New Orleans House Project

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Ancient UFO Unearthed: Little Hearts Wallhanging

I unearthed an ancient UFO the other day.  Neatly packaged in a zip-loc bag were a few finished blocks, quilt block pieces, extra fabric and a page of instructions.  I immediately realized now was the time to finish this project, as the quilt featured pieced hearts, and Valentine's Day is nearly upon us!
The pattern is from a now-defunct magazine entitled Miniature Quilts.  I only have the pattern page, not the entire magazine, so I'm not sure of the exact date, but my best guess is 1995-1997.  If anyone has a stack of Miniature Quilts magazines, this is from Issue # 17.  The pattern was written to be made with plaid scraps, with black, white and red as accent colors.
I did my version with red scraps, some  of which are reproduction fabrics.  The blocks aren't too difficult to assemble, just a little fiddly because the pieces are small.  The strip of red fabric on the right side of the quilt is binding fabric I'm auditioning.
I thought it might be fun to use red embroidery floss (single strand) for the quilting.  However, after doing a little sample, I decided using red on the white sashing would make things look too busy.  I think I'll use the red floss to outline quilt the hearts and regular off-white quilting thread in the sashing.

Finishing this UFO was so much fun I decided to make another version in pink.  It's still a work in progress, but I'll share some photos soon!