With Jetty coming out, I knew I wanted to make a Hearts quilt. Actually, I knew I wanted to make some Hearts pillow shams, but after cutting out one block and then a second, I found myself shuffling fabrics around for a third…and then a fourth. Without being able to stop, I knew that it had to be something larger, and so this Hearts Jetty quilt was born.

My first Hearts quilt is the wall hanging size. Each heart is made using a different fabric, and the background is all from the same fabric. That’s a great approach because you get little bits of many different things. This throw-sized version uses a different strategy. There are 16 different blocks, each with its own heart and background pairing. There’s a different kind of satisfaction that you get working with each fabric a little more and being able to see more of it in the quilt. It’s still really colorful and a little more scrappy.

After the decision to go big, I realized that it was meant to be, because it works perfectly with the Fat Quarter bundle of Jetty. The quantities are just right.

One of the designs in the collection is a two-fer; half is one color and the other half is another. I love pieces like this so much, because it gives you more things to play with. In the Fat Quarter bundle, you get 1/2 yard of each of these prints, which means you get both colors to work with.

After deciding to go larger, it was a matter of pairing up the fabrics. Generally, my darker fabrics are the hearts and the lighter fabrics are the background, with some pairings that really stand out and others that are more subtle. I like how the different prints give the hearts more/less texture and define/blend the shapes against their background. There are so many ways to play, which is exactly how I like it.

Making this project again, you could totally pair the fabrics in more ways than I did for many different effects. Here’s a shot of my two Hearts quilts side by side from my Quilt Market booth in October. Pretty different, right?

Project/Pattern Notes:

If you’re new to appliqué, this is a great place to start. There are gentle curves, an inside point and just enough repetition to get some good practice in. Plus, you can pick your size. If 16 blocks feels overwhelming, start with 1 and go from there.

pattern: Hearts quilt pattern, Throw size

fabric: Jetty (uses the fat quarter bundle)