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Heart-to-Heart Quilt
Victoria White, The Secret Workshop

This quilt goes together fast and makes a great baby gift. We made ours up in white and red but this quilt would look great in just about any colour! Finished Size 40" by 56"

Sewing Supplies:

1.60 meter for main fabric and Hearts
0.70 meter of white
1-meter fusible web (We like to use Steam-A-Seam 2)
1 Crib size batting
1.60 meter backing (flannel works great)

Cutting Out:

Open up the main fabric and refold so the cut edges are together. You will be cutting your first strips on the lengthwise grain. These strips will be for the border of the quilt.

Cut four stripes 4 �" wide
Sub cut each strip the following:
Two strips measuring 4 �" by 48 �" long
Two strips measure 4 �" by 32 �" long

Set strips aside, now refold the fabric so you are cutting on the crosswise grain, selvage-to-selvage folded together. We will now cut the squares:

From the main fabric, cut six strips 8 �" wide
Sub cut these six strips into 12 - 8 �" squares

Fusing the Hearts:

The remaining main fabric is for the fused hearts. Following the manufacturers directions for your fusible web. Trace the hearts onto the paper with the fusible web. You will need to trace 12 large hearts and four small hearts (the small hearts are used for the corner blocks). The heart templates are available on-line to print out. Iron the fusible web onto the back for the main fabric. Remember to hold your iron on the fusible web and fabric for approximately 10 seconds. Fusing longer than this can cause the fabric to become stiff. Repeat this process until you have fused 12 large hearts and 4 small ones. Cut out around the outside of the hearts on your pencil tracing lines.

Cutting Out White Blocks:

Next, from the white fabric, cut three strips 8 �" wide
Sub cut these strips into 8 �" squares
Sub cut the left over pieces again into 4 - 4 �" squares

Now, taking your Red Hearts, remove the paper backing and place each heart with the fusible web to the right side of one white square. You should have 12 large 8 �" squares for 12 large hearts and 4 smaller 4 �" squares for 4 smaller hearts. Fuse each heart onto the white fabric; remember not to leave the iron on the fabric for too long. To align, you can fuse the hearts straight onto the white squares or lean them to the right or left. You can also do a combination of both straight hearts and leaning hearts (see the images of the quilt on the web site).

Once the hearts are fused to the squares, finish the edges of the fused hearts with a method of your choice. We blanket-stitched around the outside of each heart in red thread. You could also do a satin stitch or straight stitch around the edge. If you want to get really adventurous, why not do an all over free motion stitch onto the heart.

Putting it Together:

Now that your hearts are fused in place, you can start putting your quilt together. For the first row, stitch one solid red square to one fused-heart square, remembering to use a �" seam. Press seam allowance to the left hand side. Continue to add blocks to the row, alternating between the solid and fused-heart blocks.  For this row, remember to press all your seams to the left side. When the first row is completed your pattern should be:
Solid block - heart block - solid block - heart block

Row Two:
Heart block - solid block - heart block - solid block
This time press all your seam allowances to the right side

Row Three:
Solid block - heart block - solid block - heart block
Press seam allowances to left side

Row Four:
Heart block - solid block - heart block - solid block
Press seam allowance to right side

Row Five
Solid block - heart block - solid block - heart block
Press seam allowance to right side

Row Six (last one!)
Heart block - solid block - heart block - solid block
Press seam allowance to left side

Joining the blocks together:

Place Row Two on Row One right sides together. Your seam allowances on each row should be lying in opposite directions. Pin along the row, aligning the blocks at the seams. Stitch the two rows together using a �" seam. Press seam to one side.

Next, taking Row Three, lay right sides together onto Row Two, matching seams. Press seam to one side.

Continue adding rows to the quilt, pressing your seams to one side.

Adding borders:

Taking one 4 �" by 48 �" border, pin the border strip onto one of the long sides of the quilt and stitch using a �" seam. Press seam allowances towards the border. Add the second border strip to the second long side of the quilt. Pin the border strip in place and attach to quilt using a �" seam. Press seam towards the border.

Before attaching the top borders, you must add a small 4 �" fused-heart square to each end of the two 32 �" border strips. Attach one fused-heart block on one side, press seam allowance away from heart block, and then attach the second fused-heart block to the other side. Repeat with second border strip. Taking one border strip at a time, add the border to the top of the quilt. The corner block seam should line up with the border seam from the first borders that you just added. Pin the border in place and stitch using a �" seam. Repeat with fourth and final border.

Finishing Up:

Remove selvage from the backing. Cut the backing and batting approximately 4 inches larger than the finished quilt top. Baste backing, batting and quilt top together with a method of your choice (pin, hand basting or stray adhesives) Quilt by machine or by hand as desired. Add binding and enjoy!

Patterns

More information on The Secret Workshop

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