Scrappy Happy Hearts

 Happy new week everyone.........we are having a happy scrappy week here..........

 .............stitching happy hearts as valentine day is just around the corner.......though i am known for stitching hearts all year round and as often as possible of course....hearts are one of my favourite motifs for applique and for cross stitch too...........

 ..............these patchwork squares with applique hearts are for a mini quilt..........

 ..............lots of you kindly asked about my method for using fusible web (known also as bondaweb or wonder under, depending on where you live)..............below is a little collage showing the first steps of this easy method..........bondaweb has two adhesive sides so you first cut your shape to fit the shape of your patch, then peel off the backing paper and iron the bondaweb on..........draw round the heart template onto the paper backing of the second side of bondaweb and then cut out the heart shape.....

 .............arrange your project so you are happy with the design, then peel off the second layer of paper and iron the hearts onto the background patches............

 .............and then, choosing a matching shade of thread sew neat blanket stitch round the outer edge of the applique heart shapes...............

 .............when the applique hearts were all neatly sewn in place and the rows of patches joined together,  i checked out my stash for something pretty to back the little quilt.......i found this pretty pam kitty morning fabric which has sweet little red tulips in the design.....

 .............now i am at the quilting stage and i hope to finish this little project in the next couple of evenings during my relaxing hand sewing time...........more pictures soon x

 .................we have lots of quilts in use here at the moment as it has been very cold over the last week........we have finally had some sunny days too luckily..........

 .................and the bulbs flowering indoors are such a cheerful reminder of spring........

 .............as we are having a bit of a heart theme here today i thought i would show you this sampler which hangs in my hall..........i designed and stitched the kind hearts cross stitch sampler years ago and it is one of my favourites.....and the words are still a good positive reminder just as antique sampler sayings often were........

 ..............in my kitchen there are hyacinths flowering merrily (supported by some of my old knitting needles here) and the pretty grape hyacinths are out too and producing a second flush of flowers as well.............there are some tiny daffodils in bud which will be flowering by the end of the week .....

.............now it is time to tell you the winner of my tilda bumblebee bloghop giveaway............thank you to everyone who entered and left such lovely comments......

.........the winner is lee of the blog lee's cornwall, cards and crochet............congratulations lee and if you would please email me your postal address i will send you your giveaway gifts..............

.............i think giveaways are a lot of fun and i am planning to do lots more this coming year so keep looking out for the next one everyone :)....................

.............thank you for visiting me here in my little blog space dear readers........it is a treat to have your visits and comments, and to share my crafty enthusiasms with so many like minded blog friends..................wishing you all a wonderful week ahead with sunny happy crafty times.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxx