Baby Heart Log Cabin Quilt: Free Quilt Pattern

Sew a log cabin quilt perfect for any baby with this free Baby Heart Log Cabin Quilt Pattern!

I love babies! I love log cabin quilts! Put them together and you get the Baby Heart Log Cabin Quilt.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Baby Heart Log Cabin Pattern is included in the blog post below and is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The Optimized for Printing PDF pattern for $3 is totally optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

Are you ever working on one quilt when you get the idea for another quilt and you want to start working on the new quilt instead of finishing the first one???

The idea for this quilt came to me when I was writing my Modern Log Cabin Quilt tutorial and blog post.

I couldn’t wait to get started on this simple log cabin design. Each block starts with a low volume neutral center square. Then 2 dark pieces to make the heart. And finally there are 4 more low volume neutral strips that go around the heart.

This baby quilt requires 13 baby heart log cabin blocks that are set ‘on-point’. You’ll also need to make 5 all-neutral log cabin blocks to use for setting the other blocks. As you can see, you don’t have to make the hearts blue – any deeply saturated color that will contrast well with the neutral fabrics will look amazing.

You can choose to make each block the same as I did (this creates a subtle secondary pattern in the quilt) or you can keep the color families the same but make the blocks all different for  scrappy look. It’s up to you.

Here are my best tips for choosing fabrics for a low volume quilt.

Are you ready to sew the Baby Heart Log Cabin Quilt? Let’s get started!

Finished dimensions: 42″ x 42″.

You will need:

• Fabric 1 – Neutral – less than 1/4 yd

• Fabric 2 – Navy Blue (or other saturated color) – less than 1/4 yd

• Fabric 3 – Navy Blue (or other saturated color) – less than 1/4 yd

• Fabric 4 – Neutral – 1/4 yd

• Fabric 5 – Neutral – 1/3 yd

• Fabric 6 – Neutral – 1/3 yd

• Fabric 7 – Neutral – 1/2 yd

• Fabric 8 – Neutral – less than 1/4 yd

• Fabric 9 – Neutral – less than 1/4 yd

Cutting:

• Fabric 1 – Neutral – 1 strip 3” x 42” + 1 strip 3” x 17”

• Fabric 2 – Navy Blue (or other saturated color) – 1 strip 3” x 42”

• Fabric 3 – Navy Blue (or other saturated color) – 2 strips 3” x 42”

• Fabric 4 – Neutral – 3 strips 3” x 42”

• Fabric 5 – Neutral – 4 strips 3” x 42”

• Fabric 6 – Neutral – 4 strips 3” x 42”

• Fabric 7 – Neutral – 5 strips 3” x 42”

• Fabric 8 – Neutral – 1 strip 3” x 17”

• Fabric 9 – Neutral – 1 strip 3” x 42”

Make 13 Baby Heart Log Cabin Blocks:

1/4” seam allowance allowed.

1. Place a 3” x 42” ‘fabric 1’ strip and ‘fabric 2’ strip right sides together and sew along one long edge. Open and press.

2. Sub-cut the strip with 2 fabrics into thirteen 3” wide columns.

Here comes the timesaving trick! Pay attention to the direction of the pieces in the photos.

3. Place the columns against a ‘fabric 3’ strip with the last fabric that you sewed (fabric 2 in this case) closer to you. See the first photo above.

Sew all the columns to ‘fabric 3’ strips about 1/4” apart. Open and press.

4. Cut the units apart to make 13 pieces approximately 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”.

5. Place the units against a ‘fabric 4’ strip with the last fabric that you sewed (see above – it’s fabric 3) closer to you. Sew all of the units to a ‘fabric 4’ strip approximately 1/4” apart.

Tip: if you follow the pattern of strip-piecing the units to a new strip with the last fabric that you sewed closer to you, this will help you continually rotate the units in the right direction with each fabric change.

6. Cut the units apart.

Continue rotating the units and sewing to the next fabric strips until you have thirteen 10 1/2” Baby Heart blocks with 7 different pieces in it.

You will have fabric strips remaining. These are for the all-neutral blocks.

Make 5 All-Neutral Log Cabin Blocks:

1/4” seam allowance allowed.

1. Place a 3” x 17” ‘fabric 1’ strip and ‘fabric 8’ strip right sides together and sew along one long edge. Open and press.

2. Sub-cut the strip into five 3” wide columns.

3. Place the columns against a ‘fabric 9’ strip with the last fabric that you sewed (‘fabric 8’ in this case) closer to you. Sew all the columns to ‘fabric 9’ strips about 1/4” apart. Open and press. Cut the units apart.

Continue rotating and sewing the units to strips from fabrics 4-7, just like when you were sewing the baby heart blocks. The difference is that fabrics 2 and 3 have been substituted with new neutral fabrics. The rest of each block will be the same as the baby heart blocks. (see the two photos above)

Cutting the Neutral Blocks to use as Setting Triangles:

1. Place the neutral blocks on your cutting space diagonally, as seen above. Pay close attention to the placement and the location of the two pieces that would make up the heart in the center (if they were not neutral).

Cut 2 of the blocks vertically, as seen above.

2. Cut 2 of the blocks horizontally, as seen above.

3. Cut the last neutral block into quarters diagonally, as seen to the left.

Assembling the Quilt:

1. Arrange the blocks and setting triangles as seen above.

Tips:

• Place the vertically cut pieces at the sides of the quilt.

• Place the horizontally cut pieces at the top and bottom

• Place the quarter – triangle pieces at the corners.

2. Sew the blocks and setting triangles into diagonal rows of varied lengths.

3. Sew the rows together to finish the quilt top.

4. Sandwich the top. Quilt and bind as desired!

I hope you like this free pattern for a low volume log cabin quilt design.

Make sure you check out my other low volume quilt patterns here.

Happy quiltmaking!