A lady that I have gotten to help put hearts out really wanted to make some to take on a trip to New Zealand that she is going on over the Christmas holiday.

So, on Monday I went to get Natalia since the weather is snowy and somewhat slippery. She doesn’t drive so this just made it easier for her. By 1:30 pm we were back at our house and we came in and sat down at the table and I showed her the 24 pieces I had quilted for her to work with.

She had wanted to make 20 Christmas hearts. When she was here over Thanksgiving I asked her to pick out the Christmas fabrics she wanted me to use.

So, she did.

I went ahead and quilted up 24 squares for her a few days ago. I wanted Natalia to experience making them from the beginning - from cutting on to the finish. In order to make sure we would finish, I did just do the quilting of the squares first.

But we only had this one afternoon and she’s not an experienced crafter/sewist.

I took some photos along the way. I thought you’d enjoy them.

So here goes.

First I asked her to cut the hearts. That was not easy for her to do actually. I asked her if she had cut hearts in elementary school with paper. She told me that she probably had. Anyway, after one or two, I just used a marking pen that evaporates and showed her that we could draw on it and then she could cut.

So, here she goes.

Cutting the heart shapes.

Once we got all the hearts trimmed to a heart - here they are.

While she trimmed into heart shapes, I sewed around the hearts one time around with a straight stitch.

Then I had her add a row of lace or ribbon to each heart - to give a little texture to the heart as they were not at all scrappy - all of these were just a single fabric heart. She picked out the lace/trim and showed me the direction she wanted it put on and then I did the sewing. I had brought my 8900 downstairs so it was right near the table. I’m about ready to advertise it for sale.

After the ribbons, I asked her if she wanted to do beads. She said “Yes!” so I showed her how to do them. I pulled out some Christmas ones I had and also the box of pony beads I’m still using up. She strung them some string and/or fancy ‘line’ of some kind and I sewed those on.

After the beads, I showed her that we were going to put on the hanging ribbon. I had a kind of glittery gold, silver and green ribbon, and took away all other choices.

By this time I could see she was starting to get tired. I told her about decision fatigue and that it is a real thing. I also told her that I don’t usually do a bunch of hearts from start to finish all in one sitting. It’s usually a process over several days. However, I wanted her to experience doing 20 (we did 24) from start to finish just so she could see how it goes.

Anyway, that made it go pretty fast. She cut and decided which color went on which heart and I sewed it for her.

Then, we added buttons and charms or things that had to be glued. There were only three hearts that she glued cabochons or other embellishment. I sent those home lying flat in a box so they could continue to dry.

She chose the buttons and I would sew them on for her with the machine wherever she told me she wanted them.

Boy, I am so glad I learned to put these on with the machine!!! It makes all the difference in the world!

While she was still deciding on those things, I went ahead and tied the little label on to each heart after taking a picture as she finished.

Here is the package of hearts she is going to take to New Zealand with her to put out! She was pretty excited.

And tired! I think she was tired of all the decisions - as those micro-decisions made doing these really can wear on you. But, I took her home. It was dark but thankfully the roads were relatively cleared of snow and dry—not the side roads, but the main ones were.

But I’ll let you see the finished hearts.

I really tried to do the sewing just as she said. I’m glad she was able to do it.

She may want to come back in January and make some more. We’ll see.

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

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