Exploding Heart Quilt

Monday, September 30, 2019

This month's Island Batik ambassador challenge was to make a quilt using an AccuQuilt Block on Board (BOB) die with the theme "Child's Play." Island Batik (in conjunction with AccuQuilt) sent me the Ohio Star block die. Now, I love the Ohio Star block, but it doesn't scream "kid's quilt" to me. I drew the block components (a quarter square triangle and a square) in EQ8 and began to move the pieces around to design something a kid might like. The resulting quilt is one I think any tween or teen girl would love!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles


I did make a few changes to the original design I made in EQ8, but the end result is exactly as I hoped!


Exploding heart quilt design by Slice of Pi Quilts

I dug through my Island Batik stash for all the teals, purples, pinks, and lime greens I could find. (This seems to be my default color palette! I use it lots!) However, I couldn't find any lime greens to use(!), so I decided to just go with three colors instead of four.


Island Batik fabrics

Using the Ohio Star die and my GO! cutter, I used just the quarter square triangle portion to cut all the triangles I would need.

AccuQuilt Ohio Star die

It was SO fast to cut lots of triangles at once!


Cutting QST with AccuQuilt

And the waste was so much less than it would have been if I was making quarter square triangles the traditional way (cutting squares larger then trimming them down later).

Cutting QST with AccuQuilt

And the time savings!! I cut 864 triangles in just 54 minutes!!


Triangles cut with AccuQuilt

The sewing wasn't quite so fast! Ha!


Triangles cut with AccuQuilt

To make the quarter square triangles, I paired two triangles together and sewed them together using my 1/4" foot and white Aurifil 50wt thread.


Sewing QST with AccuQuilt

Then I sewed two of those sets together, nesting the center seam.


Sewing QST with AccuQuilt

Voila!


Sewing QST with AccuQuilt

The resulting quarter square triangles were perfect! No trimming at all needed!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

The quilt required five different blocks. 216 in all! (Plus some plain white blocks too.)


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles



Once all the blocks were made, it was time to sew them into rows.

Heart quilt with quarter square triangles



I laid the blocks out on the floor, then moved them to the sewing machine.

Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

I carefully followed my diagram from EQ8 for each row.


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

After 1,000+ seams, the top was finally finished!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

I loaded it on my longarm with Hobbs cotton batting and a wide backing fabric that I keep on hand (I have a whole bolt!).


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

I used white Aurifil 40wt thread for the quilting (and 50wt in the bobbin).


Freemotion meandering quilting on a longarm

A large meander is the quickest thing I know how to quilt - and it was the perfect thing for this quilt too!


Freemotion meandering quilting

It only took about an hour to quilt the 72" square quilt.


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

I didn't have enough yardage of any pink, purple, or teal fabrics, so I decided to use two fabrics for the binding instead of just one.


Machine sewing binding

Of course I machine sewed it on! It's so fast!


Machine sewing binding

I call the final lap around the quilt the victory lap, and it sure felt good to be done with this one!


Machine sewing binding

I was able to get some photos of it out in the sunshine - and I'm so pleased with it!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

The AccuQuilt really saved so much time in the cutting. This quilt would have taken so much longer if I would have had to square up all those quarter square triangle blocks!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

Even though this quilt isn't a traditional Ohio Star block quilt, I was able to use the components of the block to make a quilt to fit the challenge theme.


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

And it's great to know that the AccuQuilt dies are so versatile and can be used for more than one project or design too!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

Here's a peek at the back. I'm not sure of the brand or anything. The fabric is white with a light gray swirl on it. I had my local quilt shop order me a whole bolt so I can just keep it on hand.


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

I'm so happy with the finished quilt. It took more time than my quilty ADD usually allows me to spend on one quilt, but I'm so glad I stuck with it!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles

The finished quilt is 72" square and is my 119th quilt finish for 2019!


Heart quilt with quarter square triangles


UPDATE: This quilt is now available as a pattern in my Etsy shop! There are PDF and paper versions.

PDF Exploding Heart quilt pattern: https://www.etsy.com/listing/822272908/

Paper Exploding Heart quilt pattern: https://www.etsy.com/listing/836168813/




Linking up with Monday Making, What I Made Monday, Modern Patch Monday, Moving It Forward, Design Wall Monday, Colour & Inspiration Tuesday, To-Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, and Put Your Foot Down.

Kid's quilt with Island Batik and AccuQuilt

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32 comments:

  1. This quilt is stunning! I can see a teen wanting it in their room, too! Good thought, splitting the pieces up.

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  2. Laura, this quilt is absolutely gorgeous! Your vision turned out so perfect and I think it certainly fits in the theme for Child's Play...every kiddo needs and wants love!

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  3. Your quilt is amazing! Perfect for a teenage granddaughter! Do you plan to create a pattern to share or sell?

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    1. Thank you, Janet! I am not currently planning on making a pattern for this one. It's all quarter square triangles, and I shared the design layout in the post in case you want to make one. The AccuQuilt die really helped me be able to make it without any extra steps of trimming!

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  4. I love your quilt design and use of colors!

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  5. Your quilt is stunning. I am glad you didn't have any green. I like the colors you used.

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  6. Beautiful result. I always machine my bindings.

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  7. Wow, what a great quilt, love the design!!

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  8. I love this quilt, it just sparkles!

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  9. Perfection! I love the use of only parts of the block...great way to make it work and come up with a quilt that is so much fun!

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  10. Laura - that's such a pretty quilt design! I'm loving it. And I enjoyed reading your step-by-step process.

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  11. I love it! Thanks for sharing the process. I think my granddaughter will be interested!

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  12. You continue to amaze me - zapping out one beautiful quilt after another! So lovely!

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  13. I would like the quilt too, and I am long past my teens.

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  14. Will this pattern be available in your Etsy store?

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    1. Thank you for your interest in a pattern! I am not currently planning a pattern for this one. It is all quarter square triangles, and I shared the layout diagram if you wanted to make one.

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  15. This is an awesome quilt. I love the confetti look around the outside edges. And your honesty about how time consuming it was is helpful. If you had said it only took a day, I would have been really discouraged with my own efforts!! The fabric choices are wonderful and I can see a teen/tween girl falling in love with this.

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  16. That is absolutely beautiful

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  17. That is quite a beauty. Your colors are perfect, even without lime green. =)

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  18. Absolutely gorgeous!

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  19. Hi Laura! I read your first couple of sentences and thought, NO WAY this is an Ohio Star block. HAHA - I've seen them before . . . and I don't even SEE a star at all. Then I continue reading - also thinking how pretty and cool it is. HOLY MOLY - 864 triangles in 54 minutes?!! Gotta love that you timed it because we can really appreciate that time savings. Wow. AND, no trimming. Sold. Love your fabrics - they are just perfect for a tween or teen. I'm applauding you for following your EQ8 design and not having to rip out. Isn't there a teen that is going to give this beauty a home? Love it, and I loved reading your whole process. Thanks for linking up, too! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  20. Isn't that fun! And in pretty fabrics too!

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  21. 864 triangles in less than an hour. I'm stuck on that line. Totally stuck. I believe I NEED a go cutter as horribly expensive as they are. There is no want about it, just a NEED. My hubby and I don't exchange Christmas presents but I may let him know I'm buying myself a big one!

    And much more importantly than that your quilt is delightful. I love the colours and your design is just perfect.

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  22. Wow, I love this so much!!!!! Super fun design and great color palette. Brilliant use of the die into something really original and eye catching!

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  23. W O W! I love it! Those are my colors, too!

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  24. This is so clever. Terrific colours, a much more teen-friendly quilt than the original star, and a great demonstration of how the accuquilt dies can be quite versatile. Thanks for linking to Colour & Inspiration Tuesday.

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  25. Lovely quilt! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  26. Love the quilt! Thank you for sharing your layout diagram. I may try to make one similar. Thanks for inspiring.

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