November HeARTs Giving: Set Up and Preparation

After a bit of a hiatus in my creative practice, I am gearing up for a new daily adventure that will take place during the month of November: HeARTs Giving. I thought I would invite y'all to join me by sharing a bit about the inspiration for this new project, my preparations, and goals. Read on to learn more about what's involved and how you can join me on this short-term creative journey for a day, a week, or the entire month of November

This is where it all began: a stack of quilt sandwiches uncovered while tidying up my studio for Global Quilt Connection's Live Studio Tours (which you can still watch mine with this link). Most of these quilt sandwiches were stitched as part of my live, online free-motion quilting workshop demos. There were so many fun motifs stitched throughout that I simply couldn't throw them away, hoping to find a way to repurpose them. 

Later that night, I woke up at 2 AM with an idea that would create a bit of joy for me, while also adding a bit of joy out into the world: Cut out hearts to embellish and leave out into the world for others to find and take home. Last year I learned about the I Found a Quilted Heart Project and have been following them on Facebook and Instagram. I just love reading the stories about the hope and love that they bring to those who find the hearts and I thought those quilt sandwiches would make for the perfect fodder to make into hearts, while adding a bit of a fun factor for me in embellishing them.

So I made a list of embellishment techniques using materials and supplies that I already have in my studio and grouped them into 6 categories:  

1. Fused Scraps/Raw Edge Applique
2. Mark Making: Paints, Stamps, Pens, Markers…
3. Sheers: Tulle, Organza
4. Fibers: Embroidery Floss, Yarn, Ribbon
5. Bling: Beads, Buttons, Sequins
6. Artist's Choice

6 categories...6 sided dice...of course dice rolling will be involved in my this daily creative adventure!!

I have uploaded my Game Plan to my Design by Dice Gallery which you are welcome to use, along with a blank one for you to choose your own 6 categories using your favorite techniques/materials. You can opt to participate one day, one week, or the entire month of November. While I will be sending my heARTs anonymously out into the world as part of the I Found a Quilted Heart Project and using their #IFAQH tags, you are welcome to give your embellished heARts to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc using your custom tags with your contact information.

With a game plan in place, I got a jumpstart on prepping my hearts so I could dive into the embellishment fun starting November 1st. Read on to learn more about how I prepared my heARTs so you can be ready to join the fun in November...

Step 1: Got Quilt Sandwiches? Pull em' all out!

I was surprised at how many quilt sandwiches I had amassed since pivoting to virtual teaching! I had fun pulling them all out and laying out a large patchwork on my floor. 

Don't worry if the quilting isn't spectacular! If you don't have any quilt sandwiches, here's your invitation to do a little free-motion quilting practice. Again, don't stress over perfect stitching...Just play with texture and patterns! If you want to have enough hearts for the entire month of November, I recommend filling 3 or more fat-quarter sized quilt sandwiches. 

Step 2: Fill in any gaps with more stitching!

When I am teaching (and practicing new FMQing motifs), I often stitch rows or in clusters and then move into a new open area. So as I surveyed all my quilt sandwiches, I set aside those with gaps to take over to my sewing machine for some more FMQ doodling. I didn't worry about matching thread colors: In fact I usually chose a contrasting color to fill in these gaps. If most of the stitching was in blue, I'd go with orange thread. If it was all raspberry pink, I'd go for blue thread. Most of my demos are done with 40wt thread which stands out--but use any threads that work for you and your sewing machine.

I simply doodled to fill in all those gaps. No planning...just play with some of your favorite filler designs. For some reason I was in a zig zag mood, so lots of the stitching involved zig zags...

I pulled inspiration from Paula Kovarik's new book: At Play in the Garden of Stitch and played with incorporating wild shapes and patterns...

I had fun experimenting with layering stipple quilting with more stitched texture (Zig Zags, Railroad Tracks/Gears, and Serpentine) which I captured in three short video demos. 

Can you tell how much fun I was having with all these stitch sessions?!? It felt absolutely amazing to have my SewJo back as I looked forward to heading into my studio for a bit of FMQing FUN!

Step 3: Create Heart Templates and Trace

I had some leftover guild promotional postcards that I used to create heart templates, but feel free to use cardboard packaging from your recycling bin for making sturdy templates to trace around. To create symmetrical heart shapes, I fold the postcard in half and cut out a half-heart. I started out making the larger heart which is approximately 6" tall and wide along with a few smaller ones to fit into tighter spaces. 

You can use the cut out heart shape to trace or use the background piece to frame those quilted sections you want to showcase. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to fit as many hearts without overlapping. Whenever possible, I marked mostly larger hearts, using the 3 smaller hearts to fill in some of the various nooks and crannies. Most of my fat-quarter sized quilt sandwiches yielded 9-12 hearts- so 3 or so fat-quarter sandwiches should be enough to prep 30 hearts for a month-long participation (of course results may vary depending on the size of your heart templates). I used a permanent marking pen as it was readily available, very easy to see with all that stitching, and I planned to stitch/cut just inside of the marked lines, so I wasn't worried about them showing up in my finished hearts.

Step 4: Outline Stitch

Once all my hearts were marked, it was time to outline stitch 1/8" or so just inside the marked lines using slightly shorter stitches to minimize fraying of stitches or edges. I found it easier to do with free-motion quilting, but you could certainly complete with a walking foot and a bit of pivoting.

I was able to stitch all hearts in just one pass using this method. As I approached a nearby heart I would create a stitched bridge to skip over to the adjacent heart and then stitch around that heart's perimeter until I skipped over to another heart, working my around partially stitching all the hearts on the quilt sandwich. 

On that last heart I stitched all the way around before making my return trip where I was able to fill in the remaining gaps of the previous hearts, working my way back to the very beginning. At times, I felt like a rat in a maze, but it was a fun challenge and ultimately helped me to avoid breaking thread.

Step 5: Cut Out Hearts

Once all your hearts have been outline stitched, you can cut along between the stitched and marked lines, taking care not to cut into the outline stitching.

I had quite a few quilt sandwiches in my stash, but in just a few days, I had quilted, marked, stitched, and cut out 123 stitched hearts--which you can see in this short video clip on Instagram!! If you plan on participating all month long, I recommend preparing 30-35 hearts so you too will have a few extras to play.

Ready for November!

I am really excited to start rolling the dice and embellishing these hearts! I'll be sharing my daily progress on Instagram using the hashtag #heARTsGiving For those that opt to participate one or more days, feel free to use the hashtag as well so we can see all the joy and love that going out into the world!! Again--you are welcome to download my game plan and/or a blank one to choose your own embellishment techniques/supplies and to log your progress.

 

Each week, I will do a blog post which will include some more info about my weekly progress as well as snapshots of the hearts out and about in my community. I've already started making a list of spots to hang them for others to find. In my first weekly blog post, I will share more about how I will finish the edges with puffy/dimensional paint and add the hanging tags as part of the IFAQH project. 

Let me know if you have any questions!! Happy HeARTs Giving!!