I have a pretty good stash of neutrals and low volume fabrics. I save the most trivial little strips for the “someday” projects that need just that size! After last week's purging and organizing, I thought it was time to pare down those little neutral scraps.
I made three scrappy log cabin blocks, starting with a 4” light gray square in the middle. I did a couple of laps with random 1½” wide neutral strips. The blocks came out 8” square.
I sewed those blocks to each other and added a 1½” black and white striped border strip around the whole thing. I have a bench pillow that is about 14” x 25”, so I kept adding neutral strips until it was big enough to cover that.
I cut out a heart shape to fit in the middle of each block. I used a water-erasable pen to draw the outline.
I decided to quilt ¼” straight lines, right up to the heart outline, so they would really poof up. I used wool batting, which has a nice loft to it, so the texture is extra good! I contemplated just satin stitching the outline with red or pink thread to make the heart shape stand out, but not fill it in.
In the end, I decided I wanted to try something new! I grabbed some fancy fabrics I have little bits of. This is a polyester lining fabric with a sheer sparkly one to match.
I cut three big squares for each heart: two sheer layers and one lining layer.
I stacked them up over the puffy hearts that were quilted. I marked the heart outline lightly, on the top sheer layer, so I could see it clearly.
I stitched the outline a couple of times with matching thread and once with black thread. I wanted it to be very secure, but I didn’t want to go round and round with black thread, so this kept it subtle.
Now, to see if my crazy idea worked. I trimmed the layers around the heart to about ¼” away from the stitching.
I grabbed a dry toothbrush with stiff bristles and scrubbed away at the edges until they were nothing but fuzz. I gave them a little haircut to shape them up again.
With the pillow top done, I added a backing, dressing up the living room just in time for Valentine's Day! I can see this technique working with other fabrics. It would be cute to do stars or flowers with cute prints instead of the sheer fabric I used.
Happy Sunday everyone,
Krista