Hearts and Flowers

I had fun with this one...using scraps from the Dashing Hearts quilt.

I love applique, so drew out the motif for the medallion centre and looked to carry on with plenty more applique in the melons border and the floral border.

I decided to add some piping between a couple of borders.  The jury is out.  I'm not sure if I like the piping or not.  It was tricky to FMQ up to each side of the piping.

I decided to embroider the stems instead of making bias stems.

I have always liked the Ohio Star block, but never pieced it before.  I used foundation paper piecing to ensure the blocks were as perfect as possible.  Using left over jelly roll strips made them straightforward and quick to make.

Adding yo yos and buttons added to the fun.  I found some perfect buttons on eBay.  I really like the way they look in the centre of the Ohio Star blocks.

The quilt finished at 42" square.   It would be easy to make a much larger quilt from this design by increasing the size of the melon and Star blocks.

 The quilting was very simple on this one - mostly stipple.

I have started writing up a pattern for the quilt.  That should keep me busy for a few days!

I'm off to the festival of Quilts Thursday and Friday with the lovely ladies from Hawkinge Patchwork.

Happy quilting, all!