It’s time for another block release for our 9th Annual Charity Quilt, Heartfelt! We are thrilled to show you our fourth release, the Sweethearts Block. Are you ready to get started?
DOWNLOAD THE SWEETHEARTS BLOCK PATTERN
The fourth pattern release is the Sweethearts Block! This block features a double heart, and like the others you’ll need to make five of these for the quilt. We’re sewing with the Beautiful Day collection by Corey Yoder for Moda Fabrics. If you’re sewing with something different, download the fabric requirements to make this year’s charity quilt.
Sew Along with Kimberly!
On Friday, May 6 at 9am CST, tune in to the Fat Quarter Shop YouTube Channel, and sew along with Kimberly Jolly in a live tutorial as she shows you how to make the Sweetheart Block.
Our Heartfelt Quilt and Cross Stitch Chart benefit Make-a-Wish Central & South Texas.
We are amazed by the generosity of this sewing community and inspired by the stories of the children who have been granted life-changing Wishes. Kids like Anais and Keysean have been granted Wishes that buoy their spirits and create lasting memories. The way the fundraiser works is that we offer the Heartfelt patterns as FREE downloads during the event for a suggested donation of $5 each to our Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas campaign. Or feel free to make a larger, one-time donation of $50. No amount is too small and every bit counts. From February to September, we will publish a new pattern on the Heartfelt Announcement blog on the first Friday of each month.
Heartfelt Quilting Spotlight
We have a great lineup of quilters quilting along with us (like you if you’re reading this)! We asked two designers some heartfelt questions, and they gave us the sweetest answers!
April Rosenthal
April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns has been quilting for over 15 years. She loves lots of things including color, fabric, crinkly well-loved quilts, tiny squares, washi tape, and homemade bread with cheese. April is sewing her Heartfelt Quilt with pink and red prints from several of her past collections. She shared, “I adore how scrappy it is! And I chose the pinks and reds because I don’t actually have any Valentine quilts!”
We asked her, What quilt of yours has been the most “heartfelt” the project that is closest to your heart? Why?
“Well, my love for quilting, and even my career now as a fabric designer all started because of heartBREAK. I started quilting in earnest when friends and family around me began having babies–while my husband and I were working through the trial of infertility. I decided when my best friend got pregnant, that I couldn’t be sad and heartbroken for me while she was experiencing something so miraculous–so I decided to make her a quilt. I figured I could pour all my feelings into the work of the quilt, and process it however I needed to while I was making something beautiful, so that when I handed her that gift I could look her in the eye and truly be happy for her. It worked–and because of that, it became my ritual each time I was tempted to begrudge someone else’s happy announcement. I made dozens of new baby quilts and each time the announcements stung a little less. So, really, quilting fixed my broken heart–and those quilts were definitely my most Heartfelt makes.”
Visit April on her blog to learn more about her, and follow her on Instagram @aprilrosenthal to find out more!
Lissa Alexander
Lissa Alexander is the Marketing Director for Moda Fabrics, and she is sewing her Heartfelt quilt with Beautiful Day by Corey Yoder for Moda Fabrics.
We asked her, What quilt of yours has been the most “heartfelt” the project that is closest to your heart? Why?
“My most heartfelt quilt was a quilt I received when I had brain surgery. Ya that is right, seems crazy to even be saying that but in 2016 I was having random headaches. I did the series of doctors trying to find out what was wrong and ended up having seizures, rushed to the ER and was treated for the seizures. After several days in the hospital, i returned home and the headaches continued which then resulted in the discovery of a subdural hematoma and then surgery to relieve the pressure and stop the bleeding. The whole thing seems surreal. When I returned to work I received my most heartfelt quilt made from quilters, some I knew, some I had not meet yet. Each person made a heart block and they were shipped back and forth from Texas, Australia and who knows where else. I love the quilting community and the opportunity to meet so many like minded people both in real life and online. Fat Quarter Shop’s quilt alongs are a chance for more of us to meet and share online and be a very small part of charities like Heartfelt and St. Jude’s.”
Lissa shared some exciting news with us, “I am so very excited to be able to announce that I will have a new book available September 2022. The book is titled, Two of a Kind Quilts, 12 Scrappy Designs That Are Double The Fun. I partnered with the uber talented Susan Ache of Instagram fame (@yardgrl60) to create this book. Susan and I are huge fans of each others work and have collaborated on many projects in the past, but to work on a book with Susan was incredibly fun!
Our goal was to included as much content as we possibly could on the printed pages including how we choose fabrics, what we are inspired by, and to also include information about how the quilts are quilted. Maggi Honeyman and Susan Rogers (@suziquilts) shared tips on preparing your quilts for longarmers as well as designs for different quilts. The books includes tips whether you are making scrappy quilts or just want help picking out new fabrics.”
Lissa, that all sounds amazing! We can’t wait to get our hands on this book. You can sign up to be notified when it arrives in September and visit Lissa’s blog and follow @modalissa to learn more about what she’s making these days!
Check out the blocks that our quilty staffers sewed!
Bonus Finishing Patterns for Heartfelt
With your help, we can reach our goal of $100,000 in donations towards Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas! When you donate today, you’ll get us closer to our goal of granting ten wishes, and closer to releasing a new finishing pattern. For each milestone goal, we hit with our fundraiser, we are releasing extra finishing patterns you can use with the blocks.
Bonus Heartfelt Patterns
Thanks to your generous donations, we’ve released three bonus patterns, the Hearts Aflutter Tablerunner the Reach for the Stars Quilt, and the Linzer Tart Wallhanging. We have one more bonus pattern to release when we reach $100,000!
- The Hearts Aflutter Tablerunner finishes at 15.5″ x 57.5″
- The Reach for the Stars Quilt finishes at 46.5″ x 54.5″
- The Linzer Tart Wallhanging, pictured above, finishes at 42.5″ x 42.5″ and uses the Beloved and Buttercup Heartfelt Blocks.
Join Us
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, or join Kimberly’s Stitch Squad Facebook Group, a supportive group of quilters and stitchers. Get inspired and share with #HeartfeltQAL on Instagram.
A companion cross stitch design is back again this year as part of the Heartfelt Stitch Along! This stunning cross stitch design features heartwarming blocks that match the 2022 Charity Heartfelt Quilt.
Visit the Heartfelt Stitch Along page to download today’s cross stitch pattern release.
Don’t forget – you can find all the patterns and videos for the event on the Heartfelt Quilt Along page, so bookmark it for quick reference. Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss an update! We hope to see you back here on Friday, June 3, for the fifth Heartfelt pattern release, Lovebug!
Until then, Happy Quilting!
Stay connected to Fat Quarter Shop!
5 comments
Where can I get the layout for the quilt. How wide are the sashing strips? I see Kimberly using a layout for her blocks and circling them when they are done. I would like to find that and print it out.
They release it at the end. You only got all the patterns at once if you bought the kit from them.
Yvonne, this is a great question. Kelly was correct in her response to you that we will not be releasing the full pattern for the quilt until the end of Heartfelt. It was included in the quilt kit as a bonus for ordering but will be available to everyone at a later date.
What is the quilt pattern the baby is laying on?
It is one of April’s patterns. She did not share the name, but you may be able to find it on her social media or blog.