Projects

Watercolor Heart Block

Created By: Violet Craft
Skill Level: Intermediate

Violet Craft loves to add a little bit of patchwork to her home every chance she gets. This Spring she has been admiring some contemporary watercolor quilts, also referred to as color washing. Her style frequently combines a little something classic with a little something modern and for this project she had the idea to use only one print and one solid to create a flowering heart pillow.
Look for areas of loose or solid background when selecting a print to work with. Then select a solid closely matched to the background color. For this example she chose Wild Carrot from her Madrona Road collection matched with white background . She had the perfect print in mind and her assistant agreed.


 

Janome Supplies Required
  • Any Janome Sewing Machine - Violet uses the 1600P-QC and her daughter uses a DC2013

 

Fabric and Notions Required

Other Fabric and Notions Required:

  • 1 sheet card stock
  • Rotary cutting tools
  • Fabric Required:
  • 27 ½” square - Lightweight fusible interfacing
  • ? yard print fabric
  • ¼ yard background fabric
     
Instructions

Instructions:

  1. Cut a 27 ½” square piece of lightweight fusible interfacing. Most fusible comes in 20” widths, so you may have to seam two pieces as shown. Use a pencil and ruler to mark lines every 2 ½” horizontally and vertically to make a precise grid for our design or lay the fusible interfacing on a grid cutting mat to see the ruler lines through it.
  2. Next “fussy cut" the pieces needed for the heart's top and bottom points. To help find the perfect spots in the print, cut a 2 ½" square hole in the center of a piece of card stock. Use the paper to help find perfect pieces for points.
  3. After finding the four points for the heart, cut the remaining print fabric in 2 ½" squares.
  4. Let the puzzle begin! Starting with pieces more solidly covered in flowers, fill in the main parts of the heart design. Look for pieces with solid white areas along the edges and match them to the curves of the heart. Move the pieces around to try the puzzle in several ways until you find the layout you love. Our example print has little petals floating in the background. I wanted to use some of these pieces and I floated them around the outside of my finished heart. Next, fill in the solid background squares in the center and around the furthest edges of the grid.
  5. Ensure all the edges are as straight and aligned as possible and carefully press your pieces onto the fusible interfacing. *To transfer my layout to the ironing table, I brought the whole mat to the ironing table and carefully slid the interfacing off the mat onto the ironing surface. *
  6. With right sides together, press an entire vertical row to the side and sew the seam.


     
  7. Press the seam to the side and repeat for all vertical rows. Repeat for all horizontal rows.


  8. I chose to make this block into a pillow cover. The example is quilted with diagonal quilting lines every ½”. The binding fabric used is Haystack from the Madrona Road collection.

Sewing with Junior Seamsters
This is a perfect project for kids. My daughter really liked the pillow I created and designed her own using Flight in black from my Waterfront Park collection matched with black background fabric. The overall loose print makes building your heart a simpler process. She uses a ¼” seam foot with guide to get perfect, straight seams. The speed regulation on her machine helps her control her project for a successful finish! She loves her pillow. After this photo was taken the pillow vanished to the depths of her tween room.




 

Everyone is Talking about Watercolor Heart Block
Reviews


Tako
Beautiful
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

cpindzola
Around the Table Dresden Placemats
Saturday, December 17, 2016

I like the concept, but the directions are "sloppy." Nowhere in the supply list does it mention the felt or the batting (how much?). Also, I would never use a high loft batting in a placemat, or a table runner, as I think that it would be too unstable for a glass. The next time I make these, I will cut out the batting (I use flannel) and spray baste it to the wrong side of the Dresden plate before I put the Dresden plate on the felt to cut out. I have not yet washed the finished placemat, and am hoping that the single layer of felt does not curl up, or become distorted after washing/drying.
Txmaid
Fun Great Gift!
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

MargieARK
Teatime Quilted Tablecloth
Friday, February 24, 2017

I made this today but your cutting directions need to be changed. You only need 4 of color 1 and color 3 4.5 squares for the triangles. Also the inner border, you only need 2 cuts as WOF is long enough to cut each in half to fit the sides.
MickelSews
Great Machine
Wednesday, August 30, 2017

I've had this machine for only a week now. I bought it used from a lady who makes her own clothes, but she no longer needed the machine. During the purchase, she noted that she is almost sad that it's better to give it away because of how well the machine performed. (I also bought it along side a computerized machine of another brand.} She demoed the machine for us, showing it worked and gave us everything (including the box it came in!) She took amazing care of this machine. I have used it a few times now, and the directions for threading were easy to follow (albeit my hands are quite large so the lower looper was a pain, but that is no fault to the machine or brand.) And I recommend this machine to anyone who wants to learn to serge and wants a machine that can grow with them. I will happily use this machine time and time again.
rvstan
S9 Review
Sunday, February 25, 2018

I love, love, love my S9! It's sews and embroiders beautifully and it's simplicity of use amazes me. I would recommend this machine for both a beginner and an experienced seamstress. If I would ask anything of Janome it would be to upgrade the programming to run a larger hoop size. I understand that it can't get much wider but there is most definitely room for it to go longer. That is the only limitation of this machine.
pjmnana
PJMNana
Monday, February 26, 2018

I purchased a Memorycraft 15000 a few years ago and it was the best purchase I ever made! This machine can do just about anything you would would ever want! I love the capability of using the Acuedit app to set up my embroidery pattern on my Ipad and then download it to the machine! I love how my embroidery looks upon completion and I love all the good lighting it has to light up your workspace. That way you don’t need to worry about where to set up your machine. It also has plenty of room to do machine embroidery on any size quilts! There are many decorative stitches from which to choose that are outstanding! It’s hard to choose which one to use! There are so many great features it is hard to decide what I love the most. If you want to buy only one machine to last a lifetime, I would recommend this one!
KLWash
S9 Review
Sunday, February 24, 2019

The S9 is amazing. I learned to sew by hand when I was just 5 and in my grandmothers way as she was quilting. I took seeing classes in high school until they would no longer let me sign up. The S9 makes me appreciate my current skills as well as motivate me to want to learn more. This machine is awesome.
SewSueMe2002
Horizon Memory Craft 15000
Thursday, November 19, 2020

My Janome Horizon Memory Craft 15000 is fantastic! I love, love, love this machine! When I came across the Eye for and Eye embroidery design today, I wanted to make it. However, the embroidery file is missing. Nothing downloads when I select the download button. Please help!
Jillfmischo
Treat Bag fun!
Monday, August 16, 2021

I made the Halloween treat bag for my new granddaughter and I’m sure it will last for years. No embroidery machine so I appliquéd the lettering. Need a little more skirt fabric for a better gathered look, and I used thin double-bias tape for the skirt hem, over edge stitch on skirt sides. I’m pleased with my results!
elenaz
Very helpful tutorial
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

I want to say thank you for teaching me this method of applique. I was able to do it with a small letters. This method is the best so far from all of those I've seen and tried.
plonkar
So useful
Thursday, November 30, 2023

I'd like to express my gratitude for teaching me this appliqué method. I successfully applied it with small letters, and, so far, it's the most effective among all the methods I've seen and tried.

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