VALENTINE’S DAY 2025 MYSTERY SEW ALONG – WEEK THREE

Welcome back to Week 3 of our Valentine’s Day 2025 MYSTERY SEW ALONG!

This week, you will be making an additional (22) small 4-patch blocks, then assembling your feature heart blocks. We are so close you guys! This is my favorite part of the process… when we finally start to see where all the parts we have been making are placed. So TA DA… here is our featured block, HEART ON A CHAIN!

It is a super simple block but I think it creates something kinda wonderful when we finish it all up next week!

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SCHEDULE

…and in case you missed it, here are our previous blog posts for the Valentine’s Sew Along:

• Mystery Sew Along Announcement
• Mystery Sew Along – Week One
• Mystery Sew Along – Week Two

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WEEK 3

We are providing you instructions in TWO ways – both right here on the blog, as well as a downloadable PDF if you prefer a print-out (click below).

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**DOWNLOAD THE VALENTINE’S MYSTERY SEW ALONG: WEEK 3 INSTRUCTIONS HERE!**

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CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

FROM YOUR MAIN BLOCK FABRICS:

• From red or coral print:
  • Use your remaining red/coral [d] squares saved from last week.
    

• From each of (6) cream prints [again, use your soft, low volumes here]:
  • Use your remaining cream print [e] squares saved from last week.
    
  • Cut (1) 3 ½” strip [using the same low volume fabrics you used above].
    From this strip [plus the saved remainder of the strip from Week 1],
    Cut (9) 3 ½” x 6 ½” rectangles [h]*.
  • *NOTE: Due to the scrappy nature of this pattern, you will have a few extra of each of these cut pieces.

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PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Using pieces [d/e], join together to make (22) small four-patch units just like you did last week. You will now have a total of (52) 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ small four-patch units.

Step 2: Add an [h] rectangle to the top and bottom of the heart. Press toward [h].

Step 3: Join a small four-patch unit made above (now referred to as a “chain” unit) to the top and bottom of an [h] rectangle as shown below.

Pay close attention to the direction of your chain and make sure that [d] squares face “into” your heart as shown. This is important!

Press toward [h] each time. Make (2) side units per block.

Step 4: Join the side units to the heart unit. Press open.

Step 5: Make (13) feature heart blocks!

So much heart goodness here and in the Facebook Group and even Instagram! I cannot wait to see you all start putting these together this week. I have seen so many lovely different variations!

A couple quick things… if you want to change something when you see your blocks, PLEASE give yourself permission to do that. Most of you are going totally scrappy and you might just find that when you add the chain patches to the heart, you don’t love the combo. That is okay!

That is kind of the design challenge of working on a mystery quilt like this one… you have to be willing to switch things up a little bit during construction based on what works or what you have been inspired to change up during the process.

Also some of you have been wondering about adding in another color… especially those of you who are not looking to create something so overtly only Valentine’s feeling. Two places where you can do that are on these little four patch chains… but I would definitely recommend keep ALL of the little four patches in the same color group [meaning if you are going to make your chain scrappy, that all of your prints are green or blue or whatever color you are adding] so that it creates the chain we are going to put together next week!

The second place to add a bit of another color is on the LARGE FOUR PATCHES that we made last week and will continue to make some more of next week. So if you are unsure about those items, hold off and see the setting reveal before making your final decisions!

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NEXT WEEK

Join us next week for a bit more patchwork and the final layout of your quilt! Don’t forget to join our FACEBOOK GROUP and share your progress.

Happy Sewing,

-Joanna