Send One Your Love--Finish #3

Another week, another finish!  This week's quilt was a little 18"x18" miniquilt, a challenge for the May meeting of the Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild, of which I am the treasurer!  Earlier this spring, we had a color theory workshop led by our president, Jessica Levitt.

So, in accordance with our new info, we were to create and swap a miniquilt of 24" or less, with an "analogous complement" color scheme:  three colors next to each other on the color wheel and one opposite. I had a bear of a time selecting, but after a morning of playing around with the color wheel here I settled on yellow-green, green, and blue-green with red as my complement.

Now I had colors--what to do?  I had this song title floating around in my head. I'm not sure why.  It's by no means my favorite Stevie Wonder song, but still, something about it lingers with me all the time.  So I decided to start there, and the rest came to me the next morning, literally as I woke up.

First, the phrase.  I considered paper piecing letters, but didn't think it would give me the look I wanted--I wanted very consistent and clear lettering that would stand out.  I wanted to applique.  I found this website for making letter templates, printed the words, figured out where they would go

and then I traced and cut the letters from fabric, using freezer paper to make iron-on templates!

tracing on freezer paper

ironing onto fabric

cutting out letters from fabric with freezer paper templates attached

arranging letters!

I glued them on and zigzagged them down.

Then I made a big heart by using the ticker-tape method from Sunday Morning Quilts--a look I LOVE but would take FOREVER to do quilt-sized--on a rectangle of solid cream fabric, and I cut a heart out and appliqued it on.

I liked it.  It was just what I had in my head!  But I was afraid it was too spartan.

So while I looked at it, I cut out three more hearts from my ticker-taped rectangle.  Then just for the heck of it, I threw them on, along with another square as a stamp.  I expected I would hate the extra stuff.

But I didn't!  EGADS.

So then a week of polling random friends and colleagues ensued.  No one hated the second version, while some objected to the first, and I had my fears about the first for reasons I'm about to get into.  So I decided to go with it, while I mourned the demise of the first. 

Why was I nervous?  Though I liked the blank space it meant that was more space that needed to be quilted thoughtfully and neatly.  Sigh.  I am not a good quilter at all, but I decided to take my chance and quilt connected spirals.

Then I added hangers and bound in light green.  I appliqued more hearts on the back as a label:

I think it came out well in the end.  My first completely self-designed quilt!  I hope my swap partner liked it.