Log Cabin Heart Quilt Pattern

Make a Log Cabin Heart pillow, table runner or wall hanging for Valentine's Day!  This pattern is so cute and easy and you can use your scraps for the heart.   Enjoy!

Go to the "Quilt Block Tutorials" for the Log Cabin Block Design.  You will find instructions for making log cabin blocks and courthouse step blocks.   http://www.quiltingandfood.blogspot.com/2013/01/tutorial-for-log-cabin-courthouse-step.html

Then follow the simple instructions to make your Valentine's Heart.

Supply List for Pillow:

1-5/8 yd dark red for border & back

1/8 yd dark pink for border

Assortment of 1-1/8” white strips

Assortment of 1-1/8” dark red strips

14” square pillow form

Six 7/8” or larger buttons

Assembly:

A.  Starting with a 1-1/8” red square, make (2) 13 piece Log Cabin blocks.

B.  Starting with (3) 1-1/8” white squares, make 2 Courthouse Steps with variation of only 12 pieces as shown in picture above.

C.  Sew the 4 blocks together as shown in picture to make heart.

D.  Sew 1-1/8” white strips around the block.

E.  Sew 1-3/4” dark red strips on each side of heart block.

F.  Sew 2-1/2” dark red strips on top & bottom of heart block.

G.  Sew 2-1/2 “ pink strips on the sides of heart block.

H.  Sew 6-1/2” dark red strips on the sides of the pink strips.

I..  Cut the back piece the same size as the top & sew RST (right sides together) on top & bottom.  Turn right side out.

J.  Press raw edges under ¼”.  Fold over 3/8” to inside & hem.  Fold & press under another 2” to finish edge.

K.  Insert pillow form & sew 3 buttons on each side with pearl floss & tie in square knot to finish.

Variations:

Table Runner:

Follow instructions for pillow A-D.  For table runner approximately 17” x 43”, make 3 hearts.  Sew a 1-3/4” strip of dark red sashing between the hearts to connect them.  Sew a 1-3/4” strip of the same dark red sashing on the top & bottom and then on each end.  Sew a 3-3/4” border of contrasting red on the top & bottom and then on each end.  Quilt & bind as desired.

Wall Hanging:

Follow instructions for pillow A-D.  For wall hanging approximately 28” x 31”, make 4 hearts.  Sew a 1-3/4” strip of dark red sashing between 2 hearts to make 2 sets.  Sew a 1-3/4” strip of the same dark red sashing between the 2 sets to make one row on top of the other.  Sew another 1-3/4” strip of the same dark red sashing on each side and then on the top and bottom.  Sew a 3-3/4” border of contrasting red on each side and then on the top and bottom.  Quilt & bind as desired.

Charm Pack Hourglass Quilt Pattern

I saw a very cute quilt a while ago made from the traditional hourglass pattern.  Since I have 4 baby quilts to make for my new 4 grandbabies, (yup, all 4 of my daughter-in-laws were expecting within 4 months of each other - how fun!) I decided one of them would be an hourglass quilt.  I was going on a friends quilt retreat and as I was going to pull some fabrics for the quilt from my stash, I noticed a charm pack I had in a tote.  It was perfect!

 1.  I chose a white background and cut that into 5" squares to go with the charm pack.  To make the blocks, with a thin pencil or fabric marker, draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the background square.  Place a charm pack square right sides together to a background square.   Sew 1/4" on each side of the line.  Cut apart on line.  Press to the dark.  You now have 2 half-square triangles.

 2.  Cut the half-square triangles in half diagonally so you have quarter-square triangles with a colored & background piece on each side.

3.  Now take the matching sides of the triangles from the other squares, flip and sew them back together butting the seams in the middle to make 2 squares that look like an hourglass.  Repeat to make as many blocks as you need.

4.  Alternating the direction of the hourglass, sew squares together in a row and then sew your rows together.

That's all there is to it! You can add a border if you want.  I added a narrow background border thinking I was going to use my matching jelly roll as the outside border, but I didn't like it.  If I were to do it again, I would add a 2-1/2" to 3-1/2" finished background border.

So easy and you can make any size you want!  Just choose your quilt size and grab a calculator.  Take off the measurements of the borders and divide by 3.75" (the finished block size).  For example, if you want  a 45" x 60" finished quilt with 3" finished borders:

                      45" - 6" (3" borders on both sides) = 39" and 60" - 6"(borders) = 54"

                      39" divided by 3.75" = 10.4 so round up to 11 blocks in a row

                      54" divided by 3.75" = 14.4 so round up to 15 blocks in a row (you can round down if you want - because 3.75" doesn't go into 39" or 54" evenly, your quilt will be a little bigger or smaller)

11 blocks x 15 blocks = 165 blocks needed.   You need 1 charm piece and 1 background piece for 2 hourglass blocks.  165 divided by 2 blocks per charm piece = 82.5 so you need 83 charm pieces.  Check your charm pack for how many pieces are in it.  I've seen them anywhere from 30-42 pieces per pack.  And of course, if you don't have a charm pack, simply use 5" squares from your scraps or stash.

One more option - you can make the block any size you want.  Simply add 1-1/4" to the finished size block you want.  Cut the squares that size and sew using the same steps.  It is a darling scrap quilt!  Now time to cut my minky for the back and send it off to the quilter.