Sweetheart Plus

Sweetheart Plus is a Valentine's Day throw built from plus blocks in candle cream, ribbon gold, berry red and plum velvet, set five by six of twelve-inch blocks with two-inch gold sashing. Finished size is 80 by 94 inches. Each plus is a nine-patch: five berry squares make the cross, and four cream squares fill the corners, so the motif reads as a colour-blocked Valentine plus rather than a tree or star. Cut the nine squares, sew three rows, then join the rows, nesting the seams at the centre so the plus stays square and the berry arms line up across the throw. Gold sashing with cream cornerstones sits like ribbon between the pluses; a berry inner border and a plum outer border hold the Valentine frame. The pattern suits a confident beginner who wants a clear seasonal make with straightforward nine-patch piecing, and who is happy pressing the rows so the pluses stay aligned. It would live on a sofa in February or as a gift for a couple who prefer graphic colour blocking to hearts-and-arrows prints. The download is a full pattern pack with yardage, a cutting chart, piecing order and the layout for this throw.