Pinks and reds are perhaps first making you associate them with something girly (we don’t believe in gendered colours here though), but next your thoughts may drift to Valentine’s Day. Or Ystävänpäivä and Vändag as it’s called in Finnish and Swedish respectively. But what of it in our case?
It’s All In The Name
Another Swedish variant is Alla Hjärtans Dag, all hearts’ day. Ystävä and vän both mean friend, so focus here in Northern Europe has been on all sorts of relationships from the beginning, not just the romantic-partner connection.
In tough times we think it’s particularly important to celebrate friendships, so why not whip up a quick project like a heart bookmark of fabric (see our Advent Calendar blog post!) or a mug rug. Neither alternative weighs a lot and can easily be squeezed into an envelope for mailing a loved one.
Pattern Suggestion
In December I started cutting scraps from my own stash as well as some fabrics we carry in the shop, because I wanted something cheery, sweet and simple to sew together. It’s still a work in progress with slow cutting as the current step.
The pattern in question is one designed by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew and generously shared as a free tutorial: Simple Hearts Quilt.
If you plan to make a mug rug, pick a size you like and make one block only! It still packs a punch especially if you choose two different fabrics for the heart as well as a contrasting enough background and binding.
In The Shop
In our webshop there are many sorts of filters in use to help you narrow down products in different ways. One option is to search by colour.
All fabrics in this pink and red palette are found when applying those colour filters.
Consider using the low-volume pink on white fabric as background for your project.
Pro tip: once you’ve opened an individual product, scroll down to the Additional Information tab and click on the active links to open specific filters.
As for those of you who join our Kona Club opening its doors on Monday 1 February, consider picking one solid colour and one print for each heart. Valentine in pink and Tomato in red are soon shipped to you!
Conclusion
Slow crafting and regular self-care are key right now. Maybe you yourself are the optimal recipient of a mug rug or mini quilt made with Allison’s lovely (pun intended) pattern? Sometimes we tend to forget ourselves amidst all the generous crafting, so please accept this gentle reminder to put your own needs front and centre in this very moment.
What do you need right now? Do you need to say something to another person or maybe have an honest discussion with yourself? I tend to have drifting thoughts when sewing various things and many emotions of tougher type are processed then.
I’ve tackled more unfortunate things such as perfectionism and anxiety when taking on new techniques, too, but relationship-related heartache isn’t a stranger at my sewing machine either. The floor is free for anything really and what better than the wholesome, life-granting heart in February?
Vastaa