Friday, March 11, 2016

success, mostly



I didn't see it until mid-January,
but I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

Go look at it  ~ I'll wait...

See what I mean?!
Isn't that striking?!?

But.

But,
it's paper pieced.
Foundation; not English
paper pieced.


And if you know me,
you know that I 
am not much 'into' foundation paper piecing.
At all.
Neither is my Juki
(which is, quite possibly, the biggest reason I am not a fan)

But gosh.

I tried to think about how I could make it without the blasted paper part,
and I sat down more than once with graph paper, pencil, glue, and scissors.


But nope, that wouldn't work for this block.

I googled every combination of words I could think of,
but the only pattern (free or otherwise) that I could find
for an inside out pineapple block
And - as previously noted -  it's paper pieced.


I reeeeally don't like paper piecing.
(I may have mentioned? ;-)

sigh.


Then,
Nettie posted her mountain majesties quilt.
And I thought "those mountains look an awful lot like a pineapple..."
so I followed her link to the tute.
The way they were created was quite clever,
but it wouldn't work for my needs.

Not long after that,
Hmm. The spikes look similar to what I needed 
for an inside out pineapple block.
I asked her about the method for making them, 
but she didn't get back with me,
so I just continued puzzling over it.


My mind kept going back to Nettie's black and white quilt
and those hedgehog spikes.
Surely,
I could figure this out....
I sat down
- yet again -
with my graph paper,
but after 20 minutes 
of more erasing than writing,
I said, "Screw it.
I'm just going to have to figure it out with fabric.

And you know what??

I did!

I figured out 
how to make a non-paper-pieced inside-out pineapple block!!


For my first one, 
the colored sections were a half inch too short
and when I made the final 'round' I had a triangle instead of a trapezoid.
(I didn't bother to finish that block)


My second block, I increased the length of the colored sections appropriately
but when I got the block finished,
I thought maybe my strips weren't quite wide enough,
so I made another block,
adjusting measurements as I went.
(so.much. math!)


I wanted a larger block,
so I could still use the same 4x5 configuration that Louise used,
but have a larger quilt.


Now, though, 
at 15.5",
I'm wondering if maybe it's a little too big...


And maybe I should go back to the 1 1/4 inch colored strips,
but decrease the center square.
(it's the proportion of the colored strips / strip section as a whole
 to the center square that I think feels a little 'off')


I think I'm going to leave these up on a my wall for a while
and get back to my commission project,
while I decide.

What would you do??
Shrink
 the center square
 or leave it as is?
Go with the thicker color strip sets
or use the thinner?


Whatever I settle on,
it won't be paper piecing,
and I'm pretty tickled about that.


Linking up with Amanda Jean.
It may not be a finished quilt
or even a finished top,
but
in my little world,
it's a big finish
all the same.

6 comments:

  1. Awesome! I'm so glad you figured it out. These blocks are seriously amazing. Stunning. Can't wait to see the finish.

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  2. Those are beautiful! Way to persevere and make it work without the paper piecing. It makes my head hurt a bit thinking about it ;)

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  3. Congratulations--such impressive work! I like the proportions of the green block better, but either would look great in a quilt with its mates. Letting yourself decide based on the size you prefer is a fine option.

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  4. Are you thinking about shrinking the center square without changing any other size or proportion? Just shrinking the black (by adding more white) could be an option. Or, what would happen if you leave the black square the same size, but insert a round of white to break it up and make it feel less dominant? Good luck with your continued experimentation! What a fantastic block to play with.

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  5. This totally cracks me up! It sounds like you spent more time trying to figure out how to get out of paper piecing, than if you had just sucked it up and done it anyway. Funny how different techniques appeal to different people... I absolutely love paper piecing, but would rather pull out all my hair one by one than to do an EPP project.

    Pineapple blocks are next on my list... just have to knock a few more WIP's out of the way first! I like the bigger block - the color shows better.

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  6. These are gorgeous! Isn't it funny how much math we quilters do? If someone had told me when I was a kid that I would spend my free time crunching numbers, I wouldn't have believed them!

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