My Purple Heart

The final details needed to complete this piece finally came to me - and here is the finished result........

I wanted to try something with a positive – negative image in this journal quilt. I chose a heart because it was close to Valentines Day and I choose purple because it is my favorite color. I wanted something bold and dramatic paired with the purple – and my first choice was a black and white check – it was too busy with the purple dot. I finally decided on the black and white squiggle stripe and think the contrast between the two pieces of fabric is nice. I cut 2 rectangles 8.5 x 11 and then cut them in half on the diagonal for the background. If I was to do this again – I would fuse the entire back in one of the colors and add the other half so there is no visible line at the junction. I free-motion machine quilted the background with metallic thread – another challenge – the needles kept breaking. I finally switched to an all-purpose 90/14 needle from the metallic needle and they actually worked better. If you look closely the purple is quilted in squiggly lines to mirror image the black fabric and the black is quilted in doodle circles to mirror image the purple dots. I had some difficulties with the heart also – as it is not symmetrical – the third time was the charm as I finally got the halves cut in the right color and the right direction on the fabric – using directional fabric on a positive-negative piece presented a real contest for me. I fused the heart to a batting scrap for added dimension and added it to the background – lining up the center diagonal line. Then I added satin stitch around the edges and additional outline stitches. Too me it still needed something so I took the opportunity to practice my free-motion feather stitches in the center- there are several layers of variegated thread used to achieve the final outcome – I just kept trying additional colors until I was pleased with the heart. Then I hung the piece on my design wall for a week or so – because to me it still was not done. I finally decided to add additional outline stitching around the outside of the heart and over the metallic free-motion stitching and some funky yarn to complete it – I am pleased with the outcome…