The Jelly Heart Quilt Pattern is a beginner friendly quilt pattern written for 2 1/2 inch precuts strips (Jelly Rolls) or Fat Quarters.
You can buy your copy of the Jelly Heart Quilt Pattern here.
I wrote the pattern with a scrappy heart version and a version with one fabric, using yardage. This gives options and allows the quilters to use what they have and get a different look depending on what they are going for.
Jelly Heart was written with 3 sizes:
- Baby 40 in. x 40 in.
- Throw 60 in. x 70 in.
- Twin 72 in. x 90 in.
The heart is centered on the baby and throw sizes. However, on the twin size the heart is two rows from the top and four from the bottom. I wanted it to be toward the top so if the quilt hung over the end of the bed the heart would still be the focus on a bed.
Sewing for this quilt goes very fast, especially if you are sewing randomly which is what I did for this quilt. I used two Jelly Rolls from the Ruby Star Society line Sunbeam.
The Sunbeam line is a good combination of prints with colorful and tone on tone fabrics. This was the perfect line to use for a scrappy version.
I first went through and pulled all the lighter tone fabrics from the Jelly Rolls and counted to make sure I had enough strips to make a scrappy heart.
Two Jelly Rolls happened to be more than enough to make a throw size quilt, which is what this quilt is.
I really liked sewing this quilt with a Jelly Roll because the strips were already cut, I just had to cut them into the appropriate lengths. It made things go super fast. Using a Jelly Roll with this pattern also allows for a wide variety of fabrics in your quilt (more than if you use fat quarters).
It's especially important if sewing the scrappy version to be able to sew a consistent seam. You are going to have to match up your seams in each row and in different sections of the heart. It becomes hard to match the seams up in the "V" section if your seams are off.
My trick to matching seams is reading glasses and a pin at every seam. LOL!
My favorite part of this quilt is when the heart starts to come together and you can see it for the first time.
I pieced this quilt and then realized I didn't have any backing fabric I loved or really much backing fabric at all. So I found a fat quarter bundle that had the same general colors in it as the Sunbeam line. I also found a yard of fabric by Art Gallery Fabrics that kind of went with the fat quarter bundle and pieced it all together into a backing.
I cut each fat quarter into 6 inch x WOF and made sure to trim off the selvage and square off the ends. Then sewed them together into the correct width for the back.
I quilted this on my machine using a wavy stitch. I started by sewing with the seam as a guide which was every 2 inches. Then, I went back through and went down the middle of each of those rows which made the quilting 1 inch apart throughout.
Someone commented on Instagram how the quilting and the rows of fabric almost give the quilt a knit look. I see what they mean. :)
I love this quilt and the pattern. I'll be sure to buy some more Jelly Rolls to make some more of this pattern. It's so fast and beginner friendly! So dust off those Jelly Rolls you bought and didn't know what to do with and get sewing!