Spread the Love: Heart Sachets to Brighten Every Day

Greetings, friends—let's make something sweet for Valentine’s Day!

Looking for a creative way to share a little love this season? You’re in luck! This month, I wrote a tutorial for Benzie Design featuring a beginner-friendly project that’s as fun to make as it is to gift—Heart-Shaped Sachets! These charming little hearts can be customized with your favorite colors and embellishments, then filled with soothing lavender or potpourri for a fragrant touch.

This project is perfect for crafters who want an enjoyable afternoon activity. Whether you’re making one or a dozen, these sachets are a beautiful way to celebrate Valentine’s Day (or any day!).

What You’ll Need

Here’s a quick look at the basic supplies:

Just a heads-up: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you decide to buy something through them, I’ll earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. It’s a simple way to support the content I share, and I really appreciate it!

• Benzie Design Stitchable Nesting Hearts Deep Etch Die
• Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
• Bellwether Felt Sheets (solid or printed)
• Tulle Fabric
• DMC 6-Strand Embroidery Floss
• Tapestry Needle
• Tacky Glue
• Lavender or Potpourri
  
  

Ready to dive in? Head over to the Benzie Design Blog for the full step-by-step tutorial and all the details!

👉 https://www.benziedesign.com/blogs/tutorials/heart-shaped-sachets

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to share a little handmade love—but why stop there? These heart-shaped sachets make thoughtful gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. There’s something special about giving (and receiving!) a handmade piece that’s filled with care and creativity.

Whether you make one or a dozen, these fragrant hearts are sure to brighten someone’s day year-round. So gather your supplies, let your imagination run wild, and start stitching! Head over to the Benzie Design Blog for the free tutorial and supply list and get ready to spread the love—one handmade heart at a time.

Hollyhock Lane Fabric Tour

Happy Monday - I am thrilled to be today's stop on the Hollyhock Lane Fabric Tour - thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. I have some very special projects to share...all created with the new Hollyhock Lane Fabric Collection designed by Sheri McCulley for Poppie Cotton. I enjoyed being creative and playing with these gorgeous prints. This brand new collection (shipping to shops now) has a delicate fabric panel (used in my mini quilt), delightful florals, and fabulous small geometric prints…all done in a  soft, cheerful color palette. As usual, for my projects, I didn't start with a pattern(s) - I just played in my studio. I knew when I saw these prints (months ago) that the fabric panel would be perfect for a mini quilt so that was my plan...and I just started cutting and sewing...

I decided to cut the panel blocks apart...then I cut twelve blocks the same size from Country Confetti Marshmallow White. I cut 12 hearts from different prints in the collection and machine appliquéd them to the Country Confetti blocks...then pieced them together to make my quilt top. Instead of fabric binding, I used ½” Hand Dyed Rick Rack from Lady Dot Creates around the perimeter...I also added small heart buttons as embellishments. This mini quilt measures approximately 23¾” H x 17½” W and has a hanging sleeve on the back. Isn't it a happy quilt?!

In usual Belinda fashion, after my mini quilt was complete, I just *had to* make a smaller project or two with some of my leftover fabric. We all know I love foundation piecing, so for my pincushion (I seem to make a pincushion with each Poppie Cotton collection), I did a small, 6" foundation pieced tulip block - and it turned out just as I envisioned. I trimmed my pincushion with ½” Hand Dyed Rick Rack from Lady Dot Creates. I also fussy cut one of the panel blocks (I loved the "kindess" text) and appliquéd it to a piece of wool felt from Benzie Design. I cut it into a flag shape and attached it, along with some flower shapes I cut from wool felt with a couple sewing pins. 

I also wanted to try to use some of the heart windows left from cutting the mini quilt heart appliqués (I try to use each and every piece of fabric), so I machine appliquéd one to a small, patchwork zippered pouch. I embellished the pouch with a couple wooden buttons (a handmade button and a bird button). This pouch is the perfect size for a small project or sewing/stitching tools and will be a lovely addition to a large project bag.

I hope you have enjoyed this stop on the fabric tour and are feeling inspired - thank you for visiting with me today. For more creative projects using the Hollyhock Lane fabric collection, visit the Poppie Cotton Blog. If you love this fabric collection, be sure to check out your favorite quilt shop - Hollyhock Lane is shipping now.

I am already working on project ideas for the next Poppie Cotton Fabric Tour in May - it is using the fabric collection Kitty Loves Candy (click on the link to see a preview - it is a Halloween collection!!). Plus, I will have a new ThermOWeb project tutorial posted in May…so, be sure to stop back soon...

Growing Hearts Valentine Pocket

Hello friends - thank you for visiting with me today! Did you hear my very happy news?? I am a new Fabric Education Designer for ThermOWeb  (you know, the makers of all those wonderful HeatNBond products - adhesives, interfacings - all sorts of "must have" products for fabric crafts, paper crafts, and sewing). I will be creating projects and tutorials for their very popular blog and giving you my tips and tricks for using their products in your own projects. My very first post went live yesterday...and it is a complete tutorial for my "Growing Hearts Valentine Pocket." This tutorial contains a complete supply list, printable pattern, and step-by-step directions with color photos. I hope you will stop by the ThermOWeb blog and check out my project and tutorial...and if you like it, leave a comment and let ThermOWeb know.😊

This is a small appliqué project that is perfect for snippets and scraps. I used a combination of wool felt and cotton fabric, but you can use what you have on hand. I also used some rick rack and twill tape - but you could use ribbon...and I used a handful of buttons. It really is easy to make this project your own - you can make it as simple or as challenging as you would like! This hanging pocket is useful for stationary, mail, or notes...add a Valentine and some sweet treats and it makes a perfect gift! It has a finished size of 10.5" W x 8" H (plus hanger) and the fusible fleece and interfacing make it nice and sturdy. Growing Hearts is a great afternoon project that will definitely brighten up your Valentine's Day (and could be on display year-round!).

You will have to visit the ThermOWeb blog for my tutorial, but I am posting a few photos here...

https://blog.thermoweb.com/growing-hearts-valentine-pocket-with-heatnbond/

I hope this project gets you excited to create something!

I will be doing more projects for the ThermOWeb blog and will be sure to post here, when I do. My next post is scheduled for February 15th.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today - I always enjoy sharing with you. Enjoy the rest of your week and make time to work on something creative...

Piece of My Heart

With the cold winter weather, I thought I would share a new project with you that warms my heart - it is my latest pattern design for AccuQuilt called the "GO! Piece of My Heart Wall Hanging." I had so much fun designing and creating this project that uses the GO! Strip Cutter-5 1/2" (5" Finished)...and the GO! Strip Cutter-2 1/2" (2" Finished) for the binding - that's it - only two cutting dies! Once I had the pattern written, it went together super easy and I was thrilled with how it turned out...so much so, that I had a really hard time boxing up the sample and sending it to AccuQuilt - I wanted to keep it for my very own! I worked up the sample in beautiful Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids...but this pattern would work well with prints or batiks...and it could even be done with one basic color in a variety of prints. For the quilting, I used simple wavy lines on my domestic machine (yep, I'm still dreaming of the day I will own a longarm!).

You can find this new pattern on the AccuQuilt website...and it is currently free of charge (yes, I said FREE) to download:
http://www.accuquilt.com/shop/go-piece-of-my-heart-strip-quilt-pattern.html

My tip to you (if you want to make one of your very own) - keep your pieces organized - I pinned my pieces for each vertical strip set together until sewing....and then I placed each strip set in order on my design wall. The finished wall hanging measures 55" x 55" and would also work quite well for a lap quilt.

This colorful project is sure to brighten up a winter day....and with Valentine's Day in less than two months, it is the perfect time to get started! So, go check out the AccuQuilt website, download the free pattern, and gather your supplies - you'll be finished in no time...
Happy quilting!

Hugs and Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day friends, family, and followers! My heart is overflowing - you have overwhelmed me with joyous birthday and valentine wishes the last couple days - thank you for making me feel special. Although it is snowing and bitter cold outside, I am warmed by your kindness...

To celebrate the love today, here's a mosaic of just a few Blue Ribbon Designs that showcase the heart...

I hope you are enjoying this Valentine's Day and that you are inspired to do something a little fun and/or creative for a loved one!

Owl You Need Is Love

In December, I was busy working on two new Valentine's Day designs for AccuQuilt (my regular readers may remember seeing a couple sneak peeks)....and I am super excited that I can finally share them with you. I created a pair of patterns/samples that are sure to fill your heart with love - one is traditional piecing and one is piecing with machine applique. I had quite a bit of fun designing these two projects and working with the lovely Robert Kaufman Fabrics (pinks and reds always brighten a mood)!

First up is the GO! Log Cabin Love Wall Hanging. This log cabin heart might look a bit complicated, but it truly is easier than you may think...it uses one cutting die for the entire quilt top - the GO! Log Cabin-12" Finished Square by Leslie Main.  Twelve 12" log cabin quilt blocks fit together to make a large heart wall hanging that measures 48" x 36". The GO! Log Cabin cutting die cuts makes it SUPER simple to cut the quilt blocks...and to make this project go even more smoothly, be sure to keep your cut pieces organized and follow the images in the pattern (the instructions breakdown each block and the layout).  For added convenience, I used the GO! Strip Cutter-2 1/2" (2" Finished) to cut my binding strips.

...and for a little cute overload, here is my GO! Owl You Need is Love Wall Hanging. This heartfelt machine applique project give you a chance to be a little creative with the layout. It utilizes the following cutting dies:

• GO! Owl
• GO! Queen of Hearts
• GO! Heart-2", 3", 4"
• GO! Value Die
• GO! Stems & Leaves
• GO! Strip Cutter-1 1/2" (1" Finished)
• GO! Strip Cutter-2 1/2" (2" Finished) (binding)

Be sure to iron on your fusible web before cutting the applique shapes and you will have this super sweet wall hanging complete in plenty of time for Valentine's Day!

You can find both these patterns (along with several other new valentine projects) on the AccuQuilt website...and for a limited time, they are FREE...so visit the following links to download the patterns and make a couple heart-filled projects for February!

GO! Log Cabin Love Wall Hanging Pattern

GO! Owl You Need is Love Wall Hanging Pattern

Key To My Heart

I just love working on projects for Valentine's Day - it makes me happy to work with red, pink, and white fabrics...and I have fun with heart shapes/motifs. I have been working with various Valentine fabrics in my stash, along with an assortment of wool felts, and enjoying every minute of it! I managed to finish up a pile of pincushions (tiny decorative pillows) - the pincushion tops are machine appliqué (assorted felts on quality quilting fabric)...and the backs are quilting fabric, as well (the retired collection Hearts Aflutter by Sandy Gervais for Moda). On several pieces, I added a small pink lace flower for a special touch...and each one has a couple decorative pins too! They are various sizes - some square and some rectangular...and I was just tickled with how each one turned out...

If you are looking for a sweet (inedible) Valentine treat to add to your collection...or if you are looking for a special gift...you can find a dozen of these heartfelt pincushions listed in my Etsy shop, ready for shipping...

Hearts Aflutter

I just love working on projects for Valentine's Day - for some reason, it makes me happy to work with red and pink fabrics and heart motifs. I have been enjoying "playing" with some of the fabulous Valentine fabrics in my stash. I have quite a bit of yardage of the retired line "Hearts Aflutter" by Sandy Gervais for Moda, so I decided to make a couple sets of L.O.V.E. pillows - these fun little pillows measure 5" H x 5" W...the letters and hearts are machine applique with a blanket stitch...and the backs are wool felt in barnyard red. I made a set for myself a couple years ago and I enjoy putting it on display each year (sometimes they are out year round) - they look great on a shelf or in a bowl or basket - they just seem to cheer up a room!

I also finished up a couple wool applique pincushions filled with crushed walnut shells. These heartfelt pincushion tops are machine appliqué (wool felt/fabric on quality quilting fabric)...and the backs are wool felt in barnyard red. I tacked a small lace flower in the center of the white wool flower for a special touch. Each one measures approximately 5" H x 5" W x 1.75" D....and the walnut shells give the pincushion a nice heavy consistency. I was just tickled with how these turned out....and of course, they can be used as small decorative pillows...

I have added these special "heart" items to my Etsy Shop - I  hope they all find a good home for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday!

I have now started on items for St. Patrick's Day - I have an assortment of Shamrock Lace Ornaments that I will be adding very soon....

Valentine Snow Day

We are in the middle of another winter storm here in Iowa - inches of snow, bitter cold temperatures, and extreme winds - a great day to stay inside and be creative...in fact, I only ventured outside today to walk try to walk Simba (and that was quite an adventure, as my neighbors didn't feel it was important to clean their sidewalks and driveways). I have spent the last couple days catching up on paperwork, doing my year-end business reporting, my sales taxes, and cleaning/rearranging and inventorying my warehouse...and I must say, I am thrilled to have those "not-so-fun" tasks done. Today I decided to spend my snow day playing in my studio...the theme for today was Valentine's Day!

I decided to finish up another batch of machine embroidered lace hearts for my Etsy shop...I had some color requests and some custom orders, so I got all those finished and shipped...and I managed to get an assortment of 34 hearts listed. In my digitized machine embroidery library I found my favorite tiny lace heart, so I started making a small batch...I also played with some wools and made another one of my heart/flower embellished zippered pouches...and I got fabrics cut for several more sewing projects. It was a wonderful afternoon/evening and I enjoyed every minute...

Machine embroidered lace hearts for my Etsy Shop...

Tiny machine embroidered FSL hearts in progress...

Heart/flower embellished zippered wool pouch...

A Valentine project in progress...

I have one more fun thing to share with you today - last weekend my husband took me out for an afternoon...after all, it had been weeks since I had been out and about - the flu had kept me cooped up for WAY too long. We had a delightful lunch, then headed to our favorite coffee shop...then I twisted his arm (it wasn't hard) to take me to the new cupcake shop that just opened up in our neighborhood - it is called Scratch Cupcakery...and it was AMAZING! I have never seen so many beautifully decorated cupcakes in one place - and that is a good thing, as they were packed with people - we had to wait in line and I think we watched about 50 cupcakes walk out the door in the few minutes we were there. Their cupcake menu is extensive and we had a terrible time trying to narrow down our choices. We decided to pick-up four cupcakes - 2 for each...one for then and one for later...we both wanted to try Toffee...and I wanted to try White Chocolate Raspberry, but since they were sold out, I was "forced" to try Raspberry Love...and my husband tried Coconut. I must tell you - they tasted as good as they looked...the cake was rich and moist and they use real heavenly buttercream frosting - they were sinful. I am actually surprised a got a couple photos before they were devoured. For some reason, I see another trip to this scrumptious cupcake place in the near future...

Thanks for visiting me today friends! I am now headed to my cozy stitching nest to finish up the needlework small for part two of the mystery sampler...and since I have a chill, I may just have to make a hot cup of tea or coffee to warm up...enjoy your evening - and if you are experiencing winter weather, stay safe and warm...