Sweet Notes Valentine’s Day Bunting Tutorial

Love is in the air, and things have never gotten this sweet. This adorable Valentine’s Day quilted banner is inspired by the heart candies with iconic messages like “love you”, “miss you”, “be mine” and more. The tutorial uses The Weekend Quilter’s Sweet Notes mini heart foundation paper pieced quilt block. Click here to download the pattern.

Elevate your festive display by adding a hand or machine embroidery message on each of the blocks. The messages on each of the blocks in the example were machine embroidered with Brother’s Skitch single-needle embroidery machine (my latest obsession). How cute are these blocks?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Find all the tools and materials mentioned below in the one place here.*

• Sweet Notes mini block pattern. Click here to download the pattern.
• Rotary cutter
• Cutting mat
• Quilting ruler(s) – preferably a long and small sized ruler, i.e. 6in x 24in and 6½in x 6½in
• Coordinating thread(s), 50 weight for piecing, general construction, quilting, if machine embroidering the message on the block(s); or 8 or 12 weight thread for hand embroidering the message on the block(s).
• Heramarker
• Scissors for fabric
• Measuring tape
• Fabric pencil or marker
• Round plate or roll of tape
• Pins
• Seam ripper
• Snips (optional)
• Iron
• Basting spray (for spray basting) or safety pins (for pin basting)
• Fabric, quilting cotton – Fabric requirements outlined below exclude fabric requirements for the mini block. Those are supplied in the Sweet Notes mini quilt block pattern, which can be downloaded here. Requirements are in bold text and based on 42in WOF (width of fabric) and cutting directions are in bullet points.

# Of pendants on each chain	Number of Sweet Notes mini quilt block(s) required	Fabric A (Backing Fabric)	Fabric B (Binding)
1	1 block	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 fat quarter (FQ)* 1 square, 7in	⅛ yard (12 cm) 2 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 75½in.
2	2 blocks	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 FQ* 2 squares, 7in	⅛ yard (12 cm) 2 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 82in.
3	3 blocks	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 FQ* 3 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 88½in.
4	4 blocks	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 FQ* 4 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 95in.
5	5 blocks	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 FQ* 5 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 101½in.
6	6 blocks	¼ yard (23 cm) or 1 FQ* 6 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 108½in.
7	7 blocks	½ yard (46 cm) or 2 FQs* 7 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 114½in.
8	8 blocks	½ yard (46 cm) or 2 FQs* 8 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 118in.
9	9 blocks	½ yard (46 cm) or 2 FQs* 9 squares, 7in	¼ yard (23 cm) 3 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 124½in.
10	10 blocks	½ yard (46 cm) or 2 FQs* 10 squares, 7in	⅜ yard (35 cm) 4 strips, 2in x WOF. Sew all strips width wise and sub-cut: one (1), 2in x 131½in.

*A fat quarter (FQ) is a quarter of a yard of fabric. It measures approximately 18in x 22in and is made by cutting a yard of fabric in half lengthwise and vertically.

• Batting – With the low batting quantity, this project is perfect to bust those batting scraps you've been keeping tucked away. 

# Of pendants on each chain
1	1 square, 7in
2	2 squares, 7in
3	3 squares, 7in
4	4 squares, 7in
5	5 squares, 7in
6	6 squares, 7in
7	7 squares, 7in
8	8 squares, 7in
9	9 squares, 7in
10	10 squares, 7in

• Light-weight fusible interfacing (optional) – This additional layer can be added to the back of the mini block to prevent the heart (or embroidery) from distortion while quilting. Requirements are based on 20in width.

# Of pendants on each chain
1	¼ yard (23 cm) · 1 square, 7in
2	¼ yard (23 cm) · 2 squares, 7in
3	½ yard (46 cm) · 3 squares, 7in
4	½ yard (46 cm) · 4 squares, 7in
5	⅝ yard (58 cm) · 5 squares, 7in
6	⅝ yard (58 cm) · 6 squares, 7in
7	⅞ yard (80 cm) · 7 squares, 7in
8	⅞ yard (80 cm) · 8 squares, 7in
9	1 yard (92 cm) · 9 squares, 7in
10	1 yard (92 cm) · 10 squares, 7in

 

Directions

Read through all the directions before you start. Seam allowance throughout the project id ¼in unless specified.

 

Step 1: Download Sweet Notes mini quilt block pattern here and assemble the number of blocks as desired. In this tutorial I have created a total of 5 mini blocks.

 

Step 2: If using light-weight fusible interfacing, apply interfacing on the back of each Sweet Notes mini quilt block.

 

 

A quilt sandwich (in this instance, a quilt block) usually consists of three layers – quilt top [quilt block], batting and quilt back [quilt block back]. For this particular project, the sandwich is made up of the quilt block created in step 1, permanent stabiliser or interfacing (if used), and one layer of batting. The backing fabric is omitted from the quilt sandwich and will be added in a later step. This later step will enclose the raw edges of each pendant and hide any thread work from the embroidery on each of the blocks. Photo shown below is an example of where the machine embroidery is also visible on the back side of the quilted pendant. Oops!  

 

 

Step 3: Lay batting down and place a Sweet Notes mini quilt block on top of the batting. The wrong side of the mini quilt block should be touching the batting. Baste the layers together using your preferred method, and machine quilt on a domestic sewing machine to secure the layers to create one (1) Pendant Sandwich.

Repeat this step for all Sweet Note mini quilt blocks.

 

Step 5: This step is also optional. Hand or machine embroider message(s) or letter(s) to each Pendant Sandwich as desired. In this example I’ve followed some of the typical Valentine’s Day heart candy messages and used my Brother Skitch, single-needle embroidery machine to stitch out the lettering.

 

Step 4: For Pendant Sandwich, remove excess batting (and permanent stabiliser or interfacing, if used) with a quilting ruler and rotary cutter. Each Pendant Sandwich should measure 5½in square.

Then with a fabric pen or pencil and a round plate or round edge of tape, trace the round edge on the bottom two corners of the Pendant Sandwich(es). Cut on drawn round corners.

  

Step 6: With right sides together, pin one Pendant Sandwich on top of one (1) Fabric A (backing fabric) square. Using the Pendant Sandwich as a guide, sew ¼in away from the edge and leave the top edge of the Pendant Sandwich open. That opening is going to be used to turn the pendant right side out. And don’t forget to reverse stitch at the start and end of the seam.

Repeat this step for all Pendant Sandwiches.

 

Step 7: For each Pendant Sandwich, remove excess Fabric A (backing fabric) with a quilting ruler, rotary cutter and fabric scissors.

 

Step 8: With a pair of fabric scissors, carefully clip notches at the rounded corners of each Pendant Sandwich, avoiding the seams. This will remove the seam bulk and ensure the edges lay flat and look crisp.

 

 

Step 9: For each Pendant Sandwich, turn the Pendant Sandwich right side out. With an iron, press the Pendant Sandwich and top stitch ⅛in away from all three edges of the pendant as shown below. Top stitching will help the layers stay in place and make binding easier.

Set Pendant Sandwich(es) aside for Step 12.

 

 

Step 10: To create the Binding, begin with one (1) Fabric B Binding rectangle, wrong side facing up.

Fold both raw, shorter edges towards the centre of the rectangle to enclose the raw edges. Press and top stitch both folded edges.

 

Step 11: Using the Binding created in the previous step, fold it in half lengthwise with the wrong sides of the fabric together, and press flat. 

Set Binding aside for Step 13.

 

Step 12: Lay out Pendant Sandwiches in sewing order. It can be in any order.

 

 

Step 13: Measure and mark with a fabric pen or pencil, 35in from one side of the Binding from step 11. With one (1) Pendant Sandwich, wrong side facing up, match the top let corner of the pendant with the marked guide.

Then line up the raw edges of the Pendant Sandwich and Binding, and sew ¼in away from the raw edge to secure the Pendant Sandwich in place.

 

Step 14: This step applies to projects with two (2) or more Pendant Sandwiches. Skip and move on to the following step if the project has one (1) Pendant Sandwich.

Using previously attached Pendant Sandwich as a guide, attach the remaining Pendant Sandwiches, leaving a 1in gap between each Pendant Sandwich.

 

Step 15: Fold the Binding over to the right side of the Pendant Sandwich and machine sew to secure it.

 

Step 16: Trim loose threads, hand and enjoy! And don’t forget to share your progress and completed Sweet Notes Valentine’s Day quilted bunting project on social media: #SweetNotesMiniQuiltBlock #SweetNotesSeries

  

Looking for more ideas? The Sweet Notes mini quilt block is not just limited to being a Valentine’s Day bunting. You can also hand or machine embroider your loved ones’ names, a special message, label your quilts on the heart and incorporate it into your next quilted project.

 

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