Sew a Simple (and Adorable) Mini Heart Quilt with Hidden Pockets – Perfect for Treats, Trinkets, and Love Notes!
If you’re like us, nothing gets you more excited than hidden pockets. So, we thought why not take this love for clandestine storage into our craft room — thus, the Hidden Pocket Mini Heart Quilt was born!
Imagine this: a classic heart-shaped quilt hanging on your wall, looking bright and adorable on its own, but guess what? It’s got hidden pockets! Yep, and those pockets are perfect for hiding away little treasures, snacks, or notes for your kiddos or partner to find.
We’re going to show you how to make your own Mini Heart Quilt with Hidden Pockets. This is a super beginner-friendly quilting project — so whether you’re a seasoned quilter or just starting out, this project should turn out great! (We even turned ours into a Mommy & Me sewing project!)
So grab your supplies, clear some space, and let’s dive into creating a quilt that’s not only beautiful but also enjoyable for the whole family. Sound good? Let’s get stitching!
Download Our FREE Pattern:
For this project you will need the usual quilt supplies:
- a cutting mat and rotary cutter
- sewing machine
- rulers
- an iron/ironing board
- quilt batting, backing, and binding
- and, of course, a pattern and fabric!
- plus a little extra fabric for pocket blocks*
To get the pattern and fabric amounts/dimensions, download our Hidden Pocket Mini Heart Quilt Cutting Guide here:
*NOTE ON EXTRA FABRIC FOR POCKETS: The hidden pockets on this quilt are a fun addition that you have a lot of flexibility with! We wanted to have a handful of pockets randomly scattered around the quilt, but you can make each block on your heart quilt a pocket if you so choose! The pixelated heart portion of this quilt is made of 72 2 1/2″ squares. To make the pocket blocks you will need to cut as many extra 2 1/2″ squares as you need for pockets.
That means if you want every square to be a pocket, you will need 72 additional colored 2 1/2″ squares — or 144 total. We liked our pockets to be made from matching pieces: In other words, we cut each pocket piece from the same fabric it sits on top of, this way the finished pockets appear “hidden”.
Let’s Sew!
Once you download your pattern, simply follow the cutting directions to get all of your pieces cut and prepped. Then, take some time to lay out your heart blocks into the pieced-heart shape so you can get the color and pattern arrangement you would like. Once you have your arrangement determined, then choose which blocks you’d like to be pockets. We’ll sew those first!
How to Make Your Pocket Blocks
Now onto what makes this mini heart quilt extra special! We wanted our pockets to be small and barely noticeable. To make a pocket block you will start two 2 1/2″ squares — one for base block and one for the top pocket piece.
First, fold down the top edge of one of your squares about 1/2″, then stitch along the edge of the fold. This is your top pocket piece.
Now, stack the top of the pocket on top of your base square so that they line up to create a pocket opening. Pin in place. (Note: don’t sew the edges down just yet — everything will come together!)
Once you have all of your pocket pieces prepped this way, begin piecing the quilt top together in sections. As you sew single squares to your pocket blocks, the seams will come together around all the sides and you’ll begin to see your Hidden Pocket Mini Heart Quilt come together! Follow the pattern and continue working in sections piecing your quilt top.
Side note: Because this simple pattern is only piecing squares together, it makes a great project for a young sewer — our friend’s daughter had a blast learning to quilt! Take a look at this happy face:
Turn Your Blocks Into a Hanging Quilt
Once your quilt top is done, it’s time for the official “quilting part”. Sandwich a layer of batting between your quilt top and your backing fabric, pin in place, then quilt it all together!
This project is small enough to easily quilt on your home machine. I have a free motion foot so I did a random squiggly design for my quilt. If you don’t have a free motion foot you can just widen your stitch length and “stitch in the ditch” of your heart — continuing those straight stitch lines into the white edges to create a tidy quilted grid pattern. (Friendly note for our beginning quilters: Stitch in the ditch simply means sewing down the seams — you won’t see the quilt lines in the heart because they’ll be hidden in the seam, but it will make a nifty heart-grid on the back of the quilt!)
No matter what pattern you choose, be sure not to quilt over your pocket blocks — this will sew them shut! For me, this was easy because my pockets were so random and spread out. If you choose to make a heart that’s entirely pockets, you definitely want to opt for a “stitch in the ditch” quilting pattern so you leave all of them fully accessible.
The final step for any quilting project is to add your binding. We used a scrappy binding made from the same fabrics in our quilt.
Hang and Fill Your Hidden Pocket Mini Heart Quilt
We introduced our hanging heart quilt at Valentine’s Day, so we were excited to hang it in our entry way alongside some painted hearts Zappy Dots decor. We used Hershey’s Kisses to fill our new quilt with hidden pockets and our family loved it! Fast-forward to today, and our mini heart quilt is still a popular feature… and now I’m looking forward to filling it with other non-sweet treats and treasures for our little ones to find throughout the year:
- Personalized love notes
- Miniature toys or trinkets (think: army men, marbles, mochis, erasers…)
- Inspirational quotes and affirmations
- Tiny photographs and drawings
- Memorable keepsakes from our travels, such as a pressed flower or a special coin
- Handwritten jokes, riddles, or trivia
- Fortune cookie-style messages
- Origami creations
- Friendship bracelets or small jewelry pieces
- Puzzle pieces that fit together to reveal a surprise message or image
What would you put in your Hidden Pocket Mini Heart Quilt? Let us know in the comments! We can’t wait to see what you create…
Watch Our Heart Quilt Come Together on YouTube!
Watch the creation of our Mini Heart Quilt with Hidden Pockets — and how we’re enjoying it now! Check it out on our YouTube channel:
