Hugs & Kisses Blog Hop - Tutorial and Giveaway!

Welcome to my stop on the Hugs & Kisses Blog Hop hosted by Mdm. Samm and Jane's Fabrics and Quilts.  Mdm Samm and our cheerleader have done it again ~ I was inspired to get sewing with love in mind!

So, full disclosure, I went a little over the edge for this hop.  As the mom of two little boys, wife to one big boy (even our dog is a boy), I don't get to play with a lot of pinks in my house.  I had so much fun getting ready for today - I ended up making THREE projects to show you.  

I'm even adding in a little block tutorial for you on the third project - I hope you enjoy. 

The Pink Pineapple Pincushion

I started small. VERY small.  I decided to make a paper pieced pineapple pincusion in two shades of pink.  Don't we all just LOVE a cute pincushion??  It's a 4 inch pineapple - and I just smile every time I look at it.  Itty bitty but full of heart!!

Pineapple Punch Pincushion
Pattern by Julie Letvin
Published in Jan/Feb 2012 Fons & Porter Love of Quilting

The Valentine Catcher

Second, I made a "Valentine Catcher" to save all of the kids' favorite Valentines that they will be receiving this week from school.  I used the Perfect Zip Bags pattern from Oh Fransson! and I purchased this adorable doodle heart embroidery pattern from Urban Threads (my favorite online resource for ultra cool embroidery designs).    

I have a feeling I will be using this heart again - it is just too sweet for words!

I ♥ Hexagons Wall Hanging

And, of course, I had to work some hexies into this hop, so I created a Hexagon Heart wall hanging.  

Today, I am going to show you how I configured my hexagons to make a heart in a short tutorial.  A quick shout out to my Get Your Hex On! hive mates who are making this block for me this month in our bee. Click here to see their amazing interpretations of this block.

I ♥ Hexagons Block Tutorial:

Block Size - 12.5" unfinished
Hexagon Size - 1"

This tutorial assumes a basic understanding of basting and joining hexagons to create a larger shape.  There are lots of great tutorials out there if you have never basted and pieced hexies before.  I also recommend Hexa Go-Go by Tacha Bruecher as a resource manual for the beginner.

*Important - keep your template papers in during all of the steps until you have a finished heart – remove papers before sewing down on the white square*

(1) Baste 25 1" hexagons from 2 1/2 inch squares of fabric - I think scrappy is really cute with this pattern.  A Moda mini charm pack would be perfect to achieve a scrappy, but coordinated look for your heart.

(2) Make three rosettes/flowers - each with 7 hexagons (**the numbers on the hexagons here are simply to assist in visualizing the placement, the aren't intended to denote any difference in fabric or size of hexagon**)

(3) Add an individual hexagon {4} to the bottom of each rosette/flower.

(4) There are two ways to assemble the finished heart unit – In diagram one, join the three units as shown with a single hexagon {5} in the center (figure 1).  Alternatively, you can also flip unit 3 upside down and slide it in between unit 1 and 2 and add a single hexagon {5} to the very bottom (figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

(5) Center the hexagon heart on a background fabric square 12.5 x 12.5 and stitch around the edge of the design as close to the edge as possible.  I like to start with a slightly larger unfinished background size and then trim down to desired size.

For this wall hanging, I just added a few borders and basted 5 hexagons into each border - again just stitching around the edge to secure them on the block.  Layer block top, batting and backing and quilt as desired.

This block is easily customizable with smaller or larger hexagons.
And to celebrate this LOVELY blog hop, I am also excited to host a giveaway.  The awesome folks at Paper Pieces kindly offered to give you guys all the paper templates you need to construct 4 of these hexagon heart blocks.  Two lucky winners will each get a pack of 100 templates to fulfill all of their wildest hexie dreams!!   If you haven't had a chance, make sure you check out their website - they have quick delivery and a great product!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are lots of lovely bloggers to check out today on the hop - make sure you swing by them and see what they have been cooking up in the LOVE department:

Just Let Me Quilt Quilt Monster in my Closet Nati's Little Things Kwilty Pleasures Cherry's Prairie Primitives Pig Tales and Quilts the tilted quilt (that's me!) Sew Much 2 Luv Sew Incredibly Crazy Freemotion by the River Marjorie's Busy Corner

You can also pop over to the Pinterest board that Mdm. Samm has set up for the blog hop and view all of the LOVEly projects in one convenient place.

Thanks again for stopping in today - good luck with the giveaway!!