Take Heart Quilt Pattern

Take Heart Quilt Pattern by Mack and Mabel – Full Pattern Summary

The Take Heart Quilt Pattern is a downloadable PDF quilt pattern designed by Mack and Mabel. It features charming heart blocks constructed from pre-cut Jelly Roll strips, making it an ideal project for quilters who love working with coordinated fabric collections. The pattern is rated as beginner-friendly, offering clear, step-by-step instructions that guide new quilters through the process of creating a polished, professional-looking quilt from start to finish.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a heart block quilt available in five sizes, ranging from a small nursery piece all the way up to a generous bed covering:

• Baby/Crib Size – finished size 44" x 58"
• Lap Size
• Three additional sizes up to King

Because all five sizes share the same core instructions, quilters can confidently scale the project up or down depending on their needs. The pattern is versatile enough to work as a baby shower gift, a cozy lap throw, or a full-sized bedroom quilt.

Design Overview

The quilt top is built from repeating heart blocks pieced together using colorful Jelly Roll strips set against a solid white background fabric. The contrast between the vibrant patterned strips and the clean white background allows the heart motif to stand out boldly, making it a visually striking finished piece. The design is well-suited to any Jelly Roll collection, meaning quilters can personalize the look simply by choosing a fabric line that reflects their own style or the recipient's taste.

One of the standout features of this pattern is the guidance it provides for using off-cuts. The pattern shows quilters how to repurpose the leftover pieces from both the Jelly Roll strips and the trimmed blocks to create a feature design on the quilt back. This approach reduces fabric waste, adds a decorative reverse side, and can significantly reduce the amount of additional backing fabric required.

Techniques Used

• Jelly Roll strip piecing – working with pre-cut 2.5"-wide strips to construct individual heart blocks efficiently
• Heart block construction – assembling geometric units to form recognizable heart shapes within each block
• Background fabric integration – combining patterned Jelly Roll strips with solid yardage to define the heart motif
• Off-cut utilization – repurposing trimmed fabric pieces to create a decorative quilt back, a practical zero-waste technique
• Quilt backing with seamed panels – instructions specify whether backing seams are horizontal or vertical, helping quilters plan their yardage accurately
• Binding – finishing the quilt edges with 2.5"-wide binding strips cut across the width of fabric (WOF), with the option to use leftover Jelly Roll strips for binding

Stitches and Sewing Methods

As a quilting pattern, Take Heart relies on standard straight-stitch machine sewing throughout. Precise ¼" seam allowances are the foundation of accurate block construction in quilting, and beginner quilters will benefit from practicing consistent seam widths to ensure blocks fit together neatly. Pressing seams at each stage is an implied but essential step in achieving flat, well-aligned blocks. The pattern's beginner rating suggests that no advanced techniques such as paper piecing, curved seaming, or inset seams are required.

Materials – Fabric and Notions

Jelly Roll Strips

The pattern is designed specifically for pre-cut Jelly Roll strips, which are bundles of fabric strips measuring 2.5" wide x approximately 42" long (the full width of fabric). For the Baby/Crib size, 24 strips from one Jelly Roll are required. Quilters who prefer to work from yardage rather than a pre-cut bundle can substitute by cutting their own strips to the same dimensions: 2.5" wide x at least 42" long.

Background Fabric