Pacing and Valentines

So quiet and pretty!

It is snowing here today and we are to get a ton of snow. Usually on a snow day, my husband is out plowing and I am home happily sewing away. Today he was home pacing the floor waiting to go out. It isn't supposed to stop until late tonight, early tomorrow morning. Timing is everything when you plow, too soon and people complain about you having to plow twice, too late they complain about not being able to get out (even when there is a state of emergency!) and the number one thing that makes me laugh out loud, everyone and I mean everyone wants you to plow them first! What they don't know is they have a route, think of a paper route and you will know what I mean. Ok didn't mean to go off on a rant....

Today I made my grandchildren some fabric valentines, the same way you would make a post card.

I had some leftover very stiff interfacing. I am not sure what type or kind it is. They were cut off pieces from some post cards that I made, the size is about 5 x 7.

I got out some red scraps for the boys and some pink scraps for the girls.

Backgrounds that were also in the scrap baskets.

I cut out my hearts from un-fused fabric because I was too lazy to fuse them. In hindsight I should have done that.
Notice the background fabrics are over sized and will be trimmed later. You don't want a back on it yet, that will come later. I would fuse these too.

I did a little swipe of glue stick to hold them in place, not much so it wouldn't show through.

Next the hearts were free motion quilted around the edges. I am ok with it being a little uneven as I like that look. It feels like sketching.

This one was more flowy {is that a word?}.

I like the frayed edges.

You could use a walking foot to make them perfect but they are pretty small.....

After the quilting is done, turn it over, trim the background fabric even with the card.

Now use it to measure out a back for the card. By putting the back on now it will hide all those stitches, and give you a nice area to write on. I know some people who have used paper or card stock here too. I prefer fabric.

Now it is time to finish the edges. I used a zig zag stitch set to 3 wide and 1 long on my Bernina. Start in a corner and sew down to the bottom corner, go all the way to the end as shown above.

Turn the card and again start right at the beginning of the corner and continue in this way all around.

You could get real fancy and be a bit more creative than I was here. Add some beads or buttons...

These are not going through the mail as is, but why not some stamps?
Fuse some cute fabric and fussy cut out the motif. Fuse some background fabric {the red and pink}and fuse the motif to it.

Use pinking shears and cut around the edges, I pinked it 1/8" away to make it look like a real stamp.

Cutesy!
I am making them all new pillowcases along with some candy too. A perfect Valentine for my little loveys!
Enjoy this snowy day!

Kelly