The Making of a Low Volume Pineapple Quilt - Part 1

There are spectacular pineapple blocks and quilts with beautiful colors that make amazing patterns.  This is not that quilt - this is made with all low volume fabrics.  Low volume prints are usually creams, white and fabrics with subtle prints that are muted - giving a quiet and gentle look.

Pineapple blocks create those awesome patterns because each 'round' (or row) usually alternates between light and dark.  They play off each other and can be arranged in so many ways.  That spectacular effect can also take time to plot and figure out ... which is why I opted to do it the easy way.  And boy is it coming out nicely!

I did use the Creative Grids Pineapple Trim Tool.  Below are links to videos that explain in detail how to use this tool - as well as a good blog post with pictures from Crazy Mom Quilts that just uses a ruler.  Paper piecing is also an option and Gigi's Thimble post is really detailed with pictures as well. 

 My ruler still kept sliding around so I read about spraying some spray baste to help it get sticky - which it did, along with picking up a ton of fluff - but in the end it worked fine.  So, if your rulers or templates slide even with grips or medical tape - try spraying some basting spray for traction.  

The package directions listed how wide to cut the fabric strips - but not the fabric length for each unit.  I came up with these measurements to make things simple and not have excess fabric waste. 
Other than the center square which is cut at 2.5" x 2.5" - all strips are cut at 2" wide.

Round One:  2" x 2.5"    Sew opposite sides and then the other opposite sides.  Trim with the tool.

Round 2:  2" x 3.5"  Do the same thing - sew opposite sides, and then the other opposite sides ... trim.

 Round 3:  2" x 4.5"  sew as before.  
 Round 4:  2" x 5"     sew as before.  

Corners:  The instructions say to use a large rectangle and I just thought that wasted too much fabric.  Since my blocks were smaller (6.5" x 6.5" unfinished) - I could put a small triangle on the edge and it worked great.

Either cut out a 2.5" x 2.5" square - cut on the diagonal to get 2 pieces - or use a trim tool that cuts out a little half square triangle.  Both methods are fine.

Attach the corners as shown and trim.  All those scraps in the lower left pix are from ONE block - but to get these cool angles there has to be some waste. 

I put my strips in labeled bins and sewed all one size at once. Do all Round 1, all Round 2, etc.  Then store in baggies, again labeled.  Since all the fabrics and sizes can look similar you just don't want to have to re-measure strips if things get messy and mixed up on the sewing table.

The only note of caution I have for this type of quilt is this:

Because my fabrics were so similar I sometimes lost track of where to trim Round 3 - which is a little different than the others.  The videos and instructions were clear - it was me. 

So, no matter how goofy it looked  - I kept a sample block labeled with notes.  This is a good practice no matter what project you are working on - and maybe a life lesson as well :)

So that's it for now.  You can see that there is no wrong way to lay out something this gentle and pretty.  The quilt is just waiting for me to do the binding - but I wanted to share the mechanics and positive encouragement that this type of block is not out of reach for anyone.

Helpful links:
Crazy Mom Quilts - how to make a pineapple block without paper piecing

GiGi's Thimble: Pineapple Block paper piecing tutorial

Sherri from A Quilting Life video tutorial with the pineapple ruler

Creative Grids Making a Pineapple Block with the Pineapple tool

January 2020