The Splendid Sampler™ 1 - Hearts Aflutter

Today I was feeling a little (a lot) under the weather, spending the day reading (Die Wanderhure, by Iny Lorentz, De Wandelhoer in Dutch), sleeping, hanging on the couch and Pinteresting (I know that isn't a verb, but it should be). It must be through Pinterest, or through some random blog that I read, that I stumbled across The Splendid Sampler™ Quilt Along. Now, usually when I see a quilt along the thing is already almost finished, or it requires you to sign up to buy a certain pattern, and it somehow never held much appeal for me. But today was different. I cleaned out my fabric cupboard recently. I found myself refolding a bunch of fabrics I bought 2 or 3 years ago, for the purpose of making a quilt for my (and my husband's) bed. I still love the fabric, but I've pinned about a million possible patterns, and it was beginning to feel like I would never find one that would convince me to finally start sewing!

I really like this green polka dot and pink roses fabric, and I finally started using it!

Well today The Splendid Sampler™ did just that: I sewed the first block of my new quilt! The whole thing seems so much fun and so attainable, and it just started last week, so I'm not hopelessly behind before I ever started! Plus, not committing to one design is liberating, and waiting for the next block to become available is exactly my kind of excitement.

The finished block measures 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches, as it should, and is just a bit wonky!

My husband and I always kid that I was born a granny, my kicks are learning new sewing techniques, seeing my seedlings germinate and popping a cake in the oven, and they have been for as long as I can remember. As a teenager the fact that I was not only able to sew, knit and crochet, but that I actually enjoyed these activities, was a well kept secret. Now, a lot of people envy me for these skills, it's a bit weird how the status of hand crafts has changed so much in just a few years time (wait, I was a teenager twenty (20!) years ago...).

Blanket stitch around the heart to hide messy hand applique for extra definition.

A while back I followed Kristyne Czepuryk of Pretty By Hand as she made her Farmer's Wife Quilt, block by block. I not only admired her skill in picking the perfect palette for each block, but also the tenacity to keep going, and the end product. That is one gorgeous quilt!
Often, I find sampler quilt too busy and not cohesive enough, but if she can do it, so can I, right? Well, I'm going to try!

The Splendid Sampler™ 1 - Hearts Aflutter