Low Volume Pineapple Quilt Finished (Part 2)

It's all done and here are some fun specs about this low volume pineapple quilt.  Part One on how it was made is HERE.

Using the Creative Grids Pineapple tool - each block is a finished 6".  There are 9 blocks across and 9 rows down - making a nice lap quilt 53" x 53"  after squaring up.  All the corner pieces are in beige to make little 'beige' diamonds. 

Doing some math: this lap quilt has 81 blocks.  Each block has 21 pieces of fabric.  That totals 1,701 pieces of fabric! 

Using low volume for all the 'rounds' in this block kept things simple.  Any and all fabric was cut to the sizes needed without regard to color. If you have a pile of low volume fabric this is one fun quilt to make.

A word of caution however, since there is so much trimming it is easy to get a little lazy with the rotary cutter and go faster than you should.  As soon as I thought "I got this trimming down" - I sliced my finger. 

Cream dimple dot minky backs the quilt and I used Aurifil 50wt. #2000 throughout. Quilting is a wavy line stitch that goes on the horizontal and vertical seams - as well as through the middles and corners (see pink lines).  Since the blocks are so small you don't need to chalk or mark anything - just do it by eye.

So that's it - a traditional Pineapple quilt made a modern way. With origins in Spain, called 'pina' after the pinecone - the pineapple became the universal symbol of warmth and hospitality when it reached America during colonial times.  Again, for links, pixs and directions how to make this quilt - Part One here can be your guide.

Materials:

Low volume fabric

Warm & White batting

Cream dimple dot minky from Hawthorne Supply Co.

Aurifil 50 wt. thread #2000

Creative Grids Standard Pineapple Trim Tool

Size: 53" x 53"

February 2020

Bee Joyful Quilt All Finished (Part Two)

It's all finished and it's Bee-U-tiful!   Part One of how this quilt was made HERE.

 A 3" diagonal grid in wavy line stitching was super effective.  Matching perfectly with some Marigold minky is Aurifil 50wt. #2314. 

The quilting lines were chalked in yellow in a 3" diagonal grid.  I am always cautious when using chalk since it takes a few washes to get it all out - and the picture above is before any washing.  

I like using a Hera marker (a sharp edged tool that leaves a crease in the fabric) but with a busy quilt like this, the scored lines would be hard to follow. I do use a lot of spray starch before I sew and never iron over any chalk lines, but there is a sigh of relief when all the chalk washes out.

I stick to one color thread for the top, and one that matches the bottom when quilting.  This quilt showed me that a lighter thread in the dark black border looks really nice - and shows even this simple wavy grid to advantage.

I have made so many quilts using Deb Strain fabrics but the bee motif is the most popular with 6 blankets to date. 

 I had enough little left overs and spare Bee Hive Damask in gold from the binding to make a little scrappy quilt on point - that will be No. 7!  

So, that's a wrap for this Bee Joyful quilt - I hope it inspires you to take a stab at making a panel quilt.

Materials:

Bee Joyful by Deb Strain for Moda

Cream Numbers from Lucy's Crab Shack / Sweetwater

Cotton Couture black by Michael Miller

Warm and White batting 

Dimple Dot minky Marigold / Hawthorne Supply Co.

Aurifil 50wt. #2314

Size: 54" x 56.5"

February 2020

Bee Joyful Panel & Layer Cake Quilt (Part One)

While I am still putting the binding onto this quilt I figured I could write about how it was made.  

Deb Strain has the greatest bee fabrics ever.  This collection is called Bee Joyful and like her previous bee motifs, all the fabrics harmonize and go together without much fuss. 

This quilt is made with: 1 layer cake, 1 panel, Bee Hive Damask for the binding, cream for the economy blocks and black for the borders.

I cut the whole layer cake into 5" squares and made 4 patches using the method shown in this video from Me and My Sister.  I paired up a light and a dark to make the 4-patches as scrappy as possible.

A nifty way to move small pieces from a cutting table to your sewing machine is to slide them onto your ruler and transport them.  

I trimmed all the 4-patches to 4" x 4" - and to add some interest - took that 4-patch and turned six of them into economy blocks.

2 squares of  cream 5"x 5" fabric were cut once on the diagonal to make 4 triangles and sewn together like any other economy block (or square in a square).  I have a picture tutorial HERE  (but with different measurements). 

Because I made all the 4-patches BEFORE I did any math or layout -  I had to seam rip apart some units to fill in under the economy block.  This made my rows have an odd number of squares and those unpicked little squares didn't have any seam allowance since they were already trimmed. 

 Bottom line - keep some spare larger pieces to help fill in spaces for odd sized rows. Start with the 'fancy block' first and do the math for the pieces around it. I did it backwards and it was a learning experience.  

Like all panel quilts - there is a chance that even though you measure - things don't always line up.  I thought my panel was straight and my rows square - ha ha ha!  They weren't.  The left side came out perfectly - the right, not so much.  

So, I added a black stripe on the top and bottom of the panel unit and did some 'creative' squaring up.    Because I added two black stripes to 'frame' the panel portion - I stopped the 'drift' and the lower borders had a chance to become straight again.  Bottom line:  where things didn't match up, I trimmed and overall it looks just fine.

Always good for a laugh when things go wrong yet again.  I thought I would use painter's tape to help me quilt on the diagonal since my squares weren't all aligned to make a nice grid.  After two rows and the tape flying off the quilt - I realized if I continued with this method, I had to re-position one piece of tape EACH TIME!  Heck no.  

I got out the chalk and marked the lines 3" apart.  It came out so nicely and Part Two will highlight the finished quilt. 

I made a lot of mistakes with this quilt, but nothing that the seam ripper or extra trimming couldn't fix.  Don't get discouraged if things go awry.  Things go wrong all the time and there is usually a way to 'fudge it' and make it work.  Just looking above I can see where I trimmed and my blocks didn't meet the black border ... oops ... but overall it's a pretty quilt.  I learned what not to do and this fabric is telling me to BEE JOYFUL - so, I will!

Materials:

Bee Joyful  by Deb Strain for Moda

Cream Numbers from Lucy's Crab Shack

Cotton Couture black by Michael Miller

Warm and White batting

Dimple Dot minky Marigold / Hawthorne Supply Co. 

Aurifil #2314

February 2020

Old Mill Path Pattern in Safari Life

I enjoy video tutorials from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. and when I saw the Old Mill Path pattern I couldn't wait to try it. Shortly after the video aired the holiday sales began at Green Fairy Quilts ... and all I needed was one layer cake to make a lap quilt ... SOLD!

Yes, there are curves.  Yes, Jenny from MSQC gives you lots of good advice to sew a perfect curve ... but my blocks came out a wonky 8.5" x 8.5'.   No worries - I love to trim and came up with a way to get a block that's almost perfect (my curves will never be perfect but almost is just fine).

Let's start.  I used the MSQC drunkards path template that is shown in the video. By folding the fabric I made a mid-point crease in all pieces (left pix), and marked that center spot with a pencil. Sew as the video explains and try to match the pencil marks in the center to keep you on track.  

Here's a wonky block with a 8.5" square ruler positioned on top.  Looks horrible but not to worry.  On both the horizontal and vertical measurements on the grid I put pink Post-It paper on the 4" line.  

Here is a close up of the top and right side. The left side and bottom also align on the 4" mark.  

Ideally it would be 'perfect' to have all the 'channels' measure the same width, but they didn't.  What is important is that when you trim your block 8.5" x 8.5" this way the 'star' feature and the curves will all be centered.  Your quilt will look consistent - even if on closer inspection some of the seams don't totally match.

The pix above shows how the 'star' seams (or 'channels') don't totally match up - but look how those curves create "almost perfect" arcs! Nothing screams 'mistake' as everything look pretty centered. I will never be able to create perfect curves but being able to trim a block to get that illusion means patterns like this are in my reach! If anyone has a different method or suggestions I would love to hear what you do.

I did 2 layouts - the left has similar background colors in columns. The right layout was random and the one I picked.  When I made this quilt I paired contrasting colors together, cut everything and sewed them together.  Layout was the last phase.

Next time I make this quilt pattern I will cut out everything and then do the layout before any sewing.  It may make color balancing a little easier. 

Safari Life by Stacy Iest Hsu had all the colors, images and contrast I needed for this pattern. A beautiful minky called Stone from Hawthorne Supply Co. is the backing.  Lastly, Aurifil 50wt. thread #6730 matched perfectly for the front and back.

Six blocks across and 7 rows down - one block for every 10" square in this Moda layer cake.  

Quilting was straight stitching on either side of the seams and through the middle of the 'star'.  

Materials:
Safari Life layer cake /  Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda
Stone minky / Hawthorne Supply Co.
Warm & White batting
Aurifil 50wt. #6730
Old Mill Path pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company 
Drunkard's Path Circle Template Set - Small from MSQC

Size: 47" x 54.5"
February 2020