Embroidery is not my favorite stitching activity. For one thing, I have a cat who will happily shred any embroidered quilt that I put on a bed or couch, so including an embroidered block automatically means the quilt will either need to be hung on the wall or hidden away. However, the Splendid Sampler included several embroidered blocks in its lineup. I did some and skipped others; this one is a design that I chose in place of another block.

I picked the design because it reminds me of the lacy paper valentines that my college roommate (and lifelong friend) Susan and I used to make each year. We’d spread out lace paper doilies, construction paper, and Victorian-themed wrapping paper all over the floor of our apartment. With a little glue and a lot of laughter, we made piles of pretty valentines. This embroidered one is for Susan, in place of all the ones I haven’t made over the years since we graduated and went out into the world.

I kept the quilting very simple — just echoed the outer shape of the embroidery and added some meandering to make the block center stand out. Happy Valentine’s Day, Susan.

I included Susan’s Valentine in my Splendid Sampler in place of one of the other embroidered blocks. The lovely pattern comes from French-Knots Vintage Craft Patterns.