Sunday, February 14, 2016

Valentine's Mini Quilts: XO and Final Fantasy X

*Enter the Fat Quarter Shop giveaway here!*

My guild, the Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild, hosts a Modern Valentine swap every other year. Alas, our February meeting was snowed out (a first for us in 4+ years!), so we will swap in March. That's okay, because everyone needs a little love all the time, not just in February, right? :)


For the swap, you can make anything, as long as it is modern to you and involves Valentine's Day. I wanted to play with purple scraps (typical) (but really, it is a Valentine's color!) and low volume scraps, so I started piecing together this cutie.


I used my gentle improv curve technique to make the "O." The letters turned out perfectly wonky/crooked, as I hoped!


It only felt right to quilt this densely - wavy lines to contrast the sharp angles. I wanted to use just ONE purple print among the solids to make it stand out. I had the perfect skinny scrap of a First of Infinity Dictionary print that I scored once upon a time from the ever-helpful Sew Me A Song (sadly, that fabric is hard to find now). Those words could be anything - kind of like a love letter. It's uplifting to me.

 


I can't wait to participate in our blind swap and to see the other beautiful valentines (some are already up in the #cjmqg hashtag on Instagram)!

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Mike and I don't do a lot for Valentine's day, but I wanted to make him a small gift: a homage to one of our favorite video games, Final Fantasy X. I won't spoil it in case someone out there is in the midst of playing (it's been around since 2001 and it's an AMAZING game/story), but this is a scene from the game featuring the main couple, Yuna and Tidus.


Here's a screenshot from the game and my rendition below. While it is a sad scene, it's an important one in their relationship. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the tough times, too, on top of all the happy times.


In order to make this happen, I drew on Kona White using pencil, looking to the screenshot for reference. Instead of using fiddly bits of fabric to make the colors, I outlined everything with thread (using both my Aurifil and Connecting Threads stashes). I really enjoy thread painting/experimenting, and I'm excited to do more soon for another Disney mini quilt!


 Sidenote: I did try making mouths, but they came out all wrong. I like this look better.
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In other years, I sewed up these valentines for my guild members, who I love dearly:

 


The Lost Valentine Mug Rug (has, sadly, never been found) - 2012

Finally, I made these Valentines for my preschool kiddos, using scraps and scrapbook paper. I got the idea from Anna Maria Horner, who posted about a project similar to this on Instagram. The kids were SO excited. They are fascinated with sewing and always want to hear about it. :) It was a quick and easy way to make something I could have bought instead. Ultimately, I think they'll like these more.


Happy Valentine's Day! Spread the love!

12 comments:

  1. The hair on your mini depicting the scene from Final Fantasy X is so awesome. I bet whoever receives your mini in the swap in March is going to be thrilled with it. I didn't even remember it was Valentine's day until I saw so much talk about it on Facebook this morning. Needless to say it's not a holiday we celebrate much, LOL, hopefully our love is communicated constantly every day of the year... ;)

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  2. great valentine quilts and cards. :)

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  3. Dude, mouths are really difficult to get right, especially with thread! It's not like you're able to redo it like 5-10 times (as with a pencil and eraser)--hence why my recent creatures do not have mouths (even eyes were a challange). Also: hands! I think the ones you quilted look great though. You made so many nice Valentine's! I love the improv X and O!

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  4. Your X and O quilt is adorable! And the Fantasy game quilt is too!
    Can I ask where you had your label made? It is a cute way to label without having to add a block to the quilt back.

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  5. Love the XO quilt. and the purple. You are so sweet to make valentines as such treasures for your sweet students. I know they love you.
    I am so happy you and your hubbs have a low key Valentines Day, Me and my hubbs are the same. Just nothing fancy, just lots of hugging all year around

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  6. I just loved your xo. I'm not big into making valentine's sewing stuff, too much work to store it for most of the year, but you could use this all year long. I'm so drawn to your color choices, clean, crisp.

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  7. Your XO quilt is so fun, I love how you were able to create the wonky O!

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  8. So much awesomeness- and what an amazing quilt for your husband!

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  9. Lovely, inspirational mini quilts! I bet your Guild mate will be so happy to get yours! Making those special Valentines for your preschool kids was so nice, and who knows? Years from now one or more of them may decide to take up quilting and it will all be because of your thoughtfulness.

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  10. I love your XO quilt and may need to make a similar one for my daughter whose initials are X.O.

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  11. Great thread sketching! I am currently working on a tutorial to share on my blog about tips and tricks for thread sketching and multi media art quilts. I love your rendition of the image. Very cute!

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