Patchwork Heart Block

February’s nearly here! That means it’s time for candy hearts, patchwork hearts, all the hearts. Yuck, right? :)

A handmade heart shaped quilted patchwork cushion by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I had some Alison Glass and Carolyn Friedlander fabrics in various shades of purple lying around my sewing table and decided they needed to become a heart patchwork block. Teamed with a variety of low-volume fabrics, I think this Valentine’s heart is sweet without being too sugary, if you know what I mean.

I made this entirely from 2″ scraps – it’s a great way of using up all those small offcuts.

A heart shaped patchwork block by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I have a PDF download that takes you through the construction of this block, if you’d like to make one/some yourself. It also has some tips on choosing your fabrics to make sure the plus-sign pattern comes out, and a couple of options to use multiple blocks to make larger quilts.

How to chain piece

Sewing all the rows together is much quicker when you chain piece.

A heart shaped patchwork block by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

Here’s how I do it: after laying out all my squares I label the first square in each row with a sticker and then stack each row, in order, into a pile. I then take the first two piles to my sewing machine. I sew the first row’s first two squares together, then the second row’s first two squares together (do not clip apart as you go, just feed both pairs through one after the other).

Then I can clip the first row’s 2 squares free and feed them back through the machine to sew on the third square. Then clip the second row’s 2 squares free and feed them back through the machine to sew on the third square. And it just goes on from there, alternating the rows and sewing each consecutive square to the row.

If you get a bit muddled as to which row you have in your hand, or which pile to take your next square from, no worries, your sticker will tell you. And the sticker also alerts you to which is the first block, so you don’t accidentally rotate your row and start sewing later blocks to the start of your row (been there, done that.)

A handmade heart shaped quilted patchwork cushion by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

Don’t have stickers? Use bits of paper with numbers written on them, pinned to your first squares.

Don’t have paper? (whaaaa?) Use your phone to take a picture of the two stacks you’re working on, no 1 on top, no 2 below. Refer to your picture whenever you get muddled about which row you have in your hand (and which stack you should be choosing your next square from).

A handmade heart shaped quilted patchwork cushion by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

When you’ve finished row 1 and row 2, move on to row 3 and row 4, then row 5 and row 6…..until you’ve finished them all.

A heart shaped patchwork block by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

As soon as my 6 year old saw this completed panel he declared it needed to become a patchwork cushion for his bed. Fair enough!

A handmade heart shaped quilted patchwork cushion by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I quilted the patchwork panel with wavy lines in a light grey thread, and then turned it into a pillow with a zipper back. (The back is just fabric, not quilted.)

It’s already in use and receiving a lot of love in our home.

A handmade heart shaped quilted patchwork cushion by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

You can get the PDF for this Patchwork Heart Panel by putting your name and email in the boxes within this post.

Happy sewing!

A patchwork heart quilt block that has been made with navy, purple and mauve scrap fabrics. The large sized quilt block was then turned into a quilted cushion cover. Perfect Valentine's day handmade home decor!

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15 thoughts on “Patchwork Heart Block”

  1. My sisters husband was diagnosed at Christmas with stage 4 brain cancer. Valentine’s Day was their 43 rd Wedding Anniversary. Rachael Hauser did the long arm quilting two yrs ago for me on their peacock quilt. I’d love to try this out for them. Vivian – I pray you’ll continue quilting in Blue for all your family. I really love this simple design and thank you for sharing it with us all Kristy. I hope to one day do my own long arm quilting. Just haven’t gotten courage yet. But maybe this small heart is just the right size for my home machine.

    Reply
  2. Because of cold weather here in Arkansas I made more heart items than usual. Two were small quilted heart pillows for grandsons then a lap quilt with hearts made from all kinds of blue fabric from scraps with some as old as 50 years old. My husband loves anything blue. Backed it was a large plaid flannel from a cape I never used. Just got my second shot and have cancer so I don’t get out to buy fabrics. I do order fat quarters from Walmart. Amazing what you can do with what you have. Really kind of fun. Thanks for your website I look forward to it

    Reply
  3. Very cute. I like your use of the plus shape to update it a bit. It’s funny, this time of year I really do start liking hearts. How does that work? Then in a few months I’m over the shape. I bet we could create the same effect with other shapes like diamonds or triangles, if we gave them a “month”. haha! Today I sewed with magenta and pink and it felt very right (in my IG feed). We’re on the same page!

    Reply
  4. Kristy, this is so clever and adorable and not mushy-candy-hearts-yuck and not pink and purple (never say never right?)! In short, a terrific idea and completed project! Thank you for sharing! And thanks for the pattern, too! ☺

    Reply
  5. This is so adorable ! GOD BLESS & Thank You so much for the pattern & instructions . Always making stuff for the grandkids

    Reply

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