Classic Stitches--Pink

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Classic Stitches quilt! This month's color is pink, and the block for this month is hearts.

I know hearts are every where in February, but I promise you will love these. These are super-easy, sew up really quick, and can be made in several sizes. I think I learned to make these about 20 years ago to practice the stitch and flip method, so I'm calling them classic hearts. The photos and sizes given in the tutorial are for 6 inch blocks, with cutting directions and options for other sizes given at the end.

For a 6-inch block, cut 2 rectangles of pink scraps 3 1/2 by 6 1/2, plus 4 2-inch squares and 2 3 1/2-inch squares of background.

The heart shape is created by using the stitch and flip method to add the squares to the rectangles. First, draw lines corner to corner on the back of each of the background squares:

Place one 2-inch square on the top left of each rectangle, right sides together, and stitch on the marked line.

Press the resulting triangle up toward the pink.

At this point, I always unfold the triangle and trim the fabric underneath 1/4 inch from the marked line. Many people leave this fabric intact or trim out only the middle layer. Do what makes you most comfortable.

Repeat at the top right with the other 2-inch square. Notice that the second square overlaps the first by a tiny bit.

Take the 31/2-inch squares and align them in the same way on opposite sides at the bottom of the rectangles--in the left bottom corner of one section and the right bottom corner of the other.

Stitch, flip, and trim.

To finish the block, stitch the two halves together and press! (Press the center seam either to one side or open, whichever you prefer.) This should yield a block like this:

And that's it! Very fast, cute hearts. Make as many as you need or your scraps will allow. Ten 6-inch hearts will make a 60 inch row, and 6 will make a 36 inch row.

Alternatives:

Switch the colors, which will make white hearts on a pink background, like this:

For 3-inch finished blocks, cut 2 pieces 2 by 3 1/2 from pink, plus 4 1 1/4-inch squares and 2 2-inch squares of background. Assemble as above. Four 3-inch blocks can be combined to make a 6-inch block or they can be used alone. Twenty 3-inch blocks make a 60-inch row, or 12 of them make a 36-inch row.

Cute 3-inch blocks.

For a 12 inch block, combine 4 6-inch blocks or 16 3-inch blocks or a combination of these to make a 12-inch block. Alternately, you can make a giant 12-inch block using 2 6 1/2 by 12 1/2 inch pieces of pink, with 4 3 1/2 inch squares and 2 6 1/2-inch squares of background.

For my quilt, I chose to use a row of very darling 3-inch blocks (with an accent block in another color) because of the size of most of my pink scraps:

Very hard to get a picture of the full row! I need the snow to go away so I can put them up on the fence again. Here are (parts of) my two rows:

I also made a 12-inch block using 4 6-inch blocks:

And here are the two 12-inch blocks together:

That's month two of the Classic Stitches quilt! I hope all of it made sense and was easy to follow. Enjoy using your pink scraps and come back on March 3 for another exciting episode!

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