Quilted Hearts - Going back in Time!

It was early 2020 when I was on a roll to make quilted hearts and put them out for people here in Poland to find. I was just getting geared up to putting them out when the whole pandemic decided to rear its head in the world. I didn’t even attempt to do it during the pandemic because of the fear people had of touching anything they didn’t know.

Note: I have no idea if people will be able to read the English on the paper - but the website says I am only supposed to put the words that they allow - and I have labels that they have made up for us. So…just for fun, I’m going to try. The younger set is learning to read English, so hopefully if someone finds this, they can ask someone who might read it.

They (website for IFAQH) predict that only about 5% of the hearts found are reported on the website, so I wanted to put out 20 in the next couple of weeks. This way I can check on the website and see if anyone reads (and understands) and then reports them. So far I’ve seen them in the USA, naturally, and the UK , New Zealand, and I think other places in Europe. But, I wanted to include Poland. I have plenty of places around us that I can share them. It’s also just a fun thing.

Near us we have a public woods, lots of sidewalks and parks and other open spaces, so there are plenty of places to put them. Our house even faces a sidewalk where there is a pole where I could place one. They don’t have to know it comes from me, do they? I think making them is the fun part but putting them out is the hard part.

What make me remember this project is that in cleaning up my room I found my plastic bag of hearts I had made. Well, sadly, I put those somewhere that I would remember and get going on them BUT I can’t remember where that is, so I made others. (LOL) I have been enjoying making them. :)

They are fun, short, and hopefully will be nice for people to find. Doing a random act of kindness for a stranger isn’t super popular in Poland, but maybe I can help it be more so. :) I’ll keep my eye out on the page.

Here are the ones I’ve made recently.

They are very simple. I was thinking of trying some embroidery stitches on them - just to have a reason to experiment with some of the ones on my machine. (So you can see in these that I did a bit of that.)

If you’ve heard of this, or think this would be fun to try in your neighborhood, well, here’s the link to the pages that are most helpful.

My goals in making these are many.

First of all, I want to practice using some of my fancy stitches on my sewing machine.

Secondly, I want to learn to put on buttons using my sewing machine. I know many people do. So far I’ve never done it.

Thirdly, I want to use up some otherwise unusable batting pieces for these.

Fourthly, I want to put to use some of the things I had bought for fidget mats and haven’t used yet. I want to master putting in eyelets or grommets using these. I also want to learn to add pearls with a tool. I’ve ordered the tool - we’ll see when it comes. I want to learn to add more bling to them.

Fifth, I want to make little things from time to time. It’s just fun to make a small project that hopefully will bring a smile to someone. I am hoping I can do this somewhat regularly and take walks and put them out or manage to remember to take some with me when I go somewhere and find places to put them.

We’ll see. I’m only going to do it if it is fun and I want to do it. I am not going to make a certain hard and fast goal - because then it may become like work!

But today here are the first 20 I made. I want to share with you because they may never be seen again. You may recognize fabrics or trim from projects I’ve made. Most of these aren’t even with pieced blocks - only the pastel ones are pieced. With all the others, I just used a square of fabric - either one I already had cut, or fabric I had lying around waiting to be trimmed into something else. However, they are all quilted.

I will admit to some trepidation at leaving them around to be found. I am curious how they will be received. I hope to be able to do it very discreetly!

As I’ve been putting them up, I’ve been taking photos. I’d like to go back and check on them in a couple of days. Next time I write about this I’ll give a report as to how it’s been going and if some of them just haven’t been found (that I am aware of). I do know that the one I left by the package locker is now placed with an item of baby clothing - which means someone thinks it is a lost and found item!

Here are placement photos - For me, this is BY FAR the hardest part.

I somehow feel like I’m doing something wrong since I’m trying to be very invisible as I do it - and it is hard to do with people all around. So…let me write on each photo where I put them. All of these are in our town or the one where our organization is. (Jozefow/Otwock)

I photographed as I put them out so I would remember. Click on the arrow to go to the next one. I wrote at the bottom of the photo where I put it.

 
 

So far making these are a lot of fun - and I’m enjoying that.

As I mentioned before, the hardest part, by far, is finding a place to put these. I’ve checked and so far not seen that any have been reported. I’ll continue to do these as I get in the mood. I want at least one to show up as reported. (This helps more dots to be shown in Poland on the map!) :) I did see that ONE has been found in Poland down by the Ukraine/Polish border. I found that information on their website.

I also found this organization’s Facebook page. It’s here if you want to go like it and keep with the hearts there. I’ve just enjoyed seeing what people are making. It’s very fun to see the creativity involved in it and often they tell a story when they report there.

Anyway - I’m probably just playing around - but why not?

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

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

If you’ve actually made one or more and put them out, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. I’m especially curious if you are aware if they’ve been found and/or where you put them!

Becky Petersen9 Comments