This basic heart quilt block starts with a free pattern (tutorial)

Now that I’ve introduced you to the new Brother Innov-is BQ3100, itʼs time to start using some of the great features on this machine. This week, I’ll show you how to use a basic heart pattern in different ways to create your own special design. This is a great project as we’re close to Valentine’s Day, but heart shapes are popular at any time of the year.

materials

fabric

• (2) 5” x 7” pieces of fabric in two different colors (or use scraps)
• 14” x 18” piece of background fabric

thread

• sewing thread in a neutral color to your fabrics

notions

• 7” square of template plastic
• cutting mat
• rotary cutter
• 6½” x 6½” ruler
• temporary marking tools
• fabric marker
• fabric stabilizer
• paper
• glue stick

feet/machine accessories suggestions

• ¼” foot with guide or ¼” foot without guide

equipment

• iron
• ironing board
• sewing machine
• computer
• printer

Here’s the pattern for the heart shape. Print the pattern on paper. Cut out the paper shapes, leaving about ¼” around each shape. Lightly glue each paper shape to the template plastic.

Cut out the shapes on the printed lines, and your templates are ready to use.

cutting instructions for one 6” heart block

Place the templates on the fabric of your choice, trace around each template, then cut out the heart shapes on the drawn lines.

From the background fabric, cut the following:

• 4¼” square; re-cut to make 4 quarter-square triangles (you just need 1 triangle for the block)
• 4½” square; re-cut to make 2 large half-square triangles
• 2¾” square; re-cut to make 2 small half-square triangles

TIP It’s a good idea to label the half-square and quarter-square triangles.

Note: The half-square triangles are cut larger than required and will be trimmed later. This helps to make a perfectly accurate block.

• (4) 3″ x 9″ strips for the border around the block

Making the block

• Sew a quarter-square triangle to the smaller heart shape.

Sew the large heart shape to this piece. I used the ¼” foot with guide for this step, but you can also use the ¼” foot without a guide or the J foot on the Brother BQ3100.

• Sew a small half-square triangle to each side of the top of the heart shape.
• Sew a large half-square triangle to each side of the bottom of the heart shape.
• Using a 6½” square ruler, trim the block so it measures 6½” x 6½”.

Sewing on the borders

• Starting at the top of the block, sew on a 3″ x 9″ border using a partial seam as shown in the picture.

• Sew on the remaining 3 border strips.
• Complete the partial seam you used for the first border strip.

This simple block can be arranged in many ways, but here’s just one way you might like to try.

Please join me again tomorrow as I use the new Brother BQ3100 machine to make another version of the heart block, this time using some of the new decorative stitches on the borders.

This is part 2 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 1: Find out why the new Brother BQ3100 is a must-have for quilters

Go to part 3: 100+ decorative stitches on the new Brother BQ3100: how do you choose?