a crazy quilt heart

woolly sweet-hearts pattern

Today I am starting a 3-day tutorial ending on Valentine's day to show a few 'extra' embellishing designs you can adapt to my newest pattern: Woolly Sweet-Hearts. Remember, knitting and felting hearts doesn't have to be a Valentine-only project, but rather a year-round one, creating everyday hearts for those sweeties in your life.

The heart above is my 'crazy quilt' heart. In the pattern, this is the large folk style heart. A perfect size for embellishing a little extra. FYI, I only embellished the top-side of the heart, nothing on the back.

For materials, I used #5 perle floss in 3 colors (cream, dark and a lighter pink) and a chenille needle. I played with 5 of my most favorite stitches: the french knot, the feather stitch, the blanket stitch, the chain stitch and the fern stitch.

To begin, I divided the heart in half using the 'feather stitch'. This created two panels, one on either side, for embellishing. Why stop at two! I then stitched the 'blanket stitch'  to the side, creating a third panel. I added a few chain stitch flowers to the ends of the blanket stitch. Now I had 3 sections or rather three 'fabrics' to embellish on, like the combination of several crazy fabrics in the heirloom quilt blankets.

In my first section (the upper left corner), I created my first 'fabric'. I embroidered a cluster of 3 'french knots' to create a posy-look. I stitched two of them in a dark pink floss and the the third, a lighter color. I love the two-tone look of these flower-like knots. I actually happened upon this by mistake. I ran out of the darker floss and used another pink, a lighter one, to finish. In this case, a wonderful mistake!

In my second section (the upper right corner), I left this section red,  no added embroidery. With each section I wanted to create a different pattern or fabric. So leaving this section blank, no embroidery, created a second pattern in and of itself. I did add on the end of the blanket stitch arms (every other one), two 'chains', and one 'french knot' in the center of them, creating another flower design.

In my third section (the lower point), I created a third pattern/fabric to my heart by embroidering several small leaves or ferns using the 'fern stitch'. They are tossed about here and there.

All these stitches are simple and easy to learn. Their how-to instructions can be found online, in a basic embroidery book, and in the embellishing section within my own Whimsical Woollies book. So many resources to choose from. Pick 2-3 stitches and experiment with them. Remember practice, practice, and practice again!

If nothing else, remember this quick and easy tip from my book, Whimsical Woollies for perfecting those unruly french knots: Use an all-purpose felting needle and gently poke the sides of the french knots to even out their uneven spots. You'll have perfect knots in no time!

Hope you learned a thing or two. Still have a question? Don't hesitate to ask in the comments section below. I am here to help.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's 'sweet' heart adventure.

Happy knitting!