Love Notes

Screen shot from MSQC tutorial

Recently I was watching a YouTube video from my subscription to Jenny Doan, Missouri Star Quilt Company's weekly tutorial. She was showing a how to make this cute quilt she called "Love Notes" which is a version of her previous "You've Got Mail" quilt. The squares that resemble little envelopes are adorable. She used charm packs "Surrounded By Love" by Deb Strain for Moda Fabric.

 

From MSQC YouTube Tutorial 

Surrounded By Love by Deb Strain, Moda Fabric

Anytime I see a quilt design that I really love I will use my iPhone to take a screen shot of it to reference. This gives me ideas for my next quilt and also a guide to use when I make the quilt. Jenny Doan has some of the best tutorials on the web in my opinion. Not only is her tutorials easy to follow, they are also entertaining. She is very candid and genuine. Her instructions make quilting less intimidating and doable. Last week she was featured in a story by the Wall Street Journal and was very deserving I might add. I have been quilting for about 3 years now and while I am by now means an expert I do OK on simple patterns. One day I would love to design a quilt square myself and use it to make a quilt. I do admire quilters who make beautiful quilts with intricate designs. That will never be me but that's OK. I am good with that realization.

Getting started

Laying out all my blocks

For my version of "Love Notes", I used fabric that I had on hand. Shades of red and pink with white and a off white with tan thrown in for some variation. It would have been easier using the pre-cut charm packs but I thought I could make my own just fine. I cut out several 5 inch squares of each piece of fabric I was using. Once I got all my squares cut, I sewed all of them together in a chain to save time and then cut each one into 4's. I made mine using 42 squares. Six across and Seven down. I added a 3 inch border of red and white mini

dots and that is where I am so far. I haven't decided yet if I will add another border or if I will just go ahead and quilt and bind it. I am also undecided about the backing to use, red or white. I am leaning toward white but I think either will look fine.

My version of "Love Notes"