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TOSSED HEARTS

© Jeanne Walsh

Happy New Year, quilters! Another entire year ahead of us to make beautiful quilts. I trust each of you received yards and yards of beautiful fabric for Christmas AND a new sewing machine!

I recently looked over the list of articles here on "Quilts and Quilting". When I began writing for Suite 101 in 1999, I had no idea that would eventually be over 70 articles. I note that we have covered most of the basics of quilting, some more than once! Have you copied those that have been most useful to you? The last few months we have had nearly 10,000 visitors to these pages each month.

One subject we have not discussed at length is pieced borders. Generally, a border is sort of a final addition to hurry up and slap on to get this quilt done! Can't it just as well be a beautiful addition, well planned, that harmonizes in pattern as well as color? A small replica of the main block of the quilt is a charming add-on. If the math doesn't come out right, a few strategicly placed spacers will balance it for you.

With Valentine's Day approaching, I put together a simple centerpiece (which could be resized for place mats) with a pieced border. The red of Valentine hearts could be exchanged for any seasonal color with a few appropriate appliques added to the plain center.

Repeats of this block make up this border:

I rotary cut strips 3 3/8 inches wide WOF (width of fabric) of two shades of red, and another strip 3 3/8 inches wide WOF of unbleached muslin. I cut all 3 strips into 3 3/8 inch squares.

Mark a diagonal both ways on the wrong side of the muslin squares. Place a red square and a muslin square face together and sew across one diagonal. Leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance, cut across this setup. Discard the small piece. Without opening the sewn triangles, cut on the remaining half diagonal. These two resulting sewn triangles are mirror images of each other. You can use both in your border or save one for another project.

Now mark a diagonal on the remaining red square and cut on this line. Keep and use both resulting triangles. Sew the two color triangle to the larger red triangle. And there is the block for this pieced border.

These blocks can be put together in any fashion you find pleasing. Try several settings on your flannel board to find one that suits you. The plain center on this piece was cut 9 1/2 inches square. The entire piece after quilting measures 14 1/2 inches square.