My Favorite Block Quilt Along : Heart Block Tutorial

"Heart Block" (shown in two sizes) created by Pam Geisel of For Quilts Sake

Several years ago I wanted to make a heart block but didn't want to use curved pieces so I came up with this pattern. One of the things I like about this block is it utilizes the rotary cutting piecing method of making half square triangles and Flying Geese squares without having to sew along a bias edge, so no bias stretching to worry about.

The block on the left is the 6" (finished) block; the block on the right is the 12" (finished) block.

Cutting for the 6″ block
From the RED fabric (can be the same or different fabric) cut :
 - 1 rectangle : 6½″ x 2″
 - 2 rectangles : 3½″ x 2″
 - 1 square : 3⅞″ x 3⅞″
From the WHITE fabric cut :
 - 4 squares : 2″ x 2″
 - 1 square : 3⅞″ x 3⅞″

Cutting for the 12″ block
From the RED fabric (can be the same or different fabric) cut :
 - 1 rectangle : 12½″ x 3½″
 - 2 rectangles : 6½″ x 3½″
 - 1 square : 6⅞″ x 6⅞″
From the WHITE fabric cut :
- 4 squares : 3½″ x 3½″
- 1 square : 6⅞″ x 6⅞″

Half square triangles (bottom of finished block) : Mark a line on the diagonal on the wrong side of the larger white square, pair with a same size red square placing right sides together.

Sew ¼″ away from both sides the marked line.

Cut on the diagonal line and press the seams toward the red.

Flying Geese (top of finished block) : Mark a line on the diagonal on the wrong side of the four white squares. Lay square on the left side of the smaller red rectangle with right sides together. The line should go from the lower left to the upper right. Unlike the half square triangles, sew ON the line then trim the upper left corner leaving ¼″ seam allowance.

Press seams toward the red. Repeat with the square on the right side of the rectangle with the line going from the upper left to the lower right.

Finishing : Following the diagram, sew the two Flying Geese squares together, and sew those to the top of the long rectangle. Sew the two half square triangles together, and sew those to the bottom of the long rectangle. Press the seam allowances toward the red fabric.

This is a quilted necklace that I made with this block, which is only 1½″ in size.

This tutorial is published for "My Favorite Block Quilt Along" hosted by Kim of Persimon Dreams. You can see photos of finished blocks on the My Favorite Block Quilt Along Flickr site and you can check out the other tutorial for this week the Owl Block at by BeaQuilter.