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.
Finished heart block
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.
Glue paper heart shapes to 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.
Place templates on fabric and trace around them.
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
Pieces for the heart block are cut out
Making the block
- Sew a quarter-square triangle to the smaller heart shape.
Sew a quarter-square triangle to the small 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 the two heart shapes together.
- 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”.
Trim the block to a 6½” square.
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.
Using a partial seam, sew a 3″ x 9″ strip to the top.
- Sew on the remaining 3 border strips.
- Complete the partial seam you used for the first border strip.
Finish sewing the partial seam.
This simple block can be arranged in many ways, but here’s just one way you might like to try.
Quilt design using the heart block
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?