Sunday, February 21, 2016

Lots of Love Block - The Splendid Sampler

Today I am so excited to get share the block I designed for The Splendid Sampler.   If you are visiting Happy Quilting for the first time from The Splendid Sampler , Welcome!!!    I am so glad you popped in and hope you will come back often.  I have so much fun sharing my passion for quilting here with lots of  free tutorials, giveaways, fabric eye candy, finished projects and of course, lots of  Happy Quilting goodness!! 


Each of the blocks in The Splendid Sampler have a story behind the design.  I hope you get the chance to read each of the stories on the top of each block pattern ;)  Quilts are so special because they have the ability to wrap someone in Love!!  My block is a representation of the 6 people in my life that I always want to wrap up in Lots of Love.  The large heart is for my sweetheart, Jacob, and the smaller hearts are for each of my wonderful children, Spencer, Jessica, Kristian, Kamryn, and Jocelyn.


It is my hope that while you work on your own Lots of Love block, you will think of those special someone's that you want to wrap in Lots of Love as well ;)   You can find the block pattern in the The Splendid Sampler book :)   

So now, let walk through a few tidbits on how to make these hearts a little easier to piece ;)  

PIECING TIDBITS

First off, when working with small pieces, it is always helpful to starch your fabrics before cutting them.  I just use an inexpensive starch and a high heat setting on my iron.  It only takes a few seconds but will really help to keep your fabrics from stretching once you start piecing them on the angle. 


If you feel confident with your piecing, you can do two steps of the pattern at one time ;)  Both the inner small square and the large square can be stitched on without having to stop and press in the middle.  On the smaller 2" hearts, your squares will be touching but not overlapping, so you can still stitch both without having to cut and press in between.


When adding your outside small square, double check that it is overlapping the already sewn square by 1/4".  If it isn't, adjust slightly trying to balance the underage or overage between the overlap and the edge.   This will allow you to get those nice perfect points down the line.  


When sewing the two halves of the heart together, it is best to take the extra second and pin the seams in place.  They will be aligned right on top of one another, so if it isn't pinned, the bulk can easily shift under your presser foot.  Press the seam of the center heart open to help avoid bulk and give you reference for sewing your points when putting the block together.


When putting the block together, align and pin each of your seams first.  Then go back and pin the edges.  Finally, when sewing your seam, be sure to stitch directly through the center of the X created at each of the points of the hearts, even if that means not stitching a perfect 1/4" seam.  You will see the X in your previous stitching, and stitching right through the center of it will give you those beautiful perfect points ;)


Finally, and this is optional, If the waste of trimming bothers you in this block, you can always turn those trimmed bits into bonus Half Square Triangles.  You can either sew an extra seam 1/2" away from your first seam and then cut (on the dotted line) between the two seams or, once you have trimmed your blocks, simply sew a 1/4" seam along the trimmed triangles.   Both way will give you lots of fun bonus HST blocks ;)  



LOTS OF LOVE BLOCK

And just like that, you will have a beautiful Lots of Love Block!!!!   


Of course, I had to make another block for my own version of The Splendid Sampler :)  I am doing my blocks in monochromatic layouts and if you have been around here for any time, you will know that Purple is my favorite color, so of course, I had to make this Lots of Love Block in purple ;)


And I tell you, once you start making these hearts, you won't want to stop . . .so maybe, you will have a special someone to wrap in Lots of Love with a Bonus Lots of Love Mini!!!

BONUS MINI

This Mini was a special Valentines gift for my wonderful Mother In Law, Barbara.  Barbara and I live 2 doors apart and we love to quilt together.  There isn't a day that goes by that we don't have a few minutes to talk about what we are working on, upcoming projects, fabric choices, ect, ect. ect ;)


So as I mentioned earlier, my block represents my family.   Well this Mini represent's Barbara's family ;)   The two large hearts are for her and her husband (grandma and grandpa) and the 12 medium hearts represent their 6 children and their spouses, and you guessed it.  The 24 little hearts represent her 24 grandchildren.  (edit . . .and now I need to applique two more hearts on, because 2 more special little angles have arrived since I made this :)   It is a very special representation of everyone Barbara wants to wrap in love ;)


And if  you are feeling like you want to tackle your own Lots of Love Mini, here is the fabric calculations for the hearts ranging from 2" finished up to 10" finished ;)    So now you can make all the Hearts in any size you want!!!! 


And if you make a Lots of Love Mini, I would love to see it!!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, add it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc .   I can't wait to see your amazing mini's!!!



And just for fun, here are my blocks for the Splendid Sampler so far!!!  I am so looking forward to working on this project throughout the year and can't wait to see everyone's fantastic blocks!!!



I am so very excited to see everyone's Lots of Love Blocks!!!!   Just think of all the people that are going to be wrapped in Love today :)

Thanks for popping in today and I hope that you have a very Happy (and Splendid) Quilting Day!!!


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68 comments:

  1. Thank you so much Melissa. Cute block and I just love your little mini quilt.

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  2. Thanks Melissa! Can I ask the heart sizes on the mini?

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    1. The large hearts are 8", the medium hearts are 4", and the small hearts are 2" :)

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    2. Thanks so much!!! I love the story about what each heart represents!!

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  3. Thank Melissa for your tips and lovely Hearts Block....
    The Mini you made for your MIL is gorgeous and I love the story about it..

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  4. Thank you Melissa for a beautiful block! it will be a joy to make it. I love the mini quilt you made. May I ask which heart are you? Love Ana Burton. Argentina.

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    1. Well, I hadn't really assigned particular hearts, but in my mind, the spouses were the second row of the medium size hearts, and whereas my husband is the third child, I suppose that would make me the third heart in on the second row of medium size hearts ;) To funny that is the bright pink one, but I tend to be the loud bubbly one in the bunch, so I suppose that fits ;)

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    2. Your heart is bright and happy like you. Thank you for take the time to answer my silly question. ♡♡

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    3. Your heart is bright and happy like you. Thank you for take the time to answer my silly question. ♡♡

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  6. Thanks for the beautiful block and the detailed instructions with photos. Many of us are instructionally-challenged, but do well following pictures.

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  7. Thanks for the beautiful block and the detailed instructions with photos. Many of us are instructionally-challenged, but do well following pictures.

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  8. Love the block. I have 5 kids also so each of the hearts will be for my spouse and kids!! I love the mini and that each heart represents a famiy member!

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  9. I love how you put the little antennae on the butterflies so cute I might have to copy that.

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    1. The antennae of the butterfly's were on the original pattern.

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  10. Thank you for this wonderful block.

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  11. Thank you for this wonderful block.

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  12. Thank you for sharing your beautiful block design!

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  13. On your block one, your heart has a different angle on the left side. Did I miss something?

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    1. Nope, I just used a different heart for my block 1 :) I have a little machine that cuts them and it was faster than printing out a template ;)

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  14. This is a beautiful block, Melissa! I really love the mini you made, and all the meaning that went into it. I'm sure your mother-in-law will treasure it :)

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  15. This is such a darling project, one of my favorite of your many wonderful designs. Thanks for the great post and lovely instructions! I'm so excited you are representing Cedar City in this Splendid Sampler!

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  16. A great block, and I love the mini quilt that you made for Barbara. It's wonderful!! Great idea! Hugs, H

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  17. Your block id fantastic, and the history is beautiful. Thank so much

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  18. Great block, can't wait to get home and pick out some lovely fabrics for the hearts. Love your heart quilt. You'll have to hang extra hearts off the bottom if they have more grandchildren!

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  19. Super cute Melissa, love the mini!

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  20. I love it. I think I need to make one for us!!

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  21. Great Tutorial Melissa! And you mini quilt is adorable!

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  22. What a wonderful idea! Love this mini quilt you made for your mother-in-law!

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  23. Great block! And such a sweet mom-in-law gift!

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  24. I really love this block -- and I was beyond delighted that it fit my family perfectly. Thanks for putting your time into the Splendid Sampler!

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  25. Thank you for giving us detailed information. I <3 your block and your story.

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  26. So beautiful and the story behind it is great.Thanks so much.

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  27. Thank you for the time and talent you put into this block. Can't wait to make it.

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  28. I love your block! And thank you for the sizing chart for so many different sizes!

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  29. I loved making this block! The story you wrote reminded me, why we quilt in the first place - to cover our loved ones in love. I started my sampler late, so this was first block. Loved it - thanks!

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  30. Thank you for the extra chart for different sizes on the hearts. That is a great addition to my quilting information .

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  31. You are INCREDIBLE! just in case no one has told you that today!!

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  32. Great tutorial. Haven't made my block yet but pinning this so when I get to it I'll have it! Thank you so much!

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  33. Lovin' it.................Thanks for this design.

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  34. Thank you for the block and Mini Block idea! I love the family idea for that block. And it would make wonderful mini Block wall hanging for family members!

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  35. Thanks Melissa, for the great block design. I especially like the meaning behind your block. I have 5 children, too & will be thinking of them as I make my block.

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  36. Thank you for this block, I love hearts!!

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  37. Thank you for designing the block and sharing it's meaning. I am piecing the large heart with two colors to represent both my husband and myself and the then our two sons, one DIL, and two grandchildren will be represented by the other hearts. Appreciate the piecing tips in your blog.

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  38. Love, love, love your block. Thank you so much!! Also love the bonus mini heart.

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  39. I've just finished my block and it's adorable, thankyou so much for designing it for us Melissa...I must admit I wasn't too confident when I saw we'd be using 1" squares :o)However it went together like a dream with your perfect directions....love it!

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  40. What a wonderful block! Thank you so much for sharing your talent in this sampler quilt.

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  41. As usual, another beautiful design from you. Love your mini quilt too!

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  42. Thanks so much for your time and talent. This block is adorable, and I hope my fingers can work well with the tiny pieces. :)

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  43. Thank you for a "Lovely" block and the mini! Knowing the background is inspiring! The instructions and photos of how to assemble this block make it very accessible to the novice. Lots of Love to you!

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  44. I am making my second because I really feel so much more confident after success on this block. Thank you for a good learning block.

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  45. I am making my second because I really feel so much more confident after success on this block. Thank you for a good learning block.

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  46. I love these hearts! My block is in limbo, though. I have 3 sewing machines and 2 went into the shop mid block. I know you are supposed to use only one machine for each block, but 3 won't hurt, right? ;)

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  47. Thank you for such a cute block! I am off to stash dive! I will be piecing this tomorrow at my semi weekly quilt group. I bet I will lure in more quilters with this block!!

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  48. Love the block and the mini. What a wonderful story behind the block and especially the mini. Thank you, Guida

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  49. Thank you very much for your explanation of the hearts and how to make this block.

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  50. Hey Melissa! I somehow 'accidentally' got invited to join the SS facebook page and although I'm not intending to make the sampler quilt ... being a bit of a piecing/patchwork gumby! :0) ... I'm loving following the feeds of all the photos of the blocks. And despite being a piecing gumby, I just HAD to have a try at a pieced heart after seeing versions of your Lots Of Love block appearing ... though mine is quite a bit bigger. :0) Thought you might like to pop across and see what I was playing with here: http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/playing-with-pieces.html Thanks for the inspiration to have a go at some simple piecing ... I'm off to play some more! ;0) Bear Hugs! KRIS xx

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  51. I reallylove this!! I would love your thoughts/anyone's thoughts on 1) including/excluding ex-spouse hearts- they are the parent of the subsequent children so I feel they should be included.....or ??? 2) thoughts on "growing family" how to add more later without taking it all apart.... I was thinking of perhaps leaving a blank width at the bottom and adding appliqué hearts as they come along...... Any ideas appreciated

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  52. I love your block. I haven't started any of the blocks yet because I need to finish some sewing obligations. I really want to get started.

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  53. Your heart blocks are so cute! As soon as I finish another quilt I plan to start this sampler. Thanks for the pattern!

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  54. What a wonderful block, many greetings from Germany!!
    Thanks for the pattern!

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  55. Playing catch-up on my blocks and will be doing yours next. It is so very cute, but more...I love reading your website. Nice to have a shared passion!

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  56. Thanks for your heart block. Not be a quilter starting out this block was a huge challenge for me. I would like to try it again and use your tutorial this time. Thanks so much for your "Splendid" contribution!

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  57. Although I commented to you from the Sampler sight, I'm glad I finally made it to your sight. I have been making the rounds, and not in the block order... But want to thank you for your block, and the Mini pattern you gave. I was looking for a down load, but I guess you just meant the variation of block Lots of Love. I was visiting in light of the 50th block celebration. And to say a special thank you for your participation!

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  58. Love it! Unfortunately it's no longer on the Splendid Sampler link you provided.

    But I think I can figure it out!
    Julie.mirdoch@shaw.ca

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa