Valentine Heart Garland Wall Quilt
I like making quilts for Valentine’s day. Maybe because the seasonal reds, whites, and pinks are so cheerful in midwinter. Maybe because I make my Valentine’s quilts to hang on the wall, so they are small and easy to make.
The inspiration for this heart quilt came from a wonderful banner quilt I saw on Lisa Calle’s blog, Vintage Modern Quilts. Her quilt featured flags, but I had made this heart garland last year, and my thoughts instantly went to a quilt like hers with hearts instead of flags.
About a year ago, I made a big push to get rid of scraps. (Did it work? Of course not.) During my scrap-busting period, I made some fabric out of my little bits and pieces of red fabric. This quilt was the perfect place to use that improvised fabric.
I used a heart template to cut out applique shapes from my homemade fabric and from several pink and white fabrics. I marked the hearts with a pen, then used a rotary cutter blade that gives a pinked edge to cut out the hearts. I lived to regret using the pen, though, because it left some stains on the back of the quilt.
Then I arranged the hearts on the background as if they were hanging from a line. I used [amazon_link id=”B0018N73C6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]temporary spray glue[/amazon_link] to hold the hearts in place while I stitched them to the quilt top. I left the outer edges of the hearts unstitched so they would look a bit like they are fluttering.
One of my decorative stitches made an imitiation line for the quilts to hang from. If I make this quilt again, I think I would use rick-rack to make the line more visible.
Then I stippled the rest of the background. A red striped fabric for the binding, a hanging sleeve, and the quilt is done! It is now hanging in the living room window.
I guess that means it’s time to take down the last of my winter decorations. Funny how much more I enjoy putting things up than taking them down!
What a pretty quilt! I love that you used the scrap fabric–it adds a sparkle. Thanks for sharing your idea: I’m thinking that it could easily be put to use with other shapes and colors.
Thank you, Mary. I am really trying desperately to reduce my scraps by making scrap quilts wherever and whenever I can. I agree that the garland concept can be used for anything that looks cute hanging from a line. The original quilt that inspired this quilt had flags. I’d like to do one of those, and also a version of my heart quilt that also has letters. I wasn’t organized enough to make the letters happen before the big day this year.