Tutorial - make an I LOVE YOU heart...

Today I'm sharing a very simple gift you can make for our Homemade Stitched with Heartstrings project!

Small projects that use our fabric scraps and don't require hours of time to sew are perfect for making a few at a time.

This little heart has a simple embroidered "I Love You" message down the centre but you could omit the stitchery and replace it with a strip of lace or contrast fabric instead. 

Let's begin!

Download the free "I Love You" stitchery pattern HERE.

Stitch the embroidery on a piece of fabric 3 inches wide and 8 inches long, and trim back to 2" wide after stitching...

Sew pieces of contrast fabric down both sides of the embroidery.

I used pre cut scraps but if you're cutting your fabric you'll need pieces at least 3 inches wide and the same length as the embroidery...

Fuse a piece of scrap Pellon or Parlan measuring 6" inches wide x 7 inches high behind the block...

Trace the heart outline from your pattern sheet onto a piece of template plastic and cut out.

Trace the shape onto the centre of your block using a pencil.

Alternately, just cut out the paper heart shape and use it to trace around...

 Sew a line of running stitch just outside the edge of your embroidered section...

Cut along the traced line of your heart shape...

Choose your backing fabric and lay the heart face down onto it. Pin in place.

Sew around the edges with a 1/4 inch seam, leaving a 2 inch opening along one side.

Carefully clip notches in the curve of the heart...

Turn your heart right side out, fill with polyester toy stuffing (and lavender flowers if you like) before ladder stitching the opening closed.

 If you have some orphan stitcheries lying around you could even use them as the entire heart front, or what about doilies? I shall be playing with my doily stash to make more hearts and I will show them to you once they're made.

Please leave your blog link in a comment below if you're joining the Homemade Stitched With Heartstrings project in the lead up to Christmas and I'll add your link to my sidebar with the other lovely bloggers who are sharing ideas!

(don't forget to visit them and see what projects they've found on the web or made themselves)

Have a lovely Friday!

hugs

Two free BOMs for 2016...

Next year on the blog I'll be sharing not one, but TWO free Block of the Month projects.

The first will be a Christian co-project with my dear friend (and across-the-pond prayer partner of many years) Allie Hartom of Allie-Oops Designs.

"Postcards From Heaven" will begin on New Year's Day 2016 when I'll share the first of twelve monthly blocks.

In February Allie will share block 2, and from there we'll tag team back and forth each month till December.

Here's a little sneak peek of my first block in "Postcards From Heaven"...

We'll share all the info about this 2016 Block of the Month in December. 

The second free Block of the Month for 2016 is one that has been on my heart all year.

As you know, throughout 2015 I've been seeking to rediscover myself, the real 'me', the gal with the homemaker heart. 

(if you're new to the blog please read THIS blog post from January to better understand my motivation)

2016 will build on that theme, but deeper than this year because much of these past ten months have involved challenging life lessons of letting go, working through who I am, who I've become, and who I want to be, as well as learning about priorities, saying no, and what I can do to create a calm, ordered and welcoming home atmosphere.

 

I've indulged in most of my mission statement goals from January but not all, so walking along this path into 2016 is quite delightful because I feel no pressure, just excitement at the prospects ahead of me...

 

Overall I've loved the lessons that have become clear about myself this year, and though I may not have liked them all, mostly they are helping mold me into a nicer version of who I was before, and that's what I call a positive outcome and one that is worth continuing the challenge.

2016 will see me expanding my horizons along this beautiful path to "living the gentle domestic life".

 

And this is where the new BOM comes in to play!

"Gentle Domesticity" will be a year long quilt project made up of twelve applique/embroidery blocks and bits of patchwork.

Scattered through the quilt we'll sew blocks which feature scenes wonderfully gentle and domestic, quotes to inspire, or moments that calm and revive.

This patchwork quilt will indeed be a 'patchwork' view of the gently domestic life.

 

 There's no materials lists to share with you because it's all made from scraps...

...which is why I'm telling you about this project today.

 

You have a little over two months in which to gather your own tub of fabric scraps.

Mine are mostly pastels in blue, pink, green, aqua, and beige, with probably a few pops of red, brown and yellow along the way...

If you have a metre (yard) of background fabric for the stitchery/applique blocks that will be enough, but for the remainder of the project just gather scraps. 

I drew up the first block on Tuesday and stitched it that night...

I'm designing along the way you see, but the picture is in my mind and there's a delightful calm as I work through the process of bringing it to life...

This will be a quilt for my own pleasure, a treasure chest of memories drawn from a desire to be a homemaker more than anything else.

As I stitch this quilt, I'll be praying my girls will embrace homemaking as the noblest of all womanly occupations in their hearts, though they live in a world which (in general) doesn't hold that position in honour or esteem much anymore, and that they pass this truth down the family line with grace and joy.

That will be a legacy indeed.

Will you be joining me next year?

hugs

I've been stitching...

Designing and sewing for The Stitchery Club each month is such a blessing because I get to put all the pattern ideas that swim through my mind at 3am onto paper, then fabric, and finally bring them alive with thread.

Here's three of the six new designs for November's Club members...

I'd really love to know which is your personal favourite, and most importantly, why?

Would you do that for me, please? Just pop your answer in the comments.

Your feedback will give me food for thought when planning patterns for 2016. 

{{thanks}} 

All information about becoming a member of The Stitchery Club can be found HERE on the Club webpage.

Tomorrow I'm going to show you sneak peeks of TWO free Block of the Month projects that will be shared here on the blog in 2016!

And why am I sharing photos this early?
So you can begin your gathering.
Gathering fabric scraps, that is!

One of the BOMs is made entirely of fabric scraps so there will be no list of materials supplied apart from "a box of fabric scraps"...

And don't we all collect scraps?

Until tomorrow, have a blessed day.
hugs

HOMEMADE Stitched With Heartstrings 2015...

The other night, after a hot and humid day of spring housecleaning, I poured myself a long cool glass of ginger beer and settled in for an hour on the laptop looking for wonderful gift ideas to share with you.

In the midst of this I pondered a most common question which generally shakes up my 'little grey cells' as the calendar rolls further towards Christmas each year.

"What should we give him/her?"

Mr E and I discussed this dilemma over breakfast the next day and as we reflected back over our own childhood Christmases it became obvious that 'then and now' were vastly different. 

The only gift receiving times all year were Christmas and birthdays so we thought very carefully about what went on our wish list. Gift giving outside of those two celebrations were rare.

But today as a general rule most people purchase what they want, as they want it, for themselves and their children. That's a big reason as to why gift giving has become such a headache. 

Many of us already own what we want.

And that, dear girl, is where the whole concept of making gifts comes to the fore!

My family and friends cannot buy what I can make them. Sure, they might get a similar generic factory made copy I suppose, but not the real deal. 

Not a "handmade and stitched with heartstrings" personal gift from my hand to theirs.

So that's going to be a focus here on the blog over the next two months.

A couple of times a week I'll share a blog post with ideas from others and the odd one of my own. 

If you'd like to add my *homemade stitched with heartstrings* button to your blog and join me in making as much as we can ourselves this Christmas that would be wonderful!

You can download the button HERE to pop in your blog sidebar with a link back to my blog.

I'll be carrying this theme on into 2016 as well, but more about that will be shared on the blog in January.

Now let's kick off *homemade stitched with heartstrings* Christmas 2015 with these (fairly) easy to make projects...

 

The Northern Hemisphere will be wrapping themselves up in warm woollies come December, so I thought these Simple House Slippers would be a grateful gift for just about everyone in your family or friendship circle.

They are a free pattern by Simone from Denmark on Ravelry. 

Download it HERE...

I've been an admirer of Kerryanne English for years and love her shabby chic style designs. She recently shared a tutorial to make these sweet scrappy hearts. 

Naturally they have been added to my sewing list for Christmas giving and also for hanging in my own home.

See her tutorial HERE...

This table runner by Amy is a quick make so I'm thinking it wouldn't be difficult to spend an afternoon sewing three or four from the scrap basket - that's quite a few pretty (and thrifty) gifts at once!

See her tutorial HERE...

 Another terrific scrappy idea using leftover fabric bits and pieces is this bag by Ashlee.

An idea would be to scour op-shops for old weathered bags that still have usable (and detachable) handles, or maybe you have a bag already which is long past it's 'use-by' date but has perfectly suitable handles. 

See her  tutorial HERE...

With a new baby arriving in our family next year I went hunting for some useful (and pretty) gift ideas I could sew.

Like THIS fold up clutch-style change mat tutorial from the Bernina website. It easily fits into a hand bag or could be kept in the car...

This is another cute clutch, but without the change mat. It stores nappies (diapers) and wet wipes. Wish these were around when I was birthing my bubbas!

Tutorial from Cheri can be found HERE...

Orphan fat quarters are perfect for whipping up a stack of baby bibs!

HERE is a very simple tutorial for a basic no-knot bib from Delia.

You could add applique across the front or an embroidery...

If you're joining in why don't you leave a comment below with your blog address so my readers and I can visit you?

In your *homemade stitched with heartstrings* blog posts over the next two months share what you've personally 'stitched with heartstrings' for Christmas as well as great gift project ideas you find on the internet, and include the *homemade stitched with heartstrings* button each time.

What fun for all of us to visit each other and be inspired?!

I'll also add your blog link to my sidebar under the *homemade stitched with heartstrings* button until Christmas Eve.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be fun, don't you?

Happy handmade sewing!

Assembling your Christmas Wreath!

Hopefully by now you have stitched all six blocks and are ready to create your very own Christmas Wreath Mini-quilt!

As shared in each block's instructions, after stitching you should have cut around each hexie shape leaving a 1/4" buffer.

Fold the 1/4" of extra fabric over to the back of the paper hexie shape and hand sew a line of large running stitch around the edges to secure in place. Press the edges flat with a hot dry iron...

Make a seventh 2" hexie shape using some of your red fabric. See if you can fussy cut a piece to give you a centred design. 

Make six 1" hexie shapes from your red fabric, and again, see if you can fussy cut a good centre design.

Press their edges well.

With the papers still inside your hexie shapes, sew all the pieces together (as shown below) by slip stitching along the side edges...

From the front your 'wreath' should look like this...

Press the wreath, then remove the large running stitches and carefully extract the paper hexie shapes.

Next step, cut your background fabric. I chose a silver grey dove print which I cut on a slight diagonal line to give some visual movement to the finished quilt.

You will need a 15 1/2 inch square.

Fuse a same sized piece of Pellon or quilt wadding behind the square.

Measure 5 inches in from each corner and draw a line diagonally to create a triangle...

Cut away each corner triangle.

Hand quilt around the inside edge of all your hexies with a running stitch...

Lay your quilt front onto the wrong side of a square of red backing fabric. Fuse together with basting spray, or hand baste with thread or pins...

Make a length of binding from the rest of your red fabric and sew it around the sides of your mini quilt...

 Trim away the excess backing fabric and press the binding away from the quilt...

...before turning it over to the back and slip stitching in place.

Hand quilt around the large hexie wreath and also just inside the edge of the binding line.

My hand quilting beside the silver hexies was in a contrast red, whilst around the red hexies I used a silver grey thread.

 The quilting along the edge of the binding was stitched in silver grey...

I used a few stitches to secure the mini quilt to the metal hanger for display instead of adding a hanging sleeve. This was because next year I will probably display my Christmas Wreath as a large candle mat or table centre.

Pretty versatile, right?!

Hope you have enjoyed this free Stitch-along. 

This tutorial will remain free on the blog for everyone to use. 

Email photos to me of your completed Christmas Wreath okay? I'd love to see them and share them here on the blog in a special Show & Tell in December.

Have a blessed week!

hugs

UPDATE: A new updated stitch-along begins on my blog November 18th, 2019