"Pineapple Parade" - DONE

Yeah - It turned out DONE and good!   If you have not made one, I would encourage you to try.  Design possibilities are endless - note that there are 2 blocks in this design, making that "spool-like corner" and dark center in the same block, and the other block is traditional, and mine is scrappy.  The block corners are where much of the design ends up.  Get a good ruler and a good design and go for it.  No paper is needed for this 8 inch size, no drawing on muslin, ... those are other options.  My Pineapple DVD with several patterns was found in Annies Craft Catalog and designer is Gyleen Fitzgerald.  You will LOVE the DVD, (currently $14.99!) even if you don't make the quilt.  (There is another DVD option for the same quilt, but higher cost - not sure what that is.  I learned from the DVD and instructions on the DVD, and did not "join" the on-line class, another option.)  I DID purchase the ruler she recommended but others are available.   Again, she has a simple ruler, but Annies has a more complex ruler that that did not appeal to me.

My geraniums this year - almost all of my gardening is right here!  The foliage was so dense, and the leaves were thick and triangular - very pretty when weather was good.  Here, they have had one frost and one heavy wet snow, but they did survive under a blanket.  See all those green/yellow crawling ivy trailing things? I forgot what they are called,  but this year they survived the winter and returned.  8-)))

Now, I am off to sew on a project that is going to take a long time - my house is overflowing with quilts that get turned out every month, and there is NO room!  Yesterday I delivered 2 Linus quilts so there is a little bit of space again!  Happy quilting!

A friend saves vintage blocks, and a Pineapple Beginning

What a great way to start the day - aren't they beautiful?  Look at the giant white ones in the middle!   

In mid-November at the Guild give-away table, sat a large stack of vintage blocks.  Kinda sad and not well done but .... I grabbed them, shoved them in my friend Jody's hands and said, "Here make something of these!"  Poor woman - I didn't even give her a chance to object but she's creative, energetic and gets things D O N E !  Hmm, lots of piecing, by hand, not sophisticated, yet beautiful in their humility.   Some lady was using her time wisely, using what she had.  There is even some fussy-cutting. 

 

In mid December, (yes, less than 1 month later) Jody dropped by my house with a big wrapped "something" under her arm with instructions "do not open 'til Christmas" ... well of course I failed that edict.  After she left, I opened it ... and cried with joy. 

Look what she did with the "unloved" blocks!!!  She repaired some, added the inner black sashing, added the dark border purchased when she and I had attended some quilting function together.  She often finishes her quilts with a sliver of color against the binding.  She then washed it all, and those blah, tired-looking blocks turned into something beautiful!!!   Quilters make and give quilts away - we seldom receive a quilt, especially one with meaning.  How lovely  that she gave these blocks a real life.  It's prettier than this photo, and is now my TV-watching lap quilt.

 

 

  Above is the backing - perfectly lovely!  Thank you Jody!!!

New project ....

a Pineapple Quilt, using 2 slightly different blocks.  I'm loving it!  This design came with a DVD purchased thru Annie's Catalog/Craft catalog, and the DVD features Gyleen Fitzgerald.  (I LOVE my quilting DVDs!)  Oh My Gosh, I am loving this one!!!  I DID purchase her ruler  (about $14) which I also love.  Each block came out exactly correct, square and true.  (There is another ruler at Annies, but with more lines, options, cost - I chose the simpler version)..

If you have never made a Pineapple block, and are not paper piecing, you really need a ruler made for this technique.  The block is very easily pulled out of square and is trimmed and checked after each round.  These strips are cut at 1.5 inch, and the block finishes at 8 inches.  Also, her technique trims the blocks from the back.