Friday, November 15, 2013

Sew Simple Pineapples

Yesterday morning I watched an episode of The Quilt Show which included a segment where Karin Hellaby showed how to make a pineapple block using her Sew Simple method (Episode 1212 if you have access to it). I was amazed and fascinated by it, so I had to try it out straight away. No measurements were given in the segment, so randomly chose 7cm as the starting square for my trial block. I just grabbed fabrics as they came to hand, and because they were purple the block is not easy to photograph:
Bottom left, my trial block. The squares required appear to grow in size in something like a fibonacci sequence. Rest of the picture, squares I then cut to make more blocks. It had suddenly hit me that I needed some little gifts for members of one of my quilting groups by Sunday, and I didn't have much time available for sewing before then.

Next photo is about two-thirds of the way through the process:
I've put a link below to a YouTube video that explains these a little if you are interested. But I'm not using 1/4" seam allowances, mine are all metric. The blocks don't take long to make, although drawing the lines and cutting them open are a bit time-consuming.

Here's most of the finished blocks I made:
They've got one less round than the purple sample block. And here's what they became:
Little stuffed Christmas tree decorations. They're not sewn closed yet, but I think I will be able to do that before Sunday afternoon!

The YouTube video if you want an explanation of the process:

It is always fascinating to me when someone comes up with a completely different way of doing something! I'm going to have to try a bigger block (or blocks) in the future. My mind has been throwing up ideas of other ways to use this technique, so there's lots to explore.

1 comment:

Chiara Z said...

Isn't it fun when you come across something new and your mind goes into creative development mode!