Charity Hearts DONE!

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  2
Hearts Completed: 144

With these last 23 hearts featuring the names of volunteers at The Giving Heart , this project is DONE!  I've taken pictures, now I just have to box up all the 144 completed hearts so they will be ready to mail first thing Monday morning.  I plan to write about it and include more pictures on my other blog, Leslie's Art and Sew on Monday.

Now that the year is coming to an end, and I reached my goal of sewing 365 hearts long ago, my friend and reader Kay asked if I will be starting a new challenge in 2013.  The answer is, YES! 

I plan to do another "365" challenge, this time revolving around my new interest in Blythe dolls. I want to post at least one new picture of a Blythe every day.  This time around, I want it to be more of a "true" 365 challenge--no working ahead like I did with the hearts!  

Some of the pictures will include clothes or accessories I've made for the dolls, and some will be interesting pictures of dolls "out and about".  There are actually quite a few Blythe blogs, and I really enjoy seeing how the bloggers pose the dolls so they appear lifelike, and I especially like it when the pictures are accompanied by a narrative telling the story of what the dollies were up to that day.  I hope to make most of my posts the story-telling kind.

I know this new blog won't appeal to all readers, but that's okay--I'm doing it for myself, to expand my horizons with photography, and to have fun making things for my dolls.  I still love hearts, and I will show you any hearts I make after December 31 on Leslie's Art and Sew.  In the meantime, there are still 44 days left in 2012, so I'm sure there will be at least a few more posts here on 365 Sewn Hearts before the end of the year!

Names, Part Six

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  4
Hearts Completed: 121

These blue and white hearts look so cool and wintery!  

My mailing deadline for these hearts for The Giving Heart's charity Christmas tree is fast approaching (Nov. 19th); I have the last batch of hearts sitting near my sewing chair, unstuffed.  I know what I will be doing for the next few evenings!

Names, Part Five

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  6
Hearts Completed: 109

I LOVE pink, and I think that the bright pink damask print I used on this batch of hearts is just beautiful.  As you can see, I only wrote female names on these!

Names, Part Four

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  9
Hearts Completed by Me:  92 /100 
Hearts from wonderful Kay:  10
Current total: 102!


Here's a big batch of 22 new hearts with the names of more volunteers at The Giving Heart:

I just heard from my friend Kay in England that she has made and sent 10 hearts directly to The Giving Heart for their charity Christmas tree--thanks so much Kay!!!  That pushes the current total over 100!!!

That is great news, because there has been a change of plans:  instead of delivering the hearts in person late in November, I will be mailing them, and the date for that is now November 19th, so I have a little less crafting time than I had expected.  I am therefore DITCHING my tentative hope of reaching 200 hearts;  I still have a pile of "name" hearts to finish, and when they are completed, I will call this project DONE!

Names, Part Three

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  26
Hearts Completed:  70 /100 (or 200?)


Here are eight more hearts with names of volunteers at The Giving Heart for their charity Christmas tree:

I love this striped fabric!

Names, Part Two

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  28
Hearts Completed:  62 /100 (or 200?)

I add five more hearts to the total today.  I kept the design of these name hearts simple for two reasons:  one, there will be so many colors and patterns on the tree that more details aren't necessary; and two, I need to speed things up if I'm going to finish on time!

For these hearts I printed all the names from my computer, then used a light box to trace each name onto the heart with a micron marker.

Names, Part One

Days Remaining until hearts are due for The Giving Heart:  29
Hearts Completed:  57 /100 (or 200?)

Here are the first six hearts with volunteers' names on them.  I thought the list I received contained 50 names, but it actually has more than 80(!), so this batch of hearts will push me much closer to 200 than I had expected it to!  There are many more to come in the days ahead.