Thanks to it being Valentine's Day I was reminded that I was supposed to make a heart block for a quilt our circle will be presenting to our friend Deanna who recently lost her husband.
I found a block that I liked on the internet and made a rough drawing, literally tracing it by holding a paper up to my computer screen. I then measured and squared it all up and came up with this:
Since I had never done foundation paper piecing before I headed on over to YouTube to see if there was a tutorial available. Yup, there were plenty, each one I viewed more confusing than the last. I was happy to find the tutorial below that was really well done and quite simple...just my speed. Bravo to the woman who made this tutorial!
It took me a little time to figure out where I should start, but once I got things going it came together fairly easily. Funny how things seem to work well when I'm working with fabrics I really like. I just love mixing pinks and reds and purples.
Considering it was my first attempt at foundation paper piecing, I think it came out pretty terrific. I'm definitely hooked on this technique. Everything came out so crisp and exact. If I do this particular pattern again, I will most likely make the bottom of the heart pointed.
There seemed to be a lot of scraps left over. The woman in the tutorial said that the more one practices paper piecing, the better one will get at using smaller pieces. I totally get that. I think my next paper pieced project will definitely be a lot less wasteful.
Next up:
This one I can't simply trace...way beyond my figuring out. Besides, there is a woman who sells this pattern fairly cheaply on Etsy as a PDF file that I won't even have to wait to come in the mail!
Now that I've gotten one heart under my belt, I think I'll attempt another and start working towards making something similar to the above quilt. I'm hoping to present it to my Jules when she graduates high school. I've got about a year and a half to get this done...I'll probably wait until a month before graduation before starting on it though, cuz that's how I roll. :o)
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