A Quilted Heart

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to take part in a Zoom class called "Crazy in Love with Free-Motion Quilting." It was taught by Mel Beach, a quilter and teacher based in San Jose, CA. Here is one of Mel's samples for the class--check out all of the amazing quilting!

It was a great class, and we spent the day learning and trying out a wide variety of heart-based quilting designs. We would start by drawing out each design on paper or a white board, then try stitching the designs. Here are some of my stitching samples.

Besides trying out the different stitching designs, I also tested several different colors and brands of thread. I had consistently better results with Aurifil 50 weight on my old Singer machine.

The next day I finished up the decorative stitching on one little heart. This measures about 6.5" across and 5.5" high. 

I'm planning to cut out the heart, finish off the edges, then leave it in a public place as part of "I Found A Quilted Heart" to brighten someone's day. I had never heard of doing this until a couple weeks ago from my sister in Wisconsin, and then Mel talked about it in class too. You can learn more about "I Found A Quilted Heart" at their website HERE.

If you belong to a guild that is looking for speakers or teachers, I can highly recommend Mel Beach. She has a long list of lectures and workshops that she offers, and she is a fun teacher with tons of creative ideas for you. Her teaching info is HERE or you can check out her blog HERE.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA