Valentine’s Day Showcase – Lyanna from Purple Panda Quilts

Welcome to day 7 of the Valentine’s Day Showcase! Today I have Lyanna from Purple Panda Quilts. I first met Lyanna when I joined Sew Bee Blissful and we quickly became friends. I participated in her Stocking Drive and I look to her all the time for design inspiration and help. She is brilliant!

1. What got you hooked on your craft of choice? Well I love design and anything having to do with color – photography, art, graphic design, etc. One day I woke up and told my husband I wanted a sewing machine so I could quilt – he got me one and the rest, as they say, is history. (You can read all about my quilting journey on my blog)

2. What lights your crafting fire (ie. what keeps you crafting, why do you do it?)? Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but I love design and colors. Quilting is a way for me to turn my ideas into reality. I always enjoy seeing my finished projects whether they are billboards or blankets.

3. What is your favorite Valentine’s themed junk food? I love dark chocolate anytime of the year! =) Especially the dark chocolate M&M’s.

Take it away Lyanna!
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Hello, it’s Lyanna from PurplePandaQuilts. I’m so glad that Melissa has invited me to participate in her Valentine’s Day Showcase. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a huge Valentine’s Day fan, but I love a challenge and Melissa rocks, so I jumped at the chance to create something. I wanted to make something that was easy and fast (I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands) — this entire project took me only 2 hours from start to finish. Easy peasy!

Ready to get started and see what I designed for you to make?

Ok here, it goes!

Modern Heart Mini Quilt

Supplies

– 1 15×15 inch piece of fabric for quilt front (I used Kona Natural)

– 1 16×16 inch piece of fabric for quilt back (I used Kona Red)

– 1 11×11 inch piece of fabric for the heart applique (I used Kona Red)

– 1 8.5 x 11 inch piece of printer paper for heart template

– 1 8.5×11 inch piece of Heat n Bond Lite

– 1 16×16 inch piece of low loft batting

– 68 inches of binding

– Assorted colors of embroidery floss (I used DMC 347, 3687, 3833, 893, 151 818)

– Rotary Cutter

– Scissors

– Thread

– Iron

– Thimble

Instructions

1. Gather your supplies.

2. Cut a heart template out of the 8.5×11 piece of paper and use it to cut out the heart applique from your red fabric. 

3. Following the directions on your Heat n Bond Lite, fuse the adhesive to the wrong side of your heart.

4. Lay out your quilt top and the heart. Place the heart in the desired position on the front of the quilt. I placed mine with part of the heart hanging off the front of the quilt.

5. Iron the heart into place, following the directions of the Heat n Bond.

6. Applique the heart onto the front of the quilt. I used a zig zag stitch.

7. Trim front of quilt to a 14×14 inch square. Make a quilt sandwich by layering the outside fabric, batting, and the top right sides out.

8. Pin and machine quilt as desired. I quilted 11 lines around the heart, each a quarter inch apart using a neutral colored thread.

9. Square up the quilt sandwich, and trim it to 14×14 inches

10. Hand quilt around the heart. I used my previous quilting as a guide, and hand quilted around every other line. This was my first time hand quilting, so if you need some instructions I highly recommend this tutorial from from Sew Mama Sew. My tip would be to get a thimble! This part took the longest of the entire project but is totally worth it, in my opinion.

11. Bind the quilt as desired.

12. Hang (you can attach a hanging sleeve following this awesome tutorial or use grommets following this tutorial both from Tallgrass Prairie Studios)  and enjoy your Modern Valentine’s Day Mini Quilt!

 

As always, be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

 

Thank you Lyanna! Your project is truly stunning! Tomorrow we have a fabulous paper piecing tutorial from Jenna at Sew.Happy. Geek!

Have you started your project yet?

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