Heart’s Garden • Mystery QAL Part 2

Here we go again, this time for Part 2 of Heart’s Garden.

How did I arrive at this design? I thought I was going to go for a whole quilt of EPP circles, yes I did. But I became increasingly unhappy with the quilt that was up on my screen, so I scraped all the pixels off the computer and threw them into the trash. I wanted to expand, yet honor, the circle but leave enough room in the design to go where I wanted it to go.

First, some eye candy:

Lisa was the first to send me a photo of her completed circle. I love this group of fabrics from Laundry Basket Quilts, and Lisa’s placement of colors.

Susan’s was next, a photo grabbed from her IG feed. Can hardly wait to see how this one evolves, as I love those deep colors playing all together.

I’m keeping to one bundle of Sherri and Chelsi’s Sincerely Yours fabric line, so that helped determine what I chose next. I went with one fabric for all the arcs, and a variety of fabrics inside the arc. I’m keeping in mind how I want the quilt to flow outward from the colorful center circle, and this made the most sense to me.

back of the first part of the assembly

The arcs are sewn together, then the seam allowance on the outside large arc pressed under. I made a template of the large arc pattern out of freezer paper, and used that to help me get that pressed edge, but you can also eyeball it. Don’t burn your fingers with the iron!

I put the arcs to the feed dogs, so I can help manage everything from the center circle side, keeping a straight seam when the presser foot hits the center circle and wants to wobble.

The twidgiest part is where the arcs meet the corner. You can just stop sewing at the larger arc’s pressed outer edge, or you can sew the seam (photo #2 and #3) and then unpick those four stitches later. I did that method. Both methods work.

Then you’ll appliqué the whole unit to a larger square. Tips are in the pattern.

Cut out the back and save it for more uses.

(Hint: Yes, there will be more uses–coming in March!)

I had a pretty good idea of what colors I wanted for the inner appliqué hearts (pinned on here), but I dithered on the outer circles, ending up with red. My advice: wait until you choose the border before you decide on those circles.

I have had fun working with this group of cheery fabrics, but after seeing Susan’s and Lisa’s I’ll want to try some different fabrics, too.

I have a hashtag going on Instagram (yes, with the heart on the end):

If you are making this, please tag it when you post, and I’ll draw from there for some photos next month.

Part 2 is now live and living in my online pattern shop. Hope you enjoy making this second part–post them so we all can enjoy them. P.S. If you can’t manage another project, feel free to download for another time.

Happy Quilting!