Cards, flowers, quilting tutorials? Let’s see how Moda designers share their feelings on Valentine's Day. 

Valentine’s Day has a long history. The first card was sent in 1415 under dramatic conditions—Charles, the Duke of Orleans was a prisoner in the Tower of London when he sent a missive to his wife. By the mid-to-late 1700s, sending cards began in earnest, though they were mostly hand-delivered due to the high cost of postage. Esther Howland, known as the Mother of the American Valentine, hired female assembly line workers in 1850 to create factory-made cards, and by the late 1800s “penny postage” made it possible to send Valentine messages more cheaply. Today, Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas for the number of cards sent. 

But there’s more to this day than cards. Here are some of Moda designers’ Valentine’s Day memories and traditions, along with a few tutorials and ideas for things you can make.

Bonnie Olaveson: Bonnie couldn’t resist sending this picture of her granddaughter, Olivia, with Bonnie’s Love You Most quilt from a couple of years ago. “When I say I love you, she always says "I love you most!" So when I was naming this pattern, this had to be the name of it. I love her toothless smile! She definitely has my heart!”

Janet Clare: Janet and her crew (husband Tony—AKA The Chief of Everything) and boys will shared dinner at home and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The day holds special meaning as Tony and Janet met on a blind date on Valentine’s Day more than 30 years ago. Here’s a photo of them, taken around Janet’s 18^thbirthday. They haven’t changed a bit!

Sandy Gervais:Sandy’s special memory involves her husband Bruce. 
“Many years ago I found a box of chocolates setting on my desk. Bruce drew this little picture ( I think it is a self-portrait)  and taped it to the box. It was not Valentine’s Day or any special day. It was a “just because” box of chocolates. (Those are the best kind.)I framed the little picture and it sets on my desk where I can enjoy it daily.

Deb Strain: Deb’s designed several Valentine’s Day lines over the years and says that her current Love Grows line may well be her favorite. “And I love the kit that Barb of Coach House Designs created for the group!” She also shared a picture of the roses her husband Scott gave her for Valentine’s Day. So sweet!

Corey Yoder:Corey says that while she doesn’t do anything special for Valentine’s Day, she’d never turn down a chocolate strawberry or two! And she shared her heart pillow tutorial from a few years ago—she used Deb Strain’s Always and Forever line to make it. You might want to make one yourself—check it out! http://corianderquilts.com/2012/02/simply-charmed-blog-hop-shabby-heart-pillow/

Jan Patek: Jan shared her tutorial on using freezer paper appliqué. You can, of course, use the technique to make all kinds of shapes, but here Jan uses it to make a heart quilt—perfect for Valentine’s Day! Jan is offering a special Valentine’s Day deal: all this week and Valentine’s Day you get both patterns for one price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GlWcG7nYFc&feature=youtu.be

Barb Groves (Me and My Sister): Mary and I have our very first Valentine’s group called Red-iculously in Love. It’s a collection of hearts done in red and white. Lots of hearts! My favorite print is the small birds with a heart for wings. We also have a new pattern called Love Shack that goes with the collection. Mary made a smaller version with three blocks for a table runner.

To celebrate the holiday, Barb and her husband and exchange cards every year and try to get funny ones.

Crystal Manning: I sewed my Crazy Love quilt in Bella Solids a few weeks ago. Hearts are classic and I like having this around as a throw in our living room. 

Jeff and I are pretty traditional when it comes to Valentine's day. I just enjoy going out to eat and indulging in dessert afterward. I've requested chocolate crepes this year.

Betsy Chutchian: Harriet’s Handwork is a perfect collection for Valentines. I originally designed this pattern years ago and made it with a wide variety of reds, pinks and chocolates when I owned a quilt shop. We sold the pattern year-round for many years, even after I sold the shop. Once the pink, red and brown line for Moda was conceived, I knew I would remake Hot for Chocolate and update the timeless pattern. 

As for Valentines tradition, when the kids were younger I made us a special dinner of their choice at home so they could share in the day. A batch of heart shaped pink spritz cookies from mom’s cookie press and a double batch of my aunt’s iced fudge brownies were the obligatory sweets. Now that dinner is just for husband and myself, it’s steak, wine and maybe, a brownie. Gone are the days of a heart shaped cake and ganache icing......wait that sounds really good! Hmmm. 

Jane Davidson (QuiltJane): Jane shared two traditions:
1. When we were younger mum and dad would leave a card and red rose for each of their five girls. 

2. I would send anonymous Valentine’s cards to my close friends. I would get people travelling interstate or overseas to post the cards. They finally caught on over the years. 

Jane sent photos of her #Modalovequilt variation, made using the Moda Love Quilt as a base. For more information, check here.

She also sent a photo of her Valentine-inspired quilt— Bow Tie Love—for sale in her shop in PDF or distributed in paper by United Notions. 

Kaari Meng (French General): Here's Kaari's tradition. "Every year I design a piece of jewelry for Valentine’s Day—sometimes it's a kit (like this one), sometimes it's for my daughter Sofia or a friend, and sometimes it's just to put in the archives. This year, I designed a necklace with old silk hand-dyed ribbon, knotted with glass pearls and a ring of old brass charms. I can look back twenty-five years now and see all of these pieces and they remind me of the days when I was young and carefree in New York and designed jewelry for Anthropologie."  

Sandy Klop (American Jane):I have a quilt called February favorites. Moda is kitting it and it will be available soon.

Lynne Hagemaier (Kansas Troubles): Robert and I were married on Friday, February 13th in a simple ceremony with our 6 kids ages 4 to 8. Crazy, I know, but it’s lasted 32 years!

Like mother, like daughter—Sherri McConnell and Chelsi Stratton both have heart-themed tutorials to share:

Chelsi: I love Valentine's Day! I'm obsessed with anything that has hearts and of course flowers and chocolates! Here is a link to my blog for my Heart Pillow Tutorial.And here is a link to my Hearts at Home pattern.

Sherri: I have two Valentine's tutorials on my blog. The first is a red and black pillow tutorialin fabric by Sweetwater with the black crossweave...and the pink table runner is from an earlier collection from Deb Strain.

Vanessa Goertzen (Lella Boutique): My kids and I like to dip strawberries in chocolate for Valentines day!

I have a couple heart patterns. One is Open Heart, a quilt pattern, available here.

The other is a mini (4'' finished) version of the block, turned into a pin cushion. It's called the Mini Open Heart Pin Cushion. One of my favorite things about it is you can make three pin cushions (including a patchwork back) with just one mini charm pack.

Vanessa also shared a great idea for a Valentine's gift for crafty friends—a pattern, mini charm pack, and candies all packaged up. Wouldn't you love to be on the receiving end of this?

How about you? Do you have a special Valentine's Day tradition or memory? We'd love to hear!