Woven Hearts: Free Pattern for a Classic Swedish Heart Quilt

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Snuggle up with someone you love this winter with a beautiful Swedish Woven Heart Quilt. This free woven heart quilt block and throw quilt pattern is suitable for a beginner quilter. It would look lovely draped across your couch or make a treasured gift for someone you love. The finished quilt is approximately 57” x 74.”

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This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF thatโ€™s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Swedish Woven Heart Quilt 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 download 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.

Photo credit: SewCanShe.com

Scandinavian designs and sewing projects are dear to my heart because of my Swedish heritage. I had so much fun making Scandinavian Star Ornaments this year that I decided to make a Swedish Woven Heart Quilt and Woven Heart Table Runner for Valentine’s Day. It feels special to decorate my home with red and white decor.

Don’t miss these 15 Valentines Day Sewing Patterns!

The woven heart quilt block in this quilt is 12” square (when finished) so it would be easy to incorporate this block into any of your other quilts too. You could also leave off the two 2 1/2” strips in Steps 3 and 4 (near the end) to make 10” blocks.

My throw sized Swedish Woven Heart Quilt Pattern consists of 18 woven heart quilt blocks set on point. There are setting triangles at the edges.

How to Sew a Swedish Woven Heart Quilt

Finished quilt dimensions: Approximately 57โ€™โ€™ x 74’โ€™. Finished block size: 12” x 12”.

You will need:

  • 3 1/4 yards of background fabric
  • 1 yard of red fabric
  • 1 yard of pink fabric
  • 1/2 yard binding fabric
  • 3 1/2 yards backing fabric, or enough to piece together a 62” x 79” backing piece
  • a 62” x 79”’ piece of quilt batting
  • a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and mat
  • sewing machine
  • thread (I suggest thread matching the background fabric)

Cutting:

From the red fabric, cut:

  • 5 strips 2 1/2” x 42”
  • 2 strips 2 1/2” x 11”
  • 1 strip 2 1/2” x 6”
  • 18 rectangles 4 1/2” x 6 1/2”

From the pink fabric, cut:

  • 4 strips 2 1/2” x 42”
  • 1 strip 2 1/2” x 11”
  • 2 strips 2 1/2” x 6”
  • 18 rectangles 4 1/2” x 6 1/2”

From the background fabric, cut:

  • 72 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
  • 18 squares 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
  • 18 rectangles 2 1/2” x 10 1/2”
  • 18 rectangles 2 1/2” x 12 1/2”
  • 3 squares 18 1/8” x 18 1/8”
  • 2 squares 9 3/8” x 9 3/8”
  • 7 strips 3 1/2” x 42”

From the binding fabric, cut:

  • 7 strips 2 1/2” x width of fabric (40-42โ€™โ€™) or your desired width for binding quilts

Sewing instructions:

Use a 1/4” seam allowance unless otherwise noted.

9-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial

Start by making strip sets. Cut the strip sets and sew them together again into 9 patch blocks.

Strip Piecing

1. Sew two red 2 1/2” x 42” strips with a 2 1/2” x 42” pink fabric strip in the center. Repeat to make two strip sets 6 1/2” x 42”.

Then, use two 2 1/2” x 11” red strips and one 2 1/2” x 11” pink strip to make one strip set 6 1/2” x 11”.

Press the seams toward the red fabrics.

2. Sew two pink 2 1/2” x 42” strips with a red 2 1/2” x 42” strip in the center.

Then, use two 2 1/2” x 6” pink strips and one 2 1/2” x 6” red strip to make one strip set 6 1/2” x 6”.

Press the seams toward the red fabric.

3. Subcut the strip sets into pieces 2 1/2” wide and 6 1/2” tall.

Cut:

  • 36 pieces that are red/pink/red
  • 18 pieces that are pink/red/pink

You will have a little bit of fabric left over.

4. Sew three pieces together to make a nine-patch block as shown.

Make 18 nine-patch blocks.

Use the Snowball Method to Make The Top of the Heart

1. Use the fabric pen to draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of all of the background fabric 2 1/2” squares. This is a sewing line.

2. Pin two 2 1/2” background fabric squares to the top corners of a red 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” rectangle, right sides together as shown.

Sew across along the diagonally drawn lines. Cut away the extra fabric 1/4” past the stitching.

Open the background fabric triangles and press. Make 18 pieces.

3. Repeat to make 18 pieces using 2 1/2” background fabric squares and 18 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” pink rectangles.

How to Sew the Swedish Woven Heart Quilt Block

1. Sew a red piece to a 9-patch piece as shown. Press the seam towards the red fabric. Make 18.

2. Sew a 4 1/2” square to a pink piece as shown. Press the seam towards the pink piece. Make 18.

3. Sew the two parts of a heart block together as shown. Press. Make 18.

4. Sew a 2 1/2” x 10 1/2” rectangle to the left side of each heart block. Press.

5. Sew a 2 1/2” x 12 1/2” rectangle to the bottom of each heart block. Press.

Assemble the Swedish Woven Heart Quilt Top

1. Cut the three 18 1/8” background fabric squares in half diagonally twice to make 12 quarter square triangle pieces. Set 2 pieces aside for a future project. You will need 10 for the setting triangles.

2. Cut the two 9 3/8” background fabric squares in half diagonally once to make 4 half square traingles. These will be the corner triangles.

1. Arrange the 18 blocks on a quilt design wall or another large surface, as shown above. Note that the blocks are on point. Place the 10 large setting triangles along the sides and top and bottom of the quilt. Place the 4 smaller corner triangles at the corners.

2. Sew the blocks into 6 diagonal rows. Sew corners to the ends of each row, as needed.

3. Sew the diagonal rows together.

Sew the Quilt Border

1. Piece together the seven 3 1/2” background fabric strips to make the borders.

The expected length of the side borders is 68 3/8”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all borders the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders.

Cut two side border pieces the correct length. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom borders is also 57 3/8”. Measure and cut 2 top and bottom border pieces. Attach the top and bottom border pieces

Finishing Your Swedish Woven Heart Quilt

1. Cut or piece together a piece of backing fabric that is at least 62” x 79.” Make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy. Trim away the extra fabric and batting.

4. Cut 7 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. ๐Ÿ™‚