Pineapple Quilt Finish!

I finished my pineapple quilt.  I started this quilt in February of 2013.  I think I had around 40 finished blocks the start of this year.  Every now and then, in between projects, I would finish 10 more blocks.  It would take me a good two or three days to finish 10 blocks.

Cathy at Quilting on Main Street made a beautiful pineapple quilt using French General fabrics, Nicole at Sister's Choice liked it so much she started one too.  In May of last year,  Carrie at La Vie En Rosie, finished her pineapple quilt.  With all this wonderful pineapple inspiration I moved making this quilt to the top of my To Do List, and now, finally, it's done.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 135

There are 10 rows of 10 blocks for a total of 100 blocks

The blocks finish at 6 inches.

It finished at 60" x 60"

It has approximately 3,700 pieces.

There are a lot of options when it comes to pineapple quilts.  I collected pineapple rulers and books for years.  In the end I decided to paper piece my blocks. When it came to connecting all my blocks the seams matched up perfectly.  I'm happy I went with this method over some pineapple specific rulers, I have read where those seams do not always line up.

I selected my pattern from EQ7.  I printed one master block using Carol Doak foundation paper.

I then circled the sections with a red ink pin that were to be pieced using red fabric.  Using this master and a copy machine I printed the blocks I needed. 

Here is one finished 6 inch block.

A pineapple quilt had been on my To Do List since I first started quilting, I am so happy that I now have one and am very happy with the look and size of it.  

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Star Blossom Reveal

Star Blossoms is all done.

It was a fun project to piece and the longer I worked with the fabric the more I loved it.

I'm glad I tried doing something a little different with the center blocks, and while the center blocks don't slap you across the face now that it's done, like they did when I started, a different background fabric probably would have been a better choice.  Note to self, it's OK to use a fabric outside the fabric included in the family of fabrics.  

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 134

The pattern is Star Blossoms by Bonnie at Cotton Way

The fabric is Madhuri by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake

It finished at 70" x 70"

It has approximately 1,049 pieces.

I hope to get it quilted quickly so I can enjoy it this summer, several quilters commented that this top had a nice summer feel and I agree.

Sinta at the Pink Pin Cushion and I were doing a little Star Blossoms sew along and Sinta finished her top and blogged about it here.  I really love the light outer border she chose and the extra piecing in her inner border, great job Sinta, what's next??

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Star Blossom Update

Sinta and I are making great progress on our Star Blossom sew-along.  All my blocks are pieced.  You may remember from my last post that I started with the center blocks, using pink background fabric, and then I moved on to the outer blocks where I used white background.  I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed with the look at this point.

I like the fabric, I like the block pattern, I just wasn't in the mood for another quilt with white background and one block design, I thought the pink was a great idea to add a little change but not a whole lot of change.  The pink is maybe a bit too bold.

Here's a picture with the sashing added and I think it helps tone down things some.

I cut my sashing a little wider than the pattern directions to give a little more separation to the pink blocks.  Also, the pattern called for cornerstones in the center of the quilt, not the outer edges, as you can see I put them everywhere I could.   I think adding the blue squares to the outer edge pulls your eyes away from the center instead of putting focus on the center.  This could be wishful thinking on my part, but it sure sounds like I know what I'm talking about.

This quilt is done,  adding the inner and outer borders helped even more with those bright pink blocks not looking so bold.  I'm not going to show you the final quilt until Sinta is done, which should be soon, so stay tuned.  But I have to say I'm getting used to those pink centers and think I like having them in more than I would like the quilt without them.

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Madhuri and Star Blossoms

A few weeks ago Sinta at Pink Pin Cushion was nice enough to share a fat quarter bundle of fabric with me for a sew along.  The fabric was Madhuri by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake.

We decided the perfect pattern for that fabric would be Star Blossoms by Bonnie at Cotton Way.

Are you familiar with this star blossom block?  They're very cute star blocks with little blossoms surrounding them.  I think it looks like little crowns surrounding the stars, more of a princess blossom, either way, these blinged up stars make a great spring project.

The selvage on this family of fabrics is very cute too, elephants.

I'm so glad the trunks are up, doesn't that mean good luck?


I've made my four center blocks using pink background fabric.  My plan is to surround them with blocks that have a white background.  We'll see how that works out, lol.

So for  my spring it's sewing with a friend and using pretty and cheerful fabric for a fun pattern, what could possibly go wrong?

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A Funny Thing Happened . . .

A funny thing happened when I was ordering my backing fabric for Hook.  I was looking at online stores searching for the best yardage price for Little Black Dress 2 by Basicgrey for Moda when I stumbled across this pattern that was issued along with the fabric.

Mesmerize

I was mesmerized and immediately ordered the downloadable pattern.  Since I had just used up the majority of my Little Black Dress 2 fabric on Hook I looked around my sewing studio for some different fabric for my top.

 And I came up with this.   

This pattern provides directions for three sizes, throw, twin, and king.  I went with the twin size.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 131

It finished at 72" x 72"

The majority of the fabric is Happy by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

It has approximately 396 pieces.

(Pattern tip - there is an error in the Cutting Directions of the Mesmerize pattern. If you read the pattern start to finish you'll catch it. It's more of a typographical mistake than an error.  Luckily I caught the mistake as I was making my inspiration block and before I had cut all the strips.)

Kathryn won my Quick Curve Ruler and pattern giveaway and chose the Urban 9 Patch for her pattern, great choice, that one is on my To Do List too.

Over 100 folks stopped by and left a comment to win this ruler.  Of the 100 comments a large percentage mentioned how they had yet to try curved piecing.  I think this ruler really gives you a great shot at successfully piecing curved blocks.  I think the patterns are very easy to follow, but if you're still not sure, Jenny has 3 great videos on her blog that will help you use her ruler.  The first video demonstrates how to cut the curves, the second video demonstrates how to piece the curves, and the final video demonstrates how to "square up" the blocks.  

And here's something else to consider, unless your sewing room is different than mine, there's no camera filming your every move, no judges peering over you shoulder, no reason no one but you ever has to know if your first or second attempt are less than perfect.  Be fearless,  there are so many fun patterns out there for curves, why should you miss out?

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