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Log-cabin heart


 by Linda Theil

I needed to make a heart block, and I could have just done a nice raw-edge applique, and that would have been fine; but, I wanted to make something with a little more heart in it. I thought I might have a paper-pieced pattern for a heart, so I pulled out my paper-piecing box and, sure enough, there was a nice heart I had downloaded free from the Crafty Gemini site on the Internet.

I even had several made-up samples in my box, and they looked very nice so I decided to paper piece my heart block. This pink and gray heart was one of my samples made using the paper-piecing pattern from Crafty Gemini.

I really like paper-piecing. My problem is that years ago I took a paper-piecing class from Kathy Groves who taught us how to work on one side of the pattern without all the flipping back and forth that seems so troublesome to me. But I can't actually remember from one time to the next how to do it correctly. So while I was putzing around with this heart pattern, it occurred to me that this heart is just a log cabin block with a few adjustments; so I decided to try to make the block following the log-cabin method without the paper piecing.

At first I just tried to replicate the paper-pieced pieces, but I ran into some problems cutting the pieces in the right ratio to make something that actually looked like a heart. So then I decided to try to draft a pattern, and after much trial and error I think I came up with a nice option.


The pattern shows the block as sewn; although the numbers indicate the actual size of the pieces before sewing.

To make this7.5-inch square Log-cabin Heart block to be set in diagonal rows; or to trim the block to 5.5-inches square to be set straight you will need:
  • a 2-inch square of background
  • a 2.5 x 2-inch piece of solid or print
  • a 2.5 x 4-inch piece of solid or print
  • a 2.5 x 4-inch piece of background
  • two 2.5 x 6-inch piece of background
  • a 2.5 x 8-inch piece of background
The Log-cabin Heart block is pieced in log-cabin fashion, beginning with the 2-inch background square.

Sew 2-inch background square to 2 x 2.5-inch solid square.

Sew 2.5 x 4-inch print on left of first two pieces, forming heart shape.

Sew 2.5 x 4-inch background on right of first two pieces.

Sew 2.5 x 6-inch background to bottom of block.

Sew 2.5 x 6-inch background to left of block.

Sew 2.5 x 8-inch background to top of block.

Finished Log-cabin Heart block

Photo shows trimming to 5.5-inch square block, if desired to set straight.


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