Two Dozen Hearts

I got a bee in my bonnet to make some more quilted hearts to leave around town and give strangers a smile. Months and months ago I cut these 24 hearts from old placemats. Pre-quilted! Then they sat.

While looking through my kitted-up projects, these floated to the top of the pile. I had an ah-ha! moment when I remembered that "Done is better thang good," and instead of making each heart a unique piece of "art," I could make a big batch of very similar hearts. 

I started by finding red, pink and white heart-shaped buttons.

I gathered lace

cording

ribbons

I cut pieces to size and did a rough layout

Then I got to work. First using my sewing machine, I sewed a strip of lace along one of the pre-quilted lines. Then I sewed around the edge of the heart, trapping a piece of cording to the top as the ornament hanger.

I used this YouTube video to learn how to use a fork to tie tiny bows. Some of my ribbon pieces were quite short, so that proved to be a challenge.

Gradually, each heart had its components. Then was my favorite part, the hand stitching.

No two of the 24 hearts are exactly alike. I varied the size and color of the buttons along with the size and color of the cording and ribbon bows.

I sewed this label to the back of each heart.

Such a pile of potential happiness!

Finally, I packaged them up to send to my granddaughters in Idaho. I wrote them a letter to describe what the hearts are for -- to spread love and kindness. I gave them some ideas of where they can be placed. I told them it's OK to give one to a special person, too -- especially if that person is having a hard day.

I'm looking forward to hearing about their experience of doing these random acts of kindness.