A Little Playtime

I had all sorts of things to do on Saturday, but instead of doing any of them, I shut myself into the Sweat Shop for a day of playing with fabric.  Did I work on any of the scores of things on my waiting-to-be-finished lists?  No, not really.  Well, okay, I DID glue down the applique on one corner of the Comfort & Joy quilt but only because I needed to get the prepared pieces off the sewing table and put in a place where they wouldn't get lost--and I figured ON THE QUILT might be the best choice.

What kept me occupied all day?

Hearts!  I've always been partial to the woven heart block and it seems like every year around now I have to find a way to put them to good use.  Today I made two of these small wallhangers or candlemats and about a dozen of the coasters.  What fun!

I'll show you how I made the coasters tomorrow, but if you're interested in making some of these heart blocks in the meantime--which measure 5" unfinished and seem just about perfect for coasters--you can check out my Valentine Tablerunner tutorial in the sidebar and adjust the measurements slightly.  For the red and pink strips--I didn't use charm packs for these but used some fat quarters instead--I picked out four or five reds and a matching number of pinks and cut a couple 1-1/4" strips from each.  For the tops of the hearts, I cut red and pink rectangles that measured 3-1/2" x 2".  The little background squares that are sewn onto each end of the rectangles to form the tops of the heart measure 1-1/4", and the background square that fits between the two heart tops measures 2" square.  The rest of the directions for making the blocks would be the same as the larger blocks in the tutorial.

If you want to make wallhangings or candlemats like I did, you'll need four heart blocks for each.  To join them together, cut a couple background strips 1-1/4" wide and use the strips for sashing between the blocks and around the outside--mine ended up measuring just under 12" when I was done, so it will also fit in one of the metal wire hanging stands.

Tomorrow I'm going to have to do at least some of those things I couldn't seem to force myself to do today, but that's okay; at least I had a day filled with fun today.