Tackling Pineapples

Several years ago I was in a quilt store in Wheeler, Oregon, on the coast south of Tillamook. They had a huge quilt hanging high on the wall that was made with KFC scrappy pineapple blocks. It was so amazing and it prompted me to purchase the pineapple ruler they had on display with it. I brought it home and quickly made ONE pineapple block. Then the ruler went in my ruler rack and the block hung on the closet door in my sewing room until I recently sewed it into this bag.

And then today one of my blog readers, Carol Scharp Allinson, posted these photos of a bag she made from my tutorial. Look at that big old pineapple block!

And here’s the back of the bag.

I love the deep and rich colors she used on the front of this bag. And I love that strip of spotted flying gees going up the side. I’m going to use that in the future! And the back is such a fun and eclectic mix of fabrics. It feels very lighthearted and fun. I am so impressed with the bags that my blog readers are making!

But what this bag has really done is inspire me to make more pineapple blocks! So tonight I dug out some batik scraps and started in.

I pulled up an online tutorial that shows how to use the pineapple ruler I bought in Wheeler. I promised myself I would read and follow it carefully because I get cocky and skip ahead and end up with gaps in my blocks. Not every row is trimmed the same way with this ruler!

I decided to make two blocks at one time so that I would cement the process with the ruler into my mind.

Ok. I got the first round done with no mistakes. But I know the errors usually show up in round 3.

I don’t know why this ruler seems so complicated to me. I guess one good thing is that it ensures that your block is nice and square on each row.

Woohoo!!! I got past row three with no mistakes!

Smooth sailing from here on out! Here’s my two blocks prior to the final trim.

I had to take a photo when one block was half way trimmed because it looks like a fish!

Here are both blocks with their final trim.

I feel like maybe I’ve gotten over my avoidance of pineapple blocks. And that’s good because I want to make some more out of KFC scraps and Aboriginal fabric scraps. I’m thinking the Aboriginal one will be really cool… I can just see it in my head.

That quilt store in Wheeler closed down a couple of years ago. It was such a cute little store and had beautiful batiks and a pretty good selection of KFC fabrics. It makes me so sad to see these local stores close. And we’ve seen a lot of them shut down in the last few years… most because the owners are ready to retire and are unable to find buyers.

I took Rico down to my friends place for a canine massage this morning. He tweaked his back a couple weeks ago and the massages seem to be helping him. When he was done I took him and Bender for a hike on BLM land. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and it felt really good to be outside and among the trees, hearing the birds sing.

When we got home a friend of mine came over to pick up that green Frankenbag I finished last night. She absolutely loved it! It was a little difficult for me to part with it, but I know it will be loved and appreciated.

We sat in the back yard and chatted for a couple of hours and enjoyed some cold beer. It was really nice to get to have a casual non-work conversation with someone on a gorgeous day.

Even Bender got in on the action.