Valentine's Day is right around the corner, but you still have time to stitch a fun heart-themed project! Try our Confetti Hearts, made with Painter's Palette Solids. You've never found cutting fabric into tiny pieces so satisfying!
You'll need:
(for both confetti hearts)
Approximately 3" square scraps of 8-12 red/pink/purple/coral solids
(2) 7" squares and (1) 2" x WOF strip of Smoke solid
(3) 8" squares and (1) 2-1/4" x WOF strip of Black solid
(1) 7" square of batting
(1) 8" square of batting
Fusible web
8" square piece of white tulle
Basting spray
Download the heart template page here and print it out.
Making the Confetti:
We started with the wide range of red/pink/purple/coral Painter's Palette Solids shown below. The more colors, the more interest your confetti has.
Step 1: For most efficient cutting, trim scraps into 3" squares. Stack two squares, and working right to left (for right-handed people!), start cutting 1/4" wide strips. Leave the strips in place as you cut. Cut the entire square into strips.
Step 2: Rotate your ruler 90 degrees and cut 1/4" wide strips again. This will create tiny 1/4" squares.
Step 3: Repeat with your remaining squares to make a big pile of confetti. The (11) 3" squares we used made enough confetti to create the two hearts shown.
Making the Heart on Gray:
Step 1: Trace the small heart onto the paper side of fusible web. Cut out on the drawn line and fuse to the center of 7" Smoke square. Tip: Fold the square in half in both directions and press lightly. Use these lines to center the valentine.
Step 2: Peel off the paper and sprinkle confetti onto the heart. Some of it will spill off the edges; that's okay, but pay attention to your general heart shape. Some confetti will layer on itself; that's okay too, but try to spread it out as much as possible.
Step 3: *Using a pressing cloth*, press in place. You may need to press longer than normal. Gently shake off excess confetti. If you see background showing through, place individual confetti pieces and press again.
Step 4: Layer gray square with batting and backing and machine quilt. You'll want quilting lines relatively close together to help secure the confetti. Ours uses 1/4" spacing.
Step 5: Square up to 6-1/2" and use the 2" x WOF strip to bind the square.
Making the Heart on Black:
Step 1: Trace the large heart shape onto the center of a black solid square. Layer the marked square with a piece of batting and spray baste in place.
Step 2: Spray the heart shape with basting spray. Don't worry if the spray goes past the drawn line like ours did; it will be covered up later.
Step 3: Layer a square of tulle over the heart and pin in place.
Step 4: Machine quilt over the heart. The quilting doesn't have to be quite as tight here because the tulle is holding the confetti in place. The quilting lines also don't need to extend more than 1/2" or so beyond the heart shape, as they'll be covered as well.
Step 5: Cut a 7-1/2" square of fusible web. Center and trace the heart onto the square and fuse to the second 8" square.
Step 6: Cut out the heart center as shown: (we used a pinking shears) The back side looks like this:
The front side looks like this:
Step 7: Remove the paper and center the cut out heart on top of the confetti heart. Adjust as needed to make sure that confetti fills the cut out heart shape.
Step 8: Layer with the remaining black square. Machine quilt around the cut out heart, making sure to stitch near the cut edges. We chose to echo quilt out from the heart shape. Tip: If you're really bold, try stitching with a contrasting pink or red thread! Square up to 7-1/2".
Step 9: Use the 2-1/4" x WOF black strip to bind.
See another heart-themed tutorial - Hearts Aplenty - featuring Painter's Palette Solids here.
See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids here and ask for them at your local quilt shop.