Pineapple Day with FQS

Welcome! I'm Tanya Quilts in CO. I have been quilting for 24 years and I have had a pineapple quilt on my quilting bucket list for a very long time. When the Fat Quarter Shop was looking for quilters to use their new Pineapple Quilt Block Foundation Paper Pads, I jumped at the chance.

I have attempted paper piecing in the past and become frustrated with the method and the fabric waste. I have to be frugal with my fabric, so wasting it makes me crazy. Kimberly demonstrated the six inch blocks on her FB weekly livestream awhile back and there is also another FQS tutorial available on Youtube which I found extremely helpful. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFFNhdv-sg&feature=youtu.be

I received the six inch pad first and started making blocks. It was slow going at first, but I did not make any mistakes which was encouraging. Lately, I have been making more quilts with solids and loving the results, so I used a variety of Bella Solids along with Kona White.  I used these two Bella Solids bundles available from FQS:

https://www.fatquartershop.com/peas-and-carrots-bella-solids-fat-quarter-bundle

https://www.fatquartershop.com/minecraft-sew-along-fat-quarter-bundle

and some random solids from my stash.

Using Kimberly'y method there was not as much waste as my previous paper piecing projects.

I will be honest, the blocks were slow going for me. I received the 12 inch Pineapple Quilt Block Foundation Paper Pad on June 3rd. I had decided there was no way I was going to use the FQS setting available here: https://blog.fatquartershop.com/pineapple-day-free-quilt-pattern-sew-along/

I made more six inch blocks thinking about a possible baby quilt. In the end, I made 49 six inch blocks! When I sewed them all together, my hubby thought it looked amazing. He thinks I should just display the quilt in our house--I agree. It was way too much work to give to someone for their baby to throw up on it!

I took it to some quilting friends to get their opinions for quilting and binding. It is only 42 inches square, but the consensus was that I should have one of our local longarm quilters custom quilt it. I think I will splurge on that and get on a waiting list to have it done (many are booked for a year or two out). It will probably take me that long to remove all the papers! I am leaning toward navy blue for the binding, since I used some in the quilt.

I am so glad I joined FQS for this sew along and got out of my comfort zone and did something from my quilting bucket list. I may even make some 12 inch blocks eventually, but it will be awhile! Thank you Kimberly and the Fat Quarter Shop for your great tutorials and foundation papers!

Spelling Bee Quilt Finish

This beauty has been a long time in the making, but it was so worth it in the end! My Spelling Bee Quilt is finished and gorgeous. I loved making these blocks over several months and playing with lots of bright and happy fabrics. This is from Lori Holt's Spelling Bee book.

I personalized the blocks with my fuchsia sewing machine to honor my Pfaff machines and the red VW after my first car.

I made the puppy look like my dog, Bella, and the house is yellow with red as our house is.

The quilting was done by my friend, Glenn, and I had him quilt it densely with a country flower design. I have not washed this one yet.

I personalized the back with a couple of blocks as the label. The schoolhouse block is a freebie from Lori Holt and the school bus is also her design, but I bought it from FQS.

I am planning to hang this one in my cave classroom--there are no windows, so I think the bright, cheerful fabrics will be perfect in there.

Since it is summer, I finally got all of my Summerville blocks together. Now, I need to figure out the backing and get my friend, Rachel to quilt it.

These happy sunflowers were from my mom and dad for my birthday at the beginning of the month. Hopefully, my sunflower patch will produce some as beautiful as this later in the summer.

Our weather has been mild--only the mid-80s, but we have had several days of thunder storms. This rainbow was gorgeous from our front porch.

I have been working on lots of Pineapple blocks for the FQS Pineapple Day that I will show you next week. I am joining the Moda Bake Shop for their summer quilt along, At the Seashore. They released this first block the other day, Twin Pops. I am using my stash of Bonnie and Camille fabrics for that one. You can find info here: https://www.modabakeshop.com