Wearing Hearts on Sleeves...

The end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 was tough. My mom fell in Oct of 2011, right after her 80th birthday. She fractured 2 vertebrae, broken her shoulder and her pelvis. She is recovered and doing great these days, but the journey from there to here was a long one.  Lots of days staying with her.. helping her.. going to the doctor.. wondering if she would rebound or if this was our new normal.  So very little quilting (or anything else for that matter) got done during that time.

Shortly after 1/1/12, I was home one day and determined to make SOMETHING.. I just needed to create! So I pulled fabrics and started a heart wall hanging.  It required large four-patches.. some for back grounds, some to create the hearts.. which were fused to the backgrounds and then appliqued. I got all the four patches made,  got 2 blocks fused and appliqued, 2 or 3 others fused and that was it.  

I just did not have time to work on it, I was tired and unfocused and that led to frustration. So I put it away. Thankfully I didn't let my frustration take over and throw it away!

Fast forward to 1/12013... my sweet hubby said "What ever happened to that heart wall hanging you were working on?"  I didn't remember where it was, but he thought he knew.. so we went and found it and looked at what was there. Decided it might be worth salvaging. So I started 2013 reclaiming a UFO and I am so glad!  

I finished up the blocks and got them pieced together. Hubs and I brainstormed about borders and decided a thin white followed by a pieced outer border would be good. Got those added. He quilted it using Connecting Threads Red-Violet Essential Cotton Thread.  Looks so good!  It is all done and ready to hang on the wall come February 1 (Snowmen are hanging there now and I'd like to enjoy them a bit longer).

This is NOT your typical heart / Valentine's quilt.  Yes there is pink and red and purple in it.. but lots of other colors too. I love the plaids!  They are either from 100% cotton plaid shirts I bought at thrift stores (Thank you Bonnie at Quiltville for that idea!) or from some 100% cotton shirting fabric I found on sale at Hancocks a year or so ago. Bright fun plaids. 

In a weird was this is a combination of our 2 kids. Our daughter was born on Valentine's, so the hearts connect us to her. And our son loves plaids, so the fabric connects us to him.