Heart-to-Heart – Free Pattern

Happy early Valentine’s Day!

I’ve had Valentine’s Day on my mind for days and now my workroom floor is buried under stacks of pink, red, and white fabric.

I’ve lost not one, but two, quilting rulers somewhere in the chaos (unless one of my kids is playing a trick on me) and it occurs to me that I may have a bit of an obsession with pink.  Can’t help it!  I’m a sucker for pink!

My workroom looks like it’s been coated in Pepto-Bismol, but it’s unbelievably inspiring!  Somehow if I throw enough fabric on the floor, I eventually come up with some good ideas.  It’s messy, but it’s my process.

And the result?

Well, I landed on the candy pinks and whites and came up with this sweet reversible pillow:

This scrappy little pillow measures 12″ x 12″ and it was very easy to make.  I love it in the pink and white, but it would also be great in red and white, red and pink, or even purple and red.  Go crazy!

If you’d like to make my Heart-to-Heart pillow, you’ll need:

Pink prints:
26 — 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares
8 — 3″ x 3″ squares

White prints:
26 — 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares
8 — 3″ x 3″ squares

12″ x 12″ pillow form

(Obviously if you don’t have as many pink fabrics as I do, you should treat yourself to a Valentine’s Day shopping spree at your favorite quilt shop.  I won’t tell!)

Assemble the half-square triangles:
1.  Gather one pink print 3″ square and one white print 3″ square.
2.  Use a pencil to mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of the white print 3″ square.
3.  Layer a marked white print square atop a pink print 3″ square (right sides together).  Sew the pair together with two seams, stitching a scant 1/4″ on each side of drawn line.
4.  Cut apart on drawn line to make two triangle units.  Press open each unit towards pink print.
5.  Trim each half-square triangle to 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″.
6.  Repeat with remaining pink print 3″squares and white print 3″ squares to make 16 half-square triangles total.

Assemble pink heart pillow side:
1.  Referring to photos of pillow lay out 4 pink print 2 1/2″ squares, 22 white print 2 1/2″ squares, and  8 half-square triangles in six horizontal rows.
2.  Join rows to make pink heart pillow side.
3.  Press seams in one direction.  The pillow side should measure 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ including seam allowances.

Assemble white heart pillow side:
1.  Referring to photos of pillow lay out 4 white print 2 1/2″ squares, 22 pink print 2 1/2″ squares, and  8 half-square triangles in six horizontal rows.
2.  Join rows to make white heart pillow side.
3.  Press seams in one direction.  The pillow side should measure 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ including seam allowances.

Assemble pillow:
1.  After carefully pressing both pillow sides, lay one atop the other with right sides together.  Pin.  Stitch 1/4″ from rough edges around entire edge of pillow, leaving an 8″ gap at the bottom for turning.
2.  Press seams to set, clip corners, and turn pillow.
3.  Insert 12″ x 12″ pillow form and blind stitch opening closed.  Voilà!

The above instructions for assembling the pillow are pretty basic.  Feel free to line the pillow with muslin or to insert a zipper at the bottom.  I actually did use a zipper and I struggled because the seam allowance was only 1/4″ — not really enough to machine sew the zipper in place.  After I ripped out a few attempts, stormed out of my workroom, and eventually calmed down, I finally managed to hand stitch the zipper into place.  I’m not sure it was worth the effort, but if you’re a fancy zipper kind of gal, go for it!

If you’d to tackle a larger project, the free pattern for my Sweetheart table runner is still available on the Quilters Newsletter website.

Or if you’d like something a bit smaller, there’s always my little Valentine’s Day door knob quilt.

Whichever you choose, have fun and Happy Valentine’s Day!