Geo Heart Pillow with Moda Charm Packs

This is the last in the series of three making geo hearts.  Need to move on to something else!  But it was fun.  In my first post on Tuesday I made a geo heart magnet, then yesterday I stitched up a geo heart tea towel using Moda charm packs, and today I’m making a geo heart quilted pillow. 

How cute is Maggie? 

Geo Heart Pillow using Moda Charm PacksOh, here’s the completed pillow…

Geo Heart Pillow using Moda Charm PacksAnd Maggie!

Geo Heart Pillow using Moda Charm Packs
Just want you to see that this is a really BIG pillow. But Maggie is also a wee dog.

Okay, that’s it for the cute dog in front of the pretty pillow.  I think I’ll eventually make a quilt using this geo heart pattern.  It’s kind of fun, although time consuming.  I also want to say that I’m a self-taught sewist. (I just saw that word on a sewing blog so it must be a real word!)  There’s probably easier ways to make quilted pillow covers, but this is how I do it!

I picked out 10 of the Moda Charm Pack Blocks.  Also cut out four  5″  and two  4 1/2″ squares from a neutral quilting fabric that I just happened to have stashed away. 

I then cut the 10 charm pack squares and the 5″ squares diagonally.

Next I arranged the triangles into a geo heart shape and put the two 4 1/2″ squares in the lower corners to complete the design.

Geo Heart Pillow using Moda Charm Packs

I stitched the triangles together into blocks

Pressed

Then stitched the blocks together on each row

Pressed

Sewed the rows together

Pressed, then added more of the neutral quilting fabric to make the piece big enough for a pillow top.

Mine was a 23” square pillow form.

I cut

2     4 ½” x 16” strip and sewed them on two edges using ½” seams

2     4 ½” x 23” strips and sewed them on the other edges using ½” seam

Then I cut one 23” piece of fleece and pinned it to the back of the pillow cover.

I machine quilted around each triangle in the heart then machine quilted around the heart.

Then I made the back.  I forgot to take pictures of the steps but you can go to my envelope-style pillow cover post–same method but with pictures!

Two 16” x 23” pieces of fabric

Two 16” x 23” pieces of fleece

Sew the fleece to the wrong sides of the fabric with a 3/8″ seam. Trim.

Turn under ½” on one 23” side, then turn 1” under and stitch. Do the same on the second back piece.

Layer the back pieces on the pillow cover, right sides together. Trim corners, turn right side out.

Insert pillow form.

Geo Heart Pillow using Moda Charm Packs

 Very Pretty!  Something fun to do on a rainy day.

Geo Heart Tea Towel

I started out this project series about Geo Hearts on Tuesday, with a angular heart on my magnetic chalkboard. 

Heart on Magnetic Chalkboard

That afternoon I stopped by my favorite quilt shop, Tomorrow’s Treasures, in Crystal River to pick up some pink fabric for a different project and found these charm packs by Moda which I couldn’t resist. 

Charm Packs from ModaPerfect for a “Geo Heart Tea Towel”

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs
Lets have a Tea Party

Okay, now here comes the boring sewing instructions, if you don’t sew, it’s time to move on to another blog–like Badzoot!  If you do sew, this is a relatively easy project–just time-consuming.

I already had some Moda Woven Toweling when I made tea towels way back in July.  It comes in yards and is finished on both sides and it can be cut to any length.   I bought the toweling from www.fabric.com.

When I make tea towels or anything that will be washed and dried, I always prewash and dry for shrinkage.  With these tea towels, I washed and dried the toweling and both charm packs.  (Tip– wash and dry those small pieces in a lingerie bag so you don’t lose even one of those precious little gems.) The toweling started out as 16” but shrunk to 15 ¼”  and the blocks shrunk a bit, too. 

The mini-charm pack has 2 1/4″ squares.  The squares in the regular charm pack are 5″.  I picked four of the large coordinating pieces then 10 of the mini blocks. 

I sewed the large blocks together with 1/2″ seams. I wanted the tea towel to be finished on the front and back—no seams to fray–so I cut a piece of muslin the same size as the four joined blocks and sewed them together along one long edge.

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm PacksI want the finished towel to be 25″ so I cut a 22″ length from the Moda Woven Toweling.

Center the block strip rights sides together on the towel fabric, the strip should be ½” wider on each side than the towel. 

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs

Stitch, press seam down.  Press raw edge of strip under ½”.

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs

Fold block strip right sides together up to meet seam on towel.  The ½ “ pressed edge will meet the seam.  Sew ½ “ seams along edges making sure not to catch in the towel sides.

 Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs

Trim the corners, turn the strip right side out, and use a chopstick (or something similar) to poke the corners out.  Make sure the pressed edge is right on the seam of towel. I usually just turn it right side up then top stitch to catch the pressed edge.  But this time I topstitched around each block–about 1/8″ from each side. 

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm PacksOn the other raw edge of the towel, press under ¼” , then press under another 1/2″ and stitch.

Now it’s time for the geo heart.  I cut each one of the 10 mini charms diagonally.  Then I created the design.

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs

Stitched all the edges together with 1/8″ seams, one strip at a time.

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm PacksI laid the heart shape on Heat n Bond Lite and cut around it to create an applique.  Adhere it to the wrong side according to the directions.  Remove the paper lining, then center it on the towel and press again.  Then I top-stitched 1/8″ inside each little triangle.  Finally, I finished the applique with a satin stitch around the entire heart.

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm PacksGeo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs

Geo Heart Tea Towel with Moda Charm Packs
Looks nice with my Lu Ray dishes! Maybe I should make some matching napkins!

If all goes well, I might have another Geo Heart Project for Friday!

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Cognac Sauce

Valentines Day is right around the corner. Isn’t that nice. Now that we’ve all made these ‘get healthy’ resolutions, captain-corporate-America figures that we’ve given up by now. (we haven’t) Ads for candy and recipes for gut busting treats are popping up all over the Net (thank you Pinners!). Most of us are going to be doing some cheating thru the month of February, and I’m here to help you out with that – you’re welcome. 

Oh, no – I’m not helping you stay on track. This is a fall-off-the-wagon gracefully deal. Don’t worry, it’s not some FiveGuys double with cheese and all the fries you can eat – fall off the wagon AND ROLL INTO A DITCH deal ! No, no, in my world, if I have to crawl back up into the wagon, then I’m going to try and stay out of the mud – but it will definitely be worth the fall. 

A little back-story on this one. For Christmas, I had made English Plum Pudding. Yes, that one. I looked up what I would consider the ultimate recipe for that dish. The classic James Beard 1963 version. James Beard, if you don’t know, was pretty much the father of modern cooking. A prolific cookbook author, and friend of Julia Child’s he was a large man with an even bigger appetite for everything from food to fun to booze. So it was no surprise that this pudding was fabulous! I’ll save that post for next Christmas though. This pudding was to be topped with hard sauce (icing) or cognac sauce. Oooo, ‘cognac’ sauce? What is THAT? Sad to say that when I searched, I found a savory steak sauce with cognac – not what Mr. Beard had in mind, I’m sure. Keep looking….then I found a site called Dramatic Pancake (I like the name-lovely site too). This blog had a recipe for a ‘NOLA Bread Pudding’ topped with Cognac Sauce. My mouth was watering just reading it. After making the plum pudding, I had just enough Remy left to try it. And try it I did. So simple – so good. 

Cognac Sauce – something you could fall off all sorts of wagons with!

Step 1: Gather together:

Cognac Sauce, Step 1

1 Stick of Butter, room temp

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Cognac (or bourbon or rum…)

Step 2:

Cream, slowly, the room temp butter and sugar.

Cognac Sauce, Step 2

Step 3: 

Add in the liquor and continue to whip. Yes, I own one of those fancy schmancy stand mixers (which I love), and here I am with the ultra cheapie hand mixer! I’m just thrilled I can hold the mixer in one hand and the camera in the other – showin’ off!

Cognac Sauce, Step 3

Step 4:

Look how smooth and yummy. Oh, you thought this was an actual ‘sauce’…no it’s really an awesome icing that melts super fast and creates an incredible sauce over anything it touches.

Cognac Sauce, Step 4

Finale:

The Finale, Cognac Sauce

I wish you could smell this. Use it for whatever and then save what’s left. I had a bowl in the back of the fridge saved for ’special’ recipes (like Valentines?) Later I’ll show you what else you can use this for, besides everything. Seriously, anything that needs to be ‘adult’ can use a dollop of this. Red Velvet cupcakes (or cookie) YES! Chocolate anything, ‘oui! Melted and drizzled over butter pecan ice cream ! Bread Pudding – Plum Pudding – Bananas Foster Pancakes?!! Here’s a teaser for next week. Pancakes with Cognac Sauce

I think I just bruised my backside falling off that wagon!

Michelle Beal @ Badzoot

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