how every drop of awesome we put into life brings joy. It makes us want to work harder. And it’s an invitation to the Lord to step in and do something awesome with our efforts, things that only He can do.

Now we have ten bottles around the house in bedrooms and other locations as reminders of what we’re after.

A few of the questions I’ve asked my children since our discussion:

“What can you do to add a drop of awesome to this assignment?”

“Have you noticed others putting drops of awesome into life? How did it make you feel to see them?”

“Did you notice the Lord turning any of your drops of awesome into something bigger?”

We talked about drops of awesome when my boys had to shovel somewhere around 15 inches of snow off of 8 driveways this week.

We talked about them while cleaning, doing homework, playing instruments.

I hope that “drops of awesome” can become code for “aim higher.” My children know I’m a fan of excellence, and several of them resent my discussing it.

But drops of awesome are different. They come just one drop at a time, and I guess life is more manageable for all of us when taken at that rate.

I love what she writes at the end of the post: “Small and simple. Tiny drops. Go forth. Be awesome.”

This just might work. For all of us, myself included. And I couldn’t be happier!

What will be your next drop of awesome?

Jennifer

2 comments goals, parenting

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