Fig Tree & Co Archives - Gray Barn Designs

I am obsessed with making mini quilted Valentines this year. The pattern for my mini Valentines is actually my free mug rug pattern. You can click on this link to download the pattern: Sweet Heart Mug Rug

I searched through my scraps for interesting color combinations that are “just perfect” for family and friends. Here’s my stack of Valentines so far; I’ve popped some of them in the mail already.

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I had some left over fabric from the Strawberry Fields Revisited fabric collection by Fig Tree & Co. These colors match the decor in my youngest sister’s house.

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Since Sandy likes “Frenchy” (is that a word?) things, she is the lucky recipient of this one. Work with me on this…I am hopeful it looks like the writing came from Paris!

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My older sister lives in Florida and I couldn’t resist making a flamingo Valentine. It is definitely one of a kind!

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Special note: with the above three Valentines, I deviated from the pattern and combined the inner and outer borders of Step 11 and Step 12. Each border piece around the heart is 1.75 inches wide.

The Valentine below goes to my pre-teen neighbor (and dog sitter). She picked out the blue fabric on a recent shopping trip and I know she will be very happy to see it in her Valentine!

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This is my favorite because it reminds me of an English garden. I mailed it off to my dear friend (DF). DF, I hope you like it!

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Chela from Chela’s Colchas y Mas blog post made a super cute Valentine using my pattern. She used shades of lavender with a pretty floral.

You still have time to make a few Valentines! Don’t be afraid to get started!

Mom loves to pick berries–especially wild strawberries! Ever had one? If not, it is a delicacy to behold!

These teeny, tiny little berries are packed with unrivaled flavor and sweetness.

Every Christmas, we each get a small jar of wild strawberry jam. It is such a treat! Wild strawberry jam is great on toast, let’s say mid-January when the snow is blowing and we get to stay inside all day. My husband likes it as a sauce over vanilla ice cream. This small jar doesn’t go very far and needless to say, it takes a whole lot of tiny berries to make even a small batch of jam!

Growing up on the farm, we always picked wild strawberries mid-June, right before the hay was ready to cut. When my son and my nephew were young, mom always took them on a wild strawberry picking bonanza, they loved this time with Gramma! In my quilt shop travels, I saw the Strawberry Fields fabric collection by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co. and I decided that Gramma would be getting a quilt for Christmas from her grandsons.

The fabrics are so feminine and pretty with images of strawberry blossoms, tiny strawberries, leaves and spring flowers. I decided on a pattern called “Nest and Feathers” from Janie Lou’s book entitled Precut Quilts. It’s an easy pattern that uses fat quarters cut into 6 inch x 6 inch squares. The squares are sewn together in random order, re-cut and then sewn together to make larger blocks. The solid brown sashing helps to showcase these bright, fresh prints.

My quilter, Ms. KB, quilted a sweet leaf and vine pattern for me. You can see some of the quilting on the front and the back. I just finished adding the label and the binding this morning.