Let’s welcome the pineapple

For the last 8 months, I have been part of the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge from Patterns By Jen.

Here are the blocks that we have made so far…..

They are so much fun and will be exciting to put together at the end of the challenge!!

This month the inspiration comes from the glorious pineapple…..

One thing that I have enjoyed in this challenge is being able to really look at the inspirational fruit or vegetable. In this case, I studied the radial symmetry of the crown…..

….and the amazing structure and colors of the outside rind….

And then you cut it open…..

…and the whole room is filled with the sweet smell of goodness!! I know that you can smell it right now!!!

Just look at all of these luscious colors…..

When I started picking fabrics, I really wanted to include green but all of the other blocks are more monochromatic in nature so I decided to stick with the pale yellows….

The block was easy to piece, although some of the strips finished at 1/2-inch wide, so accurate piecing was mandatory!!! I ironed the two 1-inch strips together before I sewed them and that made a huge difference in the piecing as they stayed lined up while under the needle.

I got so excited about making this block that I forgot to take progress photos……OOPS!!!

The finished block is simple….

….yet echos the pineapple nicely!!!

When I think of pineapple, I think of two things….

The Big Pineapple in Queensland Australia…..

We visited there in 1982 when my parents joined us for a trip up and down the eastern Australian coast!!

Secondly, I remember one of my favorite desserts and one that is attributed to my Mom!!

PINEAPPLE SHEET CAKE

2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1 large can of crushed pineapple (including juice), 2 cups flour, and 2 teaspoons soda

Mix all together and pour into greased and floured sheet pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

For icing…..

8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup butter (softened), 1 cup powdered sugar, and 1 cup pecans.

Combine all of the icing ingredients and ice cake while it is hot.

The cake is yummy and gooey and wonderful!!

We sure want to thank the sponsors for this quarter…..

If you want to see how other quilters interpreted this fun design, be sure to check out this month’s featured bloggers…

Jen Shafer

Kathy Bruckman

Lisa R uble

Raylee Bielenberg

Andi Stanfield

Crystal Drummond

Ashli Montgomery

AND…one more reminder about MOVE IT!! This is a FREE 10-week course to encourage you to try new free-motion quilting designs.

Ninety-seven people have gone thru the course and many have said that it has helped them to feel more comfortable with FMQ. If you are interested and would like to join, just click HERE TO SIGN UP!

Enough reading….go eat some pineapple!!!

Color challenge….I’m caught up!!

Last weekend I posted the July block in the 2021 Color Challenge from Patterns By Jen, so today I am going to get COMPLETELY caught up….at least for a few days.

The August block is based on the lovely…..

MUSHROOM!!!

It was easy to pick the two fabrics…..

…and the cutting out was the least complicated that we have had so far…..

First I had to make Flying Geese blocks using the no-waste method. I first tried this technique in the June block and posted full instructions HERE.

I found them to be fast and accurate and within a few minutes, I had the 4 Geese blocks ready to go…..

Seven more seams and the block was finished…..

Now came the fun part of trying to find a fanciful way to photograph it….

It is good to be caught up and I am already looking forward to next month!!!

Now let’s talk about cooking and eating mushrooms. In all honesty, I am not a huge mushroom fan. I enjoy them sauteed in butter, but can take them or leave them. However, we have spent a lot of time in Kunming China and Kunming is considered to be one of the mushroom capitals of the world!!

On our 2016 trip, one of Michael’s colleagues took us out to a restaurant that specialized in mushrooms and these were a few that we ate…..

The meal started out with a Mushroom hotpot…..

…which was actually very tasty!!! By the end of the evening, I had decided that mushrooms were pretty good after all!!!

I have taken a couple of photos of mushrooms in various markets and would love to turn this one into a thread painting someday…..

So….that’s it for mushrooms. Next up, the welcoming Pineapple!!!

Put the lime in the coconut…not really

I am continuing on with the 2021 Color Challenge from Patterns By Jen, and as usual, I am running just a bit behind!!

The block for July was based on a tasty lime…..

As with many of these blocks, it was designed to be made with only two colors of fabric. The choices were easy…..

The first task was to cut out ALL of the patches for the block…..

…including those 3/4-inch, TINY, squares at the bottom!!

Fortunately, these squares were used to make corner pieces so the sewing was easy to do…..

The resulting patches were fun to make…..’

After dealing with the littlest of pieces, the rest of the block was fast and easy to make…..

Now came the fun of designing a “flat-lay” for the photography and this layout was the winner…..

It is going to be so much fun to see this quilt finished. With all of the good food involved, it might need to hang in the kitchen!!!

Each month we are supposed to share a recipe with the featured fruit or vegetable and all I can think of is a Caipirinha cocktail.

The caipirinha (kai-purr-REEN-yah) is the national drink of Brazil and is made by muddling limes and sugar and adding 2 ounces of Cachaca (a distilled spirit made from fermented sugar cane).

They are oh, so yummy….just like this sweet block.

Denim and Lace

Our guild issued a new challenge that was due at last night’s meeting. The quilt was to use a mixture of denim and lace. It didn’t have to use actual denim but the fabric needed to look similar to denim.

I didn’t have any flat lace and, when I looked at the fabric store, I didn’t find any that I was particularly excited about. Instead I pulled out my lace trims and was immediately drawn to these two…..

As I have said before, I LOVE daisy-type flowers and these seemed to be perfect for a floral arrangement, but how was I going to do the vase. As I thought more, I wondered if I could make it out of the flat lace, but how would I attach it?

I was trying to keep the quilt fast and easy and wondered if I could used wonder-under on it. I made a small test piece…..

…and found that I worked great, as long as I covered it with a silicone cloth. AND, once I had ironed it really well, the fusible in the open mesh dissolved as well!!

After cutting the vase out, I added fused on stems and started placing the flowers in the vase…..

Once again I wondered how to easily attach the flowers and turned back to Wonder-Under….

….putting a small piece on the fabric and then adding the flower on top.

When I had everything arranged, I pressed it well…..

…and had a look.

Hmmm. it definitely needs some color. How about yellow centers for the flowers…..

To finish the quilt, I added two small borders on one side, quilted/thread painted it a bit, and called it finished…..

Our next challenge has been announced….an 18×18 inch animal portrait that contains a metallic embellishment of some sort…..sounds interesting!!!

Teeny, Tiny Piecing

The task for Saturday was to complete two blocks that need to be sent to Jacqui as part of our “Smash That Stash” block swap sponsored by Make Modern Magazine.

Jacqui selected the block named “Pivot”, a very intricate block featuring SIXTY pieces!!!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I used my new Accuquilt machine to cut most of the pieces and was thankful that it was fast and SO accurate. I think that the accuracy is what made these blocks fairly easy to piece!!

I started out by making half-square triangles, using the pressing technique that I learned from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. Check it out HERE.

Don’t they look cute….like little butterflies ready for takeoff….

After they were pressed, I used the Bloc-Loc ruler to trim them down to a PERFECT 1.5 inches ( click HERE for notes about using the Bloc-Loc)

With the first block, I was nervous about the seam allowances so didn’t lay out the entire thing before I started piecing. I started piecing in the center and was so excited to find out that the middle section did measure 10.5 inches…..

And I was ecstatic when the top and bottom sections also matched…..

One block down…..

…and one to go!!

For the second block, I got smart and laid the entire thing out before I started piecing….

This made it SO much easier and faster and this second block went together smoothly…..

It is a good feeling to have these two blocks finished and also to know that working to perfect my 1/4-inch seam allowance is actually showing some benefit!!!

The next two months are my turn to receive blocks and I am looking forward to see what these girls do!!