Mini Quilt Monday: A red heart applique quilt

In my early quilting days, I attempted a mini quilt for my husband for Valentine's Day. It was appropriately red, and had four hearts. This was a lesson for me in may ways, in a variety of different techniques and issues.

I learned about applique. I did not do it the traditional way, but I have seen this method used in quilting books stressing quick applique techniques. I sewed a heart to fusible interfacing, cut a slit in the interfacing, and turned the heart right side out. I fused it to the backing fabric, and then I used a zigzag stitch with coordinating thread to sew it down. Slightly unorthodox, but it works.

I also learned about sashing and the window effect. I sewed strips to the tops/bottoms of the heart squares, and then sewed these columns to more strips.

I discovered the visual appeal of multiple borders. Even though these are rather narrow, this mini quilt has two borders, in addition to the sashing.

Instead of binding the edge, I turned the backing fabric forward, then turned it again and sewed it down. I mitered the corners.

I discovered the fun of choosing coordinating fabrics, and I learned about color values and contrast.

Now, if I had only put a label on the back to date it (it was created sometime between 1997 and 2001)…