Monday, April 20, 2020

Smooches Tutorial

I made the original Smooches quilt as my entry for Project Quilting 11.3 Put a Heart On It. All along, I planned for this quilt to go to the Windsor Sexual Assault Centre. For four years now, I have donated one or two quilts as part of my H2H commitment, specified for kids who, sadly, need to go there.

The quilt consists of twelve heart blocks that finish at 12", and four rectangles of background fabric. Sashing separates the blocks and rows, and there are just two borders, top and bottom. This is a great quilt to make use of scraps! It goes together in a snap, and with directions for nesting your seams, you will have lovely crisp points.



Fabric Requirements

Heart blocks
Heart fabric: For each of the 12 heart blocks you need (1) 7" square and (2) 6 1/2" squares
Background (BG) fabric: (4) 2 1/2" squares and (1) 7" square

Setting rectangles
(4) 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" rectangles

Sashing
(7) strips 1 1/2" wide by width of fabric (WOF)
From these seven strips, cut (8) 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" sashing rectangles. Set the remaining four strips aside for now.

Top and bottom borders
(3) strips 4" wide by WOF

Piecing a heart block

1. Mark a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner on each of the 2 1/2" BG squares. Place a 2 1/2" square on each of the top two corners of a 6 1/2" heart fabric square. Stitch on the line; trim 1/4" away from the line, discarding the two small triangles you trimmed away. Press seams to the BG fabric. Repeat with the second 6 1/2" heart fabric square, but press the seams towards the heart square where the 'v' of the heart will be. This will help to nest your seams to give you crisp points. See photo beneath step 2.

2. Mark a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner on the 7" BG square.  Layer it right sides together with the heart fabric 7" square. Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the marked line to yield two HSTs. Square both to 6 1/2". Press one set of seams to the BG and the other set of seams to the heart fabric. See below.


3. Sew the two squares from step 1 together, following the layout above, and pressing seams to one side in the same direction as the diagonal seams. Sew the two 6 1/2" HSTs together, pressing that seam in the same direction as those diagonal seams. Finally, join the two halves together, spinning this final seam so the heart centre is flat, or pressing seams to one side, or open. Here is a right and wrong side view of the block with seams spun.

Make a total of 12 hearts in this manner.

4. Arrange your 12 hearts in four columns of three, using the photo of the quilt above the tutorial or the diagram at the end of the tutorial as a guide. Sew a 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" sashing strip to the bottom of the first two hearts in columns one and three.

Then add a 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" BG rectangle to the bottom of columns one and three. Sew the column together. Each one should measure 12 1/2" x 44 1/2".


Sew a 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" sashing strip to the bottom of the first two hearts in columns two and four.


Then add a 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" BG rectangle to the top of columns two and four. Sew the column together. Each one should measure 12 1/2" x 44 1/2".

5. Take the four 1 1/2" x WOF sashing strips set aside and join them into one long strip. Cut apart in three 44 1/2" lengths, or whatever average length your columns are. Sew the sashing strips to the right side of columns one, two and three. Join all four columns together to form the quilt centre. It should measure 51 1/2" wide by 44 1/2" long.

Top and Bottom Borders
6. Join the three border strips into one continuous length. Cut the resulting long strip to measure 4" by 51 1/2" (or whatever width your quilt is). Sew one strip to the top and the other to the bottom of the quilt. Ta-da! Your Smooches quilt top is done. It should measure 51 1/2" square.


I am making another Smooches quilt, this one to go to a healthcare worker working tirelessly and risking so much of herself or himself to fight Covid-19. My heart goes out to each and every one of them, and I am heartbroken to hear of so many who have died trying to save others from the virus. This quilt is a rainbow of hearts.
I made the background 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" rectangles the same creams/tans as the background of the hearts. Note that I flipped the columns too, so the first and third are right side up. There is lots you can do with this pattern: alternate right side up within columns, do all right side up...

Yvonne who blogs at Sew Yummy loved my design so much she made the top in four days, and she works full time! Here is her joyful quilt:

I absolutely love it!

If you make my design, I would love to see it. You can send me a photo which I will feature on my blog. Email me at ephdra (at) gmail (dot) com or tag me on Instagram @mmmquilts

Linking up
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Check-in #1
Kathleen McMusings for Tips and Tutorials on the 22 TTot22


10 comments:

  1. Love all the hearts and I'm sure a health care worker will love them as well.

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  2. Hey your photos are all showing this morning! Cute quilt.

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  3. Thanks for the tutorial - this is a fun pattern. I enjoy seeing the different colorways! (And all the pics are showing up!!)

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  4. I love this, and will look forward to making one, a great little quilt for using up scraps and becoming a cheery comfort quilt!

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  5. Another quilt I want to make. Shh don't say it too loud but all the photo's are now visible on the Storm at Sea post; at least they were to me just now.

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  6. Such a sweetheart pattern. I am not surprised that it inspired so many others. I am sure there will be many more. Hope you are staying safe, Sandra.

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  7. Hi Sandra! I just love this whole design. Every version is just a bit different and gives it a happy spin to it. I am actually leaning toward joining your QAL but make this quilt top instead. I guess that's not really 'joining' the QAL then, is it?!! Anyway, thanks so much for sharing all the details on your blog. I enjoyed your post on Sarah's blog as well. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  8. Thanks for linking up to the party! I do have a plan for this one, maybe this becomes the Grandparent quilt for my brother/sister in law!

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  9. This is so cute, Sandra! Perfect for showing off novelty Valentines Day prints.

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  10. love the quilt, and Yvonne's too. I am sure this will be well loved in the centre

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