Thursday, November 19, 2020

Hobo Heart



Back in August, which was decades ago, Sarah posted a photo of a new Jen Kingswell design called "Boho Heart." I was immediately smitten with the idea of forming one giant heart out of many smaller blocks. That squirrel ran up my leg and sat in my lap, chattering, "Drop everything and make it!"

At the time, the pattern wasn't available to purchase, so I decided to use the photo as inspiration and wing it using orphan blocks donated to Covered in Love and lots of scrappy white and cream for the background. 


I chose orphan blocks with bright, saturated colors and black accents for this one. Check out those fun, wonky stars!


I love this card trick block, too. Along the diagonal edges of the heart shape, I used various sizes of half square triangles with one half bright, the other half white/cream. Finding and accurately placing those HSTs was the hardest part, and many partial seams were needed. 


For the back, I used lots of wild, bright chunks. Some were a bit too bright and the colors bled all the way through to the front. Yikes! Fortunately, a second washing using blue Dawn dishwashing soap removed all the bleeding. Whew!


The quilting is almost invisible among the scrappiness, just simple stippling in the heart and floppy feathers in the background. The binding is scrappy brights from my leftover binding strips.


I'm calling my derivative version Hobo Heart as a nod to our traveling life, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm grateful to Jen Kingswell for her amazing design idea, and to Sarah for sharing it. Piecing square blocks of all sizes into the heart shape was a real brain puzzle: challenging and rewarding. I'll definitely be making another one!


If you're interested in making the official version, the pattern is now available in many shops. A quick search should pull up a number of purchasing options.

26 comments:

  1. Absolutely amazing - I LOVE IT!!! The pattern is expensive (just looked at several website that sell it). Maybe this is an idea for my Dumpster Diving series . . . talk about a SQUIRREL! (gee, thanks)

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  2. I LOVE your Hobo Heart!!! Such a great way to use orphan blocks!! Thanks for sharing ♥️♥️♥️

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  3. Your Hobo Heart is really fantastic. Nice job!

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  4. Congratulations on a beautiful finish Louise!! I have looked at this Jen Kingwell pattern quite a few times and been sorely tempted - who knows if I will give in to temptation.

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  5. Just WOW! I think that’s all I ever seem to say, but you really hit it out of the (water) park with Hobo Heart! It’s so gorgeous and the piecing is beyond clever!

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  6. What a beautiful scrappy love quilt! My sewing room is such a mess due to those squirrels, LOL!

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  7. You are amazing to figure that out without a pattern!

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  8. Louise, this is clever as can be!! I love how you just winged it with orphan blocks. And I love how you changed it from Boho to Hobo Heart!!! Quite a puzzle you put together, you and the squirrels!!!

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  9. Clever you, figuring that out and coming up with a really fun, pretty quilt! This is going to make someone so happy. Having just finished the Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell, I have to admit that her pattern does pique my interest, just s bit.

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  10. Louise, the intersection of your artistic brain and your engineering brain continues to amaze me. Thank you for sharing the results of your talents with us. Always amazing!!

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  11. Wow, your Hobo Heart is wonderful! It’s the best use of orphan blocks I’ve seen. Very inspiring...I’m tempted to do the same with a few blocks I have set aside. I missed Boho Heart on Sarah’s blog (we were packing for our move), and that pattern is pretty cool.

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  12. Louise, such a great job of figuring this one out. I love both the front and back with all those brights. I'm sure the next one will go much easier and faster and glad to hear there will be another one. That was such a nice squirrel visit wasn't it.

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  13. Super cute, Louise!! I'm guessing you gave your "Design Bed" a good workout on this one. The completed quilt was SEW worth the challenge of figuring out how to place the blocks!

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  14. From Boho to Hobo!! I love it. The original pattern is wonderful, but your take on it is also amazing! That joyful jumble of blocks from the hearts of so many people. And yay for Dawn, saving wildlife and quilts. They should feature quilts in an ad. This quilt must have taken a lot of planning. Perhaps you addressed this in your boat life posts, but how do you layout something like this? Is your guest bed also your design bed? (Oh, and you had me at partial seams.)

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  15. What a delight! You do have the heart of a hobo and the adventurous spirit that travels along well. What a salute to your creative drive. I love it when an inspiring idea takes shape and then comes alive in someone's hands. I have said it before, you talent with those orphan blocks is a pure gift. Keep it up and never follow the rules!

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  16. This is so cool. How much more interesting than just a big rectangle with lots of orphan blocks. And congratulations for having the persistence to figure out how to make the transition from orphan blocks to neutral background actually look like a heart.
    Pat

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  17. I love this, Louise! What a neat idea for using up orphan blocks! Did you use some orphan blocks to make the HSTs (i.e., cut them in half?) Love the scrappy background and backing, too.

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  18. you are so clever... it looks fantastic
    Hugz

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  19. Very clever and it looks terrific! Someone is sure to love it.

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  20. Of all the quilts in the world, I have fallen in love with a Hobo Heart. I love this quilt so much, it makes my toes curl. The pieced background really works well with all of the orphan blocks. I particularly like the sailboat block tucked away with the stars.

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  21. What a great way to use orphan blocks. I love your quilt. I'm using some orphan blocks to make a jacket - I WILL finish it one day.
    Allison

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  22. Since I'm not good at math, this looks like it would have been a nightmare for me to create. You did such a fantastic job on getting it just right. There's so much variety & interest in that Hobo Heart that it's something to look at over & over again. The back is perfect for all the colors that are in the front side. Congrats on another jaw-dropping quilt from the boat.

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  23. You did good on your version of the pattern! It looks bright and fun and pretty. Nice job fitting and showcasing those orphan blocks. Maybe you can make yourself one at some point?

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  24. That is a fabulous quilt. Your version using half square triangles is actually more difficult than the one with strips of fabric going down. Wonderful quilt. Great usage of orphans. Kudos for a fine finish.

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  25. Well bless your hobo heart! That is one downright elegant squirrel!

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  26. Amazingly cool! But I'm trying to ignore that nagging squirrel cuz I already have too much on my plate.

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