THe Quilted Heart

I'll admit, this project began with the simple desire to sew a quilt block of a proper heart shape (unlike the existing angular/pixelated patterns).
Without knowing if this idea could actually work, no concrete plans were made for the end use of the quilt block.

The pattern development was solely focused on the inverse striped heart. Affinity Designer was used to play with proportions and scale to get the look just right.

It was a steep learning curve to correctly calculate seam allowances. Quilting is often not just time intensive, but also material intensive with all the seams.

Pattern pieces were cut out with a rotary cutter by projecting the digital, to scale design onto the layered black and olive fabrics. A labor intensive process that would have massively benefitted from a laser cutter.

The arduous task of matching multiple seams while sewing curves.

“Pin the shit out of it” - An apt acronym coined by an inspirational sewist on Instagram. Seam alignment on curves is an art form that is greatly aided by pins (unless you’re at sewist level wizard).

Every sewer knows that order of operations is critical. However, without much experience specifically in the world of quilting, I decided to experiment. I constructed each half quilt block slightly different. Results were mostly inconclusive. Turns out there wasn’t an “easy way”, nor was there clear winner for quality.

A few wrinkles here and there, but nothing the iron couldn’t handle. It was pleasant to realize (and obvious in hindsight) that cutting the two fabrics automatically set me up to make two mirrored blocks!

The main body of the tote is made from two quilted panels - each made from one quilted heart block, a layer of polyester batting, and a piece of black dry-waxed cotton lining. Panels were sewn together with French seams on the sides & bottom with boxed corners to create shaping.

This project was one of the first times I used my walking foot cylinder arm sewing machine for binding. Buying new non-name-brand attachments for this very old machine resulted in creative problem solving along the way.

Sized to fit a phone, keys, wallet & other little knick knacks. The edges are bound with 1” webbing for durability, structure & aesthetics.

Sized to fit a medium sized notebook or planner & an 11” iPad Pro. Like the rest of the bag, this pocket is padded to keep everything comfy & protected.

My sewing knowledge was tested when constructing the zipper panel (keeping in mind that there were to be no exposed raw edges or gaps at the zipper ends). I also wanted to ensure the bag could be opened the full width & not lose much vertical storage by recessing the panel too far.

The last stages of construction were all about webbing.