Currently Stitching: Valentine's Day Quilting

If you've been following along these last few weeks, you've probably noticed that I've been putting together quite a few of these clutch style bags. I have been working with a variety of materials and trying out different sizes and patterns. This week I thought it would be appropriate to make a Valentine's Day Clutch!

I always get started by laying out the pieces in a pattern. I used a mini charm pack to put together the outside of the bag. I offset the blocks by a quarter to a half an inch. I used pretty much all the pieces in the pack, hoping to create a bag that's a little bit bigger. 

Once the blocks were sewn into rows and then together, it was time to quilt them! I thought it would be sweet to use a pink, red, and white variegated thread! And I was right! It really brought the different shades from the charm pack together! I'm glad I decided to go with waves instead of a cross hatch, it keeps it soft. I used some scrap 80/20 batting I had in my stash to get them quilted.

From there I picked out the zipper and squared up the quilted pieces. I only set them slightly at an angle this time. Sometimes when I'm cutting them down to size I do it at a harsher angle, and this time I wanted to keep as much of each block as possible. 

The next step was to sew the zipper to the front and lining pieces. Here is where I realized something I was not doing for my bags that they needed! Some of the ones I made turned out kind of wonky and I couldn't figure out why?! I needed to trim a small angle from the top corners to the trimmed out corners! So I made the adjustments and get the pieces sewn together.

And here she is! All zipped up and ready to be filled with goodies! I like that the two sides aren't the same. It's happy and fun! (Which I feel like I say a lot, but these bags really are a lot of fun to put together!)

I had some of this red and white mini heart fabric left from another project and decided to use it here! It was on theme (obvi), and felt like it made the bag feel completed.

Once I'd finished with the clutch it was time to start on the table runner. I decided to try and come up with my own pattern. Working with the same fabrics, but in 5x5 squares, I got started separating them by color groups.

Then I went through my stash of white/ off white Valentine's Day fabrics. I cut them in to 3 inch strips, and then sub-cut them into 3x3 blocks to snowball the corners. 

I always forget how cheerful Valentine's colors and fabrics can be! It was so joyful to see my cutting area full of the pinks and creams and reds!

Here is where we start the familiar rhythm of marking the snowball blocks.

I like to use the seam marker tool so I can sew down both sides and then cut through the middle. This way I'm staying ahead of the half square triangles, instead of having a bunch of triangles that will go in a baggie and never again see the light of day.

I took my time laying out the snowball corners. I wanted to get a variety of combined fabrics and keep an eye on the directional pieces.

The blocks with three snowballs will turn into the 'x.' The ones that have two snowballs will create the 'o.'

Now here comes the moment where I admit I am unsure of a project. I really like how these four blocks turned out. But these are my issues...

1. Which way do I want the table runner to run? Do I want it to face both ways with the directional fabric? 
2. Is it too wide across the table at this point? Should I run them all in one long line? 
3. Should I make more of these 'x' and 'o' blocks if they're not in the same bright red and varying pinks? 
4. What about sashing and borders? 
5. Should I make a heart block? 

As you can see I quickly began to spiral down the black whole of creativity. So I decided to take a break and work on something else... 

So don't shame me here. I made this quilt at retreat a year ago...... #sigh

Better late than never right? 

It came out of layer cake and some white multicolor heart background fabric. I think I had both fabrics in my stash for the better part of a decade! I was so glad to finally put it to use!

I realized I didn't have any Valentine's Day quilts! I didn't have anything Valentine's - anything! Can you believe it?! 

I did as much pre-cutting at home as I could. I really wanted to get it finished at this retreat! I was thrilled to have it done!

Which brings me to now, where I just got it back from the longarm! We chose a gentle swirling heart paisley style pattern. She did such a wonderful job as always! 

We went with a sweetheart light pink color. One of the things I love about the all over quilting is how it brings the whole thing together. It softens any hard edges. There's so much blending that comes out of an all over stitch, I just love it! This means it's time to get the binding done! I think I've got the perfect fabric picked out! 

Check in next week to see the binding selection and progress. Find out how the table runner plans develop. Plus a few other surprises!

Share your projects with me! Let me know how you celebrate Valentine's Day!