Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey, Finished

April 2, 2025, 5:45 pm
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2024, Heart Swirls - Janet Zickler Casey

Goal #7 was to finish Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey into an ornament. The stitching has been done since October 2024.

The backing fabric is left over red fabric from my Magic Quilt Poinsettia. I used Peel n Stick Fabric Fuse along the inside edge to hold the fabric in place. Two long pieces of Peel n Stick across back kept the front and back sides together just enough, allowing me to stitch the cord in place while cinching the 2 sides together as I went. I don’t like clips placed all around the edge because they put dents in the stitching.

There are a few layers of wool felt (not craft felt) to give the front a little thickness. I tried building it up in the center, and although it’s still flat, the edges rounded really nicely.

I found a fantastic cord at Fireside Stitchery a few months ago and decided that I was ready following my success with the Silken Sonata ornament. The cord is Passementerie 3/16″, Vatican Red (PAS-31642). There are a couple of colors of that cord. I’ll be using it whenever possible. The finished size of the ornament is 4.75″ wide by 4.5″ tall without the loop.

I should have taken a picture of the loop attachment. I cut exactly the length I wanted for the loop with about an inch inside to sew/tack in place on the Craftex. Then, I cut enough length of cord to wrap around the edge. So the end of the cord doesn’t ravel, I taped around the end and cut through the center of the tape.

I aligned the long length of cord snugly up against the one side of the loop and sewed it in place by attaching it to the Craftex and the adjacent loop. Then, I sewed the cord in place with red beading thread (perfect color match to the cord) passing the needle through the center of the cord, making the stitches invisible, catching the backing fabric and the canvas. Once I got further around, I tucked the other cord end into place. I couldn’t sew that end of the cord to the Craftex, but I did secure it to the adjacent loop.

I don’t think that I have ever done exactly the same thing twice when finishing. Partly because each one reacts a little differently in the process. These last two finishes have to be my best finishes yet. I’ve even put away the threads rather than stockpiling them. Hope springs eternal! Now, back to fun stitching.