Scrappy Little Heart Quilt Block Tutorial

Ah, Valentine's Day.  The season of hearts and flowers and pink and red.  Today I bring to you a tutorial for making this tiny little heart block.  It's a great way to use up some pretty scraps.  And don't think you have to use all pinks and reds and purples.  I bet this would look good in any combination of colors.  If you look really close, you can see that I even used two different whites (Kona White and Bella Solids Bleached White) for the background.  Scrap-bustin' over here.

This block measures only 4.5" square.  Why so small?  Well because I happened to have made up a bunch of pink and purple butterfly blocks from Lori Holt's book Quilty Fun, and they measure 4.5".  And then I didn't even use the heart blocks with the butterfly blocks.  After I made them, I HAD to turn them into a Valentine's Day pillow.  But at least now you know why I made such small blocks.  Onto the instructions!

For EACH block, you'll need:
(2) 2.5" x 4.5" heart fabrics
(4) 1.5" squares background fabric
(2) 2.5" squares background fabric

It's important to use a scant 1/4" seam here.  There's not much room for trimming and squaring up.  A scant seam will help with that.

Draw a line from point to point on the wrong side your background squares (the 2.5" squares too).

Position a 1.5" square of background fabric right sides together (RST) with the top left corner of your 2.5" x 4.5" heart fabric pieces.  Note the direction of the line you drew.  

Stitch on the line you drew.  If you are making a lot of heart blocks, I find it helpful to chain piece here.  Trim a 1/4" inch from your stitched line.

Press your background fabric open.  Position your other 1.5" squares of background fabric as shown on the top right corner of your heart fabric pieces.  Note the direction of the drawn line.

Stitch on the drawn line (again, chain piecing if necessary).  Trim 1/4" away from your stitched line.  Press the background fabric open.  You should now have something that looks like a really tall flying geese unit.

Place your 2.5" background squares RST on the bottom of your heart fabric unit.  Not the direction of the drawn lines.  You'll want them going in opposite directions.

Stitch on the drawn line (chain piece here as well).  Trim a 1/4" away from the stitched line.

Press the background fabric open.  You now have two halves of a heart.

Place the two halves RST and sew down the side.  Press open.

Trim it up if necessary.  Now you have a super cute little heart!

I made seven hearts and turned them into a pillow.  What will you use your hearts for?  I'd love to see pics, please link in the comments if you make them!

Happy Valentine's Day!