Block 35 My Cheating Heart

Block 35 - My Cheating Heart

I love a deep, deep heart.  It exudes rustic, country charm.  But this deep heart is a Cheating Heart - so named because it is a cheat on the turned applique method.  Let me share with you my method ......

First I traced a heart shape onto the wrong side of a scrap of fabric before cutting ¼” outside of the traced line.  Next I placed the cut out, right sides together, onto a square of muslin before stitching all the way around on the traced line.

I quick-fused a little heart to the front
before I stitched the heart pieces together.

Then I trimmed 1/8”-1/4” away from the stitched line and carefully snipped into the deep center of the heart, taking care not to cut through the stitching line: 

Snip into the center of the heart and before trimming around the outside
(this one is snipped but not yet trimmed!)

Next, I turned the heart out the right way by cutting a slit in the back with my seam ripper (be careful not to cut through to the front):

Use a seam ripper to make a slit in the back.  It has to be big enough to turn heart through

The heart was turned right side out and pressed (with the help of my trusty chopstick):   

Turned right-side out and pressed.

I added some rustic hand-stitching before slip-stitching the heart in place not thinking that I could have stitched it in place USING the rustic hand-stitching - DOH!!

Even the pins co-ordinate!

This method wouldn’t work for an item that is going to be heavily quilted but it would be great for a pouch, purse or fabric box (ooh, there’s an idea – where’s my Zakka Style book?).

If I replace the leaf with my Cheating Heart I will have a Valentine Box

Of course, I could've just fused the heart onto my block but you never know when a Cheating Heart might come in handy.  Still not convinced?  Pop back soon to see what I mean.