February Block- Valentine Heart

February Valentine Heart.JPG

Love is in the air! Welcome Valentine’s Day with this cheerful patchwork heart. Hot pinks and bright reds stand out against a crisp white background…be still my heart!

(***scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable PDF version of this pattern)

Cutting Instructions (for one 12” finished block- it will be 12 ½” before sewing on 1 ½” strips):

From a variety of red or pink scraps (or combination of the 2):

  • cut twenty 2 ½” squares

  • cut five 3” squares

From a variety of white on white scraps:

  • cut six 2 ½” squares

  • cut five 3” squares

  • cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 12 ½”

  • cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 14 ½”

Outer border fabric (.25 m / ¼ yd): *** you might not want to cut the outer border lengths until your block is completed with narrow background borders in case seam allowances are not consistent

  • cut two 3 ½” WOF (width of fabric) strips (cut one 14 ½” and one 20 ½” length from each strip)

Binding: three 2 ½” strips (.25 m / ¼ yd)

Backing: one piece 23” square

Batting: one piece 23” square

Hanging sleeve: one piece 5” x 20 ½”

Sewing instructions:

*** ¼” seam allowances are used throughout. Refer to my Scant Quarter Inch tutorial for your own perfect ¼” seam.

Half Square Triangles (HST's): five 3” pink/red squares and five 3” white squares

figure 1

figure 1

  • draw a diagonal line on the back of all the 3” white squares

  • with right sides together place a pink/red square with a white square and stitch ¼” from both sides of the drawn line (repeat for all 5 sets) (figure 1)

  • cut them apart along the drawn line and press towards the pink/red (figure 1)

Trimming HST's:

  • line up the diagonal line from the ruler on top of the seam line making sure that the entire 2 ½” area of the ruler is on top of the HST and trim the excess from the right and top of the square (figures 2 & 3)

  • turn the HST around and place the 2 ½” markings from the ruler on the already trimmed corner and trim the final 2 sides (figures 4 & 5)...repeat with all HST's

figure 2

figure 2

figure 3

figure 3

figure 4

figure 4

figure 5

figure 5

Block layout:

  • lay out 2 ½” squares and HST's by following the photograph below for placement (figure 6)

  • stitch squares in each row together and press seams in each row in the opposite direction to the one before it (figure 7)

  • stitch all rows together lining up seam lines (sorry- forgot to take a photo of this one!)

  • press seams in one direction

figure 6

figure 6

figure 7

figure 7

figure 8

figure 8

Narrow borders (figure 8):

  • stitch 1 ½” x 12 ½” white strips to the sides of the block and press seams toward the strips

  • stitch 1 ½” x 14 ½” white strips to the top and bottom of the block and press seams toward the strips

    *** If you plan on making a calendar quilt, just stop with this completed block. If you want to make a wallhanging follow the instructions below.

Outer border:

  • stitch 3 ½” x 14 ½” outer borders to the sides of the block and press seams toward the borders (figure 9)

  • stitch 3 ½” x 20 ½” outer borders to the top and bottom of the block and press seams toward the borders (figure 10)

figure 9

figure 9

figure 10

figure 10

Finishing:

  • layer the backing, batting and top together and either spray-baste or pin-baste the layers together

  • quilt as desired, also run a straight stitch within the seam allowance all around the outer edge...this stabilizes the edge for applying the binding

  • trim backing and batting even with the quilt top

  • follow my Hanging Sleeve tutorial

  • apply the binding using your preferred method (the hanging sleeve will be stitched in place as the binding is sewn on) or follow my Best Ever Binding tutorial