A Fuchsia Heart

Early in the summer I made two crazy quilted hearts as a custom order for my friend, Deb, in Texas. She wanted to give them to two friends on their birthdays...both in August. She had seen one I had done in red at our AWOL retreat in March and I guess that red one planted a seed somewhere in her subconcious mind...so later, she made an order. It certainly made me feel good. Deb has ordered several things from me to the point that we both joke about her paying my electric bill!

Anyway, she wanted one heart in fuchsia and one in orange. If you know me, then you know that these are not in my usual color palette, but I'm up for trying them out and I'm glad I did. On the fuchsia one, she wanted me to include a flamingo charm as her friend receiving that heart collected flamingos, so she even went so far as to send the charm! She is nothing if not THOROUGH!

I made these hearts, which are approximately 4 inches x 6 inches, in the crazy quilting style I love so much and they are great fun to make. Once again, time consuming, but FUN!!! I have used a variety of simple embroidery stitches, buttons, and beads to embellish this simple heart.
Nancy Eha taught me how to do this beaded edge...it's called a Three Bead Scalloped Edging Stitch and I could just do that all day long, it's so much fun. So, with that in mind, I did it on the inner edge of the pieced heart and the outer edge of the entire heart.

As I put the heart front and back together I added a tied fabric loop so the heart can be hung somewhere neat, for instance, I like to hang them from the china cabinet door...but one of my students suggested using it for a pincushion (imagine that!!) and hanging it in your sewing area. Well, why not? As you may remember, I taught a pincushion class at our retreat this month and now have four orders for these hearts....so I guess they liked the idea!

I am leaving for Texas on Friday to visit my sister. As soon as I get back, I will post the orange heart and let you have a look at that, while I get started on those four orders. I've added some recent post subjects to my ETSY SHOP, you might want to take a look. When I get back, I'll be adding a couple more items. I have to get better at tending to my tiny 'shop' I'm told by my best friends.

So, have a lovely weekend coming up, a great week following and I'll see you late next week.....now off to some visiting and maybe even a flea market or two. Take care, pat

PS. October is my birth month....so later in the month I am planning a Giveaway...stay tuned!