February is the month to celebrate love, and we will see hearts everywhere! That includes the Little Bit Different block of the month, which is I am calling Love All Around.
Rectangular Hearts
There are several ways to make this month’s block, so choose your favorite method – Applique, Paper Piecing, or even Embroidery!
You can download the block instructions here. They will be free during the 2023 BOM.
Try Applique
I kept my applique block very simple. Cut the heart shape from a 5″x8″ piece of red or pink fabric. Keeping it smaller than the background will leave plenty of room for trimming the final block. I like to cut my applique background squares bigger also, because the fabric might draw in a bit as you stitch.
Since I don’t do much applique, and I am a lazy quilter, I skipped the interfacing for this block. My alternative was to use fabric glue to hold the heart in place while I stitched to create a raw-edged applique design.
Piecing the Heart
When I made the test blocks, I realized I did not care for the pointy tops on the heart. I plan to modify the blocks I’ve already made so that the red heart pictured above matches the scrappy version. The pattern currently available will give you a flat-topped heart.
Since I love working with half-rectangle triangles, I included that method in the instructions too. So if you are not a fan of paper piecing, don’t worry! You can still make a heart that finishes at 6″ x 9″ with traditional piecing.
I am anxious for your feedback so please let me know what you think after sewing the Love All Around block!
Love All Around Quilt
Rather than save these monthly blocks for a sampler quilt, I am making twelve quilts this year. Gotta be a Little Bit Different! You can purchase the digital patterns at a discount during the BOM and sew along with me. Each pattern features a Crib, Twin and Queen size variation with the monthly block.
Shop the Love All Around pattern.
Grab January’s Triangles Galore and others from the Little Bit Different collection.
Hearts all around, yours are lovely. I’ll be cheating, I have a die arriving today, grins. Thank you for linking up to PYFD
Well, I tried paper piecing for the 1st time, I did not do well with it. So I went ahead and pieced the pointy top block. It looks like the head of a fox.
Foxes are cute! I’m sorry you had trouble with the paper piecing. Any time my instructions are not clear, please reach out. I am open to all feedback so I can provide the best experience possible.