Okay, Count me in!

[Kathryn S.]

Here are 6 blocks, pretty good so far! It's fun after finishing up the BOM because it's not very exacting sewing. The ruler takes care of any irregularities :shock: of which I have a few. Here's a pic:
Kathy

[Renata L.]

Kathy, the colors are so vibrant and the red in the center really draws the eye in. I love your blocks and I get the feeling you had fun doing them! Renata

[Rita C.]

Kathy, I LOVE your blocks. The red centres are sooo great. I think you have made them complete scrappy and that really is the best. For my Christmas wall hanging I matched the fabric on all four sides as I went around the centre square and then alternated dark and light colours. That was fun too. It was great to use up lots of small Christmasy fabric scraps, some of which I have had for years. I still have loads left. I also found myself thinking in terms of 1 1/2" borders so that any leftovers could be used on the next one. This could become very addictive. Happy Christmas. Rita. X

[Kathryn S.]

Oh yes, it's totally scrappy. I like random sometimes. The red center holds it together, if it were any other color it would need to be a very strong color. I liked the more ordered ones too, it's just that the scrap pile was begging to be used. It feels very virtuous, using up scraps that probably would never have made it into a quilt, doesn't it? Rita, was yours a trial run for a bigger quilt, to see if you liked doing it? It turned out beautiful and looks very Christmasy.
Kathy

[Rita C.]

The 3 block one was just a Christmas table runner. I wanted to see how it would be if I put some order into it. I am sure there are lots of alternative ways of doing pineapples so at the moment I am just experimenting. I think you are right about them needing a strong centre. It feels wonderfully virtuous to be using up all those left over 1 1/2" strips I had left after the 2011 BOM . It also feels great to throw the leftovers in the bin for recycling (not by me!). I just can't believe how little fabric I used to make the table runner though. Like you, I think it will take me a long time to work through all the scraps I have got. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable about just how much fabric I have. Probably more than I will use in my lifetime. And there is still more on the way as I had a blow out just before Christmas as Hancocks were doing a free shipping promo so I took full advantage of it!

As for making a full-size quilt well I am not sure. I find them really hard to quilt on my domestic machine and I would be a bit worried about these blocks stretching and being difficult to straighten. Maybe there's a trick for that in the book which I don't have yet. I guess it didn't make it onto Santa's list. Maybe my birthday? That's only 4 days away! Happy Quilting Christmas!

[Gyleen F.]

Kathy,

I'm fond of those red centers. Amazing that I always look to see if I have some of the fabrics use. Do you do that too?

[Lotti D.]

kathy these blocks are absolutely fab - can't wait to get my book and ruler - they've been at our office in miami for quite some time - but havn't made it to switzerland yet - maybe next week? maybe sometime in january?
am looking forward to playing with them :P

[Gyleen F.]

Lotti, Are you with Bernina? I like the Miami - Switzerland commutes. Sounds fun. Where did you have your book and tool shipped?

[Lotti D.]

hello gyleen - no, i work for a medical device company and live and work in switzerland. due to the expensive shipping and more expensive customs costs :x , i try to get my U.S. orders via friends in the states. i had ordered your ruler and book nov. 28th and they were shipped right away - to our office in doral, florida. unfortunately they got to the office the morning after my colleage who was supposed to carry them to switzerland for me flew back :cry: so they are now being sent to me with a repair shipment and as those are - good for us: not so numerous - but it means that i have to wait a little while... i'll survive, after all i still have a "get well quilt", a strippers exchange quilt and a SOTTTs exchange quilt to finish up... and once those are done, there are all shades of grey fabrics ready and died waiting to be cut into 2 1/2 inch squares to make a full-sized mosaik quilt of a portrait of my niece that i really should get started on... but i know i can count on my dear colleague monica in miami (doral) - she'll get them to me at the first opportunity :P
with this grey project i'll so much appreciate doing colorful scrappy pineapples in between :wink:

[Kathryn S.]

Kathy,

I'm fond of those red centers. Amazing that I always look to see if I have some of the fabrics use. Do you do that too?

Gyleen, Yes, I almost always look to see if I have one of the fabrics. And many times, I do! I even spotted one on a quilt on a TQS episode. And my finest fabric spotting moment was when I saw a quilt in person made by Ruth McDowell that had a fabric I own in it! Anyone who used the fabrics in my quilt to date it would be pretty confused . There are a lot of *old* ones in there. I'm loving how my pineapples are turning out.
Kathy

[Kathryn S.]

kathy these blocks are absolutely fab - can't wait to get my book and ruler - they've been at our office in miami for quite some time - but havn't made it to switzerland yet - maybe next week? maybe sometime in january?
am looking forward to playing with them :P

Oh Lotti, I hope your delivery makes it to you soon. That ruler is just waiting to hop into your hands!
In the meantime you will get to see what everyone else is turning out, that might influence which way yours goes!
Kathy

[Lotti D.]

oh yes kathy, it is so much fun to see the many possibilities, i'm thinking of separating the scraps into color families and heading into monochrome...

[Lotti D.]

happy happy happy dance
got to the office a few minutes ago - guess what was lying on the table outside my office....
a big brown parcel marked: Attn: Lotti
it must have been lying here since friday morning - and when i came in on friday i never made it into my own building...
oh well - guess what i'm reading tonight - or today at lunch?
:lol: :P :lol: :P :lol: :P :lol:

[Rita C.]

Hurray Lotti, I look forward to seeing your first (baby) block! :lol:

[Lotti D.]

hmmmm - just had a little read and a long look through the book...
now i'm wondering how well i could adapt this to my latest "quilt-on-the-go" project.
i always have a ziplock baggie with needled thread (one spool of thread with a whole packet of needles threaded on to it), a small pair of travelling scissors, my trusty thimble, a few fabric & batting squares and a bunch of assorted strips, in my purse.
whenever i have to wait somewhere, i just pull out a fabric/batting square and add a strip or 5 to it
it's amazing how far i can get with these - i managed to make the whole of the strippers quilt from march to september - then got the squares sewn together (these can also be done on the go) and am now waiting for the right border to finish (of course i'm seriously contemplating moving some of the squares first - but it hasn't moved to actually doing).
when i was in dresden i ran out of strips and had to find a fabric shop so that i could continue on the way home (7 hour bus trip!!!)
i bought all the black&white fabrics they had in the shop and started my next project - a black&white quilt with sparkles of red (there was a fabric that had red splashes in it).
should i switch to pineapples instead? will make a sample (maybe tonight?) and show you the options - and then get right back to rosemarie's get-well-quilt - i promise
lots of happy smiles to all :P