Heart2Heart - Special goodies from SUSAN!

SUSAN sent a very special Heart2Heart block to me for my heart quilt. Isn't it gorgeous?! She does amazingly beautiful stitchery:

We decided that we would also swap special H2H siggies, and this is what Susan designed and made -- isn't the embroidery wonderful? Susan has a lot of talent!
She also included THREE extra gifties! First, this beautiful patchwork and embellished heart. I love the little flower at the 'inney' of the heart. I plan to attach a silk ribbon behind this flower and hang the heart in my bedroom. Won't that be neat? I told Susan what I was going to do with my heart and she said she was doing the same thing! Kindred hearts, indeed! *vbg*
A lovely hand towel embroidered with Australian flowers:

And this precious heart that she hand crocheted! Perfect!

Everything came wrapped in pastel tissue papers and tied with pretty colored embroidery floss! How clever is that?!

Thank you so much, Susan. I feel lucky to be included in your friendship circle!

All for now... thank you for stopping by and sharing my joy,

Hugs,

Cyn;-)
PS: I wonder if this post 'reads correctly'... I mean, afterall, it is after 3:30 in the morning!!! -- sheesh, what am I still doing up??? Nite Nite, everyone! lol

PPSS: Ok... the news flash has been received --lol-- no more posting in the middle of the night when my brain is even less effective than usual! LOL. One of the pictures and some text "evaporated" from my post -- so, look above; I put it back in! I better get a better handle on using the "preview" button! *g* Sometimes I just think that I have no idea what I'm doing in blog-land! But, I'll keep trying. *vbg*. It's all a learning process....ya?!

Happy Mail - H2H Siggie from Rosa!

Isn't this a darling siggy? I love it! Love the pink fabric, the appliqued heart. . . everything!

Wowzer, I am a happy camper - happy mail from friends is always a special treat! THANK YOU, Rosa!

All for now... thank you for stopping by,
Hugs,
Cyn;-)

Heart 2 Heart blocks. . . 5 variations

These are the blocks that I made for a recent H2H block swap [all but the striped one in the middle of the top row]. About 40 of us signed up to make and swap heart blocks. I forgot to attach a little name tag to my blocks for ID, so am posting a picture here. I goofed! lol
My blocks are all the same pattern, but I chose five different fabric combinations in making them.
I received my H2H swap blocks in today's mail. . . yippee skippee! But, I can't share them just yet. Not everyone has received their packages and I don't want to spoil any surprises. I will say, though, that they are all lovely and special.
More later. . . thank you for stopping by,
Hugs,
Cyn;-)

Spring is Here!. . . Season's 1st Cymbidium

Spring is here when flowers boom! This is a picture of my yellow cymbidium orchid that is currently living in front of the window in my living room. It needs bright light in the daytime and cooler temperatures at night which will help the blooms last longer. I just love orchids. . . they grow like weeds and thrive on neglect! My kind of plants. lol

This is a single-spike plant but has 11 lovely blooms on it this year. The blooms usually last a couple of months. My red/white phalaenopsis currently has one bud but has yet to open up and bloom. It can be hard to wait for these beauties to open up and reveal their splendor. When the next ones bloom, I will post more pictures.

Yesterday and last night I spent wrestling with PPing--- I need to make 30 more heart blocks. I practically destroyed the area I was sewing in! What a MESS! LOL. I wonder if my Homeowner's Insurance Policy covers home-destruction by paper-piecing! lol. I think I will crawl back to the safety of the "applique corner!" Oh well, by the time I reached the sixth heart, I finally got a feel for the process. . . I think. :) This next series of hearts are for the "Special H2H" swap that I am in with six other ladies: two from Canada, two from Europe [Germany & Poland], and two from the USA. We are making five different Special hearts for each of the six of us. So now I'm making 30 more hearts! *grin*. I seem to be having a love affair with pinks and reds lately, so making 70+ hearts [total of both swaps] should quench the thirst! lol. Only time will tell.

All for now. . . toodles and thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Cyn;-)

PS: I 'found' the macro button on my digital camera. Perhaps there is digital imaging hope for me afterall! lol.

PPSS: I put a new 'button' on this blog: "Today's Flower". Please scroll way down to just above the 'labels' area on the lower right side of this blog to find the widget you can click on to get to their site.... lot's of beautiful flowers there... I'm waiting to see if my orchid image will post as the Guest flower of the day... crossing fingers. *vbg*

H2H... how I did it. . .

This is how I made my Heart2Heart blocks. It is an easy and quick method!
For EACH heart block: CUT two rectangles from FOCUS fabrics--I chose different pinks--at 6.5 x 3.5 inches; from BACKGROUND fabric... CUT one square at 3.5x3.5"; and two squares at 2x2".
Lightly draw one diagonal line across EACH square. Place square in corner of rectangle [line up carefully so seam lines will match later on] and stitch a 'smidge' [one or two threads] from the line. Press flat to set stitches, then open and press... voila! A perfect corner triangle. Trim off the excess 1/4" away from sewn line. I save these trimmings... please see next two pictures. Also, I use these trimmings as "leaders" and "enders" while I am sewing. They make great little blocks to use in doll quilts or nice bits for crumb quilting.

As you can see in the picture below, my little kitty Miss Diva always tries to vie for a place on the ironing setup next to my machine. I guess the warmth is just too irresistable. The second pic shows her giving me "the look" after I encouraged her to scoot down a bit so I could press my blocks! lol

BTW, speaking of pressing blocks. . . I discovered that if I press on BOTH sides of the setting squares BEFORE opening and trimming, accuracy is greatly improved... no more having to trim off one or two threads! Yippee... that's a time saver!

After sewing/pressing/trimming two small and one large b/g square to each rectangle, place two 'sides' together and stitch with a 1/4" s.a. to complete the heart block. Be sure to slant the sewing line on the large squares half one way and half the other so you will wind up with a point for the bottom of the heart... ask me how I know this...lol... I wasn't paying attention on the 'prototype' and sewed both squares slanting the same direction! lol... don't make my mistake.

The good thing? Even with my cat's help, I managed to finish all 40 blocks and get them into today's [Saturday] noon-time mail. Happy Dance!

All for now.... toodles, and thanks 4 stopping by.

Hugs,

Cyn;-)

Heart 2 Heart. . .

Good Morning!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I came down with a bad case of the 'bug', but I'm feeling much better now.

Here is a picture of the first 30 H2H blocks that I've made for a swap on the DJAlternate Yahoo list I belong to. Should have the last 10 finished up today and in the mail by this afternoon. Only one of these is PPd, the other 29 are straight forward cut/sew/press; a good thing when one is making 40 blocks! lol

Well, I better get sewing and I'll post more 'news' later.

All for now. . . toodles and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,
Cyn;-)

D3 and D8

Here are D3 [left], and D8 [right]. Isn't the red jack fabric lovely? A dear friend sent it to me recently as a birthday surprise! The applique went ok, but my picture taking skills need an overhaul! LOL. For techniques, I used needleturn on D3 and D8 is FP underneath. I like both of these methods. About the pictures: I think I better put "learn to take better digital images" on my To Do List. *vbg*

Now it's off to sew up some more H2H blocks. Last night I got a bright idea to combine different light-colored b/grnd fabrics and then applique over the piecework. I'm anxious to try a block and see the results. Keep those fingers crossed! lol

All for now... this was just a quickie. Toodles and thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Cyn:)

H2H. . . one down, 113 to go

Whew! Finally decided on a design for the first series of Heart2Heart blocks that I'm making. Golly, it's not like me to get such a late start. I am in a swap with 40 others + a private swap or two! If I keep my current design plan of 9 blocks X 12 blocks [for the top of the bed], 108 heart blocks will be needed. This plan calls for an appliqued border to bring the quilt to proper size for a queen bed. Before making a final decision, I will wait and see how many blocks come back from the swap and then go from there.

Ok. . . it's back to the sewing machine I go. Just wanted to post this pic as I feel so good to finally get started! LOL. More later.

Toodles. . . and thanks 4 stopping by!

Hugs,

Cyn:)