Hearts Aflutter was the very first block to be released for the Splendid Sampler!

This was my second attempt at quilting feathers inside a heart shape, and I think it came out a little bit better than the first one. My first attempt was on Block 29, Scrappy Happy Heart. You can tell this one is a little bit smoother. (A very little bit…)

On this block, the heart was a little larger, which helped, and I’d done it once already, which also helped. So… not even close to perfect, but not too bad. Next time I might try joined feathers instead of separate ones.

I echoed once inside and once outside the heart to set it apart and then quilted back-and-forth lines to make the background recede. I changed the direction of the lines in each quarter of the block. I left the corners alone and stitched in the ditch to finish it off.

Hearts Aflutter is block 1 of the Splendid Sampler and was designed by Pat Sloan.