Heart’s Garden • Quilt Finish

May 28, 2022September 7, 2025 Elizabeth E.23 Comments

This weighty world needs a tender, light touch this week, so I thought I’d finish up my Heart’s Garden with you today.

Heart’s Garden in my garden, with the flowers of the silk oak in bloom above it.

I thought this quilt might be a fun place to try some embellishments, including these wooden buttons I purchased at a quilt show from a booth with Japanese fabrics, patterns and notions.

The birds now have eyes.

I quilted around a heart shape, trying this out.

Sew Sassy thread is a quilting thread developed by Jane Sassaman with Superior Threads. Since it is polyester, it doesn’t fray out as badly as floss when I’m stitching with it, and leaves a line like 3 strands of embroidery floss.

This is me, ordering colors online (and on sale) so I can do some more stitching. I’ve picked up spools here and there over the last few years. Obviously I have a couple extra: one in pink and one in spring green. ~~Leave a comment below and I will pick two winners from the comments and send them out.~~

One of my constant helpers at the computer. The other one is Totoro.

I was able to cross off a couple of more things this week. No way I’m going to get this all done by the end of June, but it’s okay. Time for good vibes to go out into our fragile world.

Recently on the PBS NewsHour, they had a discussion how many people are going online to try and back up Ukranian digital assets before they might be destroyed. In the middle of this serious business, I noticed that behind the librarian from Stanford was a Bernina sewing machine and a serger. Even in the hardships around us, we can find common ground.

I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know that Affinity by Serif is having a 50% off sale. I had my husband download Photo for his computer today (steal at about $27) and then had my daughter download both Designer and Photo for her computer. It even got a mention this week in the Craft Industry Alliance newsletter this week, as another way to get your digital artwork made.

So, this is the last of Heart’s Garden. I will post photos from our other makers in a future post, as I so appreciate all the beautiful quilts they are making, and believe they are worth letting you know about. I’ll have some time in the next little while to do more hand-stitching on this quilt, so I decided not to rush for a blog deadline. It will evolve and change, but I don’t feel like I have to do too much. . . just enough fun stitches to make me happy.

The pattern is up on my PayHip shop. I will leave Part 5 (heart border) up in my shop for another week or so, but the other patterns have been merged into the full pattern (I hope you were all able to grab them when they came out). Since there are tons of photos and illustrations, and PayHip has a download limit, I broke the pattern into two parts. Be sure to download both segments.

Affinity Photo helped me try this out in a different color.

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY FINISHED. Leave a comment if you want to win a spool of Sew Sassy Thread (US domestic only). I’ll pick two winners this week.
Then take a breath, and quilt!

Other Posts About this Quilt • Quilt #264

All of the individual posts are linked on the Heart’s Garden Info Page
Did I mention who quilted this? It was Krista of KristaStitched. She is delightful!

Heart's Garden · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt

Heart’s Garden Mystery QAL • Part 5

May 15, 2022September 7, 2025 Elizabeth E.15 Comments

Heart’s Garden
57″ square• Quilt #264

Gardens can be mysterious. In our case we planted the melons and the round cucumbers and some nocturnal visitor came and dug it all up. Will those seeds pop up somewhere else? Were they get eaten? What’s in the heart can also be mysterious, even to those who might have some experience in the matter. Are we charitable? Are we passionate? Are we kind, snarky, tough or tender?

But in the case of the QAL for Heart’s Garden, the mystery is now solved!

This is the final free pattern for the 2022 Mystery Quilt-A-Long. I will have a Part 6 that will show some embellishments, but that will be a post, and not a pattern release. ~~Heart’s Garden Part 5 will remain free until early June 2022 when~~ all the patterns will be combined into one that can be purchased.

I’m sure you’ve seen these images of Part Four on Instagram. Joan’s quilt is a brilliant range of hues from yellows to pinky purples. Lisa has used a wonderful selection of blues, pinky reds and tans to great effect. Linda’s quilt took a different turn when she used the borders from my Evergreen, Ever Life quilt, amending them to fit the center, and Susan (on Instagram or at her blog) has also made changes, using five flowers on two sides. I love them all! [As I receive updated photos, I will post them.]

Heart’s Garden finishes up with a row of heart blocks, like a happy picket fence around our garden. Generally I used medium-dark fabrics with a scrappy low-volume background. All fabrics are by Sherri and Chelsi, from their Sincerely Yours line. I love the brightly colored prints from peach to purple and think this makes a really happy quilt. Sherri is a friend of mine (we both taught English Composition classes) and I think this quilt would also be great in her newest line, Seashore. One reason I love showing all the quilts at the beginning of the post is for you to think of different colorways for your quilt than the one on the front of the pattern.

And speaking of the front of the pattern, Part Five is ready for a free download at my PayHip shop. (Reminder: In case you didn’t get any of the other parts, they are there for sale as well.) But, again, in early June all the parts will disappear to be replaced with a complete Heart’s Garden Sew-A-Long pattern for sale. Now let’s talk construction.

I started with the corners, making a Log Cabin block with darker outside corners.
Then I discarded this block and made the ones you see in the quilt. That’s why I have a full box of orphan blocks!

I like to sew Log Cabin blocks from measurements, but in case you like paper piecing, that option exists for you as well in this pattern. In fact, I made up FPP options for all parts of this border: the log cabin corners, the heart block bottoms and heart block tops.

I ended up using the paper piecing for the heart block tops and was happy I did.

There is a slightly different proportion on these hearts than usual, as I wanted a certain look for the border. I cut out backgrounds and tips and triangles. Detailed instructions for how to do this accurately and carefully are in the pattern. (Tips to make wonky hearts are also there.)

I smoothed out the center onto my design wall, then as I made hearts, I arranged them around the quilt.

There’s always this moment that you wonder: was this quilt worth it? I had only seen it inside, in my room and a lot of time I was sewing at night during winter.

But when I took it outside and saw the natural light hitting all those fun hearts and flowers and birds and patchwork, I was really glad I persevered. And I love the stained-glass photo of the quilt from the back. Sigh. I was content.

When the top was finished, I sent it off to Krista of KristaStitched, who used the Bebop e2e panto at my request. I used a neutral backing and Soft and Bright polyester batting. She did a great job. I bound it with a narrow strip of the geranium color that was in the fabric line. I did have to send away for the half yard, as I’d pretty well used up all my fabrics.

I have one more post about this quilt, showing a few more bits in Part Six, but there won’t be a download for that one–it will live here on my blog. So head over to my pattern shop and get your free pattern. If you don’t have time to sew it now, feel free to save it for later. But please–do not share the patterns with your friends or families. I did this free sew-a-long as a thank you to all my blog readers, and do want you to download your patterns in my shop, not post or share them without permission. Thank you 🙂

For those who have been following along, I hope you’ve enjoyed this Heart’s Garden Mystery QAL. See you soon for Part Six!

Hope you can occasionally piece and quilt–

Heart's Garden · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt · Quilt-A-Long

Heart’s Garden Mystery • Part 4

April 17, 2022September 11, 2025 Elizabeth E.7 Comments

The Heart’s Garden has been planted.
It is filled with flowers of all colors, and in many sizes. The birds are nestled in, the outer border acting as a fence for the blossoms to climb. Part Four is appliqué, but the appliqué can be done by hand or machine. Examples of appliqué are in this post.

I always like to feature those quilters who are sewing along with us; and who have finished Part 3: Lisa Johnson, Susan Snooks, and Joan Hinchcliff. Their quilts are all so beautiful.

In looking at our home at this Instagram hashtag, I also found the beginning of Linda’s quilt:

I am fascinated by how different all the quilts are. (Linda was my roomie at QuiltCon in Phoenix, in February, and is an awesome EPP-er.)

[UPDATE: Pattern is now all together and can be found in my pattern shop.] ~~The pattern for Heart’s Garden Part 4 is now up in my shop, and you can download it for free.~~

As usual Part 3 will be switched to a purchased pattern, but if you are just starting in, all the earlier parts can be purchased individually, or you can wait until mid-summer when the full pattern will be available. More at the end of the post.

My first planting. I started by pinning the stems around the quilt, having them overlap the inner border by 1/2″ on the bottom, as shown.

I take a lot of process pictures, but in reality, everything changes all the time.

Flowers, stems, leaves are all pinned up. Some like to use the glue method, some like the machine method (I do too), some like hand appliqué. I give tips and tricks in the pattern, including how I “dig” that stem into the “dirt” of the inner border, so it looks like it’s planted. You might also want to watch a wee video showing the basic technique for Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Circles.

Part 1 can be purchased here.
Part 2 can be purchased here.
Part 3 can be purchased here.

Part 4 is now live and living in my online pattern shop and can be downloaded for free.

Hope you enjoy making this fourth 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. I keep the posts organized on this page (also in the header at the top of the blog). A full pattern with all the parts will be available for purchase in mid-summer.

There is always the option to stop here, with the garden all planted, but there is a reason why it’s called Heart’s Garden. This will be obvious to you when Part 5 is released in May.

Happy Spring and Happy Quilting, and most of all, Happy Easter.

A short video for Easter: Because of Jesus Christ, All Things Are Possible

Heart's Garden · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt

Heart’s Garden • Mystery QAL Part 3

March 13, 2022September 13, 2025 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

This month is what I call a supporting month in the Heart’s Garden Mystery QAL. Of course you can figure out that flowers will be planted here next go-round, and so you’ll keep that in mind as you create your garden beds for them to grow in. There are three borders: the first inner one with large blocks and corner birds; a second one of interesting bits; and finally, a third one for stability and delineation for what’s coming next. All things rest on your creation this month, but first! some eye candy from Part 2 from Joan, Lisa and Susan:

Joan has put a butterfly in the center. Lisa (middle) also fussy cut her center and the striped border is really perfect. Susan decided to create a four-patch in the background of her Part 2 as she didn’t have any one piece of fabric that she liked. I’m really enjoying the creativity of these quilters!

This month includes making four sparrows in the garden.

I made more samples out of scraps to refine the pattern, but most of the fabrics I’m working with are Sherri and Chelsi’s line of Sincerely Yours, with a lot of warm pinks, reds and fun neutrals. After seeing the quilters above, I now want to remake it in something different.

Then the rest is cutting small bits, creating a background for what comes in Part 4–easy, peasy, right? I know it’s hard to create without knowing the future of a design, and my hat is off to Joan, Lisa and Susan for giving this mystery a go. As I mentioned in the last post, it was a bit of a mystery to me, too, after I scrapped the design of what I’d been headed toward and reworked it into a medallion quilt, but now I’m full steam ahead.

Here’s the front of this month’s installment. Parts 1 and 2 have come down, but all parts will be available in a stand-alone pattern, for sale in mid-summer. Our Instagram hashtag:

[UPDATE: The pattern is for sale in my online pattern shop.] Hope you enjoy making this third part. If you can post them on Instagram they will be fun to see! P.S. If you can’t manage another project, feel free to download for another time.

Happy Quilting!