Whet Your Appetite with Pineapple Quilt Blocks

The GO! Pineapple Block on Board^® (BOB^®) die makes piecing a pineapple quilt block a breeze with perfectly cut matching pieces. This tutorial shows how to make this six block wall hanging (or table runner if you like) in a simple two color block scheme. Making this wall hanging is a great first step to get your feet wet with this die by making a few blocks. This will only whet your appetite for making a lot more pineapple blocks and quilts in an infinite number of color schemes. All you have to do is search for images of pineapple quilt blocks on the internet to see the wonderful quilts you can make.

For this wall hanging (which can also be used as a table runner) I used batik scraps and fat quarters that I have collected over the years. The Pineapple Block on Board die makes a block that is 10" finished. This wall hanging has six blocks and a 2" finished border. The finished wall hanging is 35" wide and 25" high finished.

Supplies Needed:

Dies and Cutter:

GO! Pineapple BOB Die # 55485

GO! 2½” Strip Die # 55014 or 55017

AccuQuilt GO! Baby, AccuQuilt GO!, or AccuQuilt GO! Big Die Cutter

Fabric:

Dark Fabric 1¼ yards for blocks, border and binding

Light Fabric ⅞ yards for blocks

Backing 43" x 33"

Batting 43" x 33"

Cutting Instructions:

Note: each precut light and dark width of fabric (WOF) combined makes 2½ quilt blocks, thus 2 WOF cuts will make five quilt blocks, and a full WOF cut is not needed for the sixth block in this wall hanging.

The remaining 25" fabric from a WOF cut can be used to cut the corner triangles and the light center squares.

Precut as follows:

Dark Fabric: Cut 3—7½" x WOF

Light Fabric: Cut 3—9" x WOF

Dark Corner Triangles: Use remaining fabric from the third WOF Dark Fabric cut above.

Light Center Square: Use remaining fabric from the third WOF Light Fabric cut above.

Cut 6 strips 2½" x WOF for border and binding.

Fabric Placement on Die:

Place fabric on die as shown in the diagram below. Note that the light and dark shapes in the block are separate on the die so that the fabric placement for the shapes is easily determined.

Cutting per block

Shape A: Cut 1

Shapes B, D, E, F: Cut 4 each of Light or Dark Fabric

Shapes C, E, F, G: Cut 4 each of Light or Dark Opposite Fabric

This is the way your pieces will look after they have been cut. I like to arrange them on a large ruler or felt board in the order they will be sewed. I labeled the cut pieces in the photo but the sizes are very obvious and it’s easy to see which one comes next if they are arranged in order of size. The other wonderful thing is that the shapes fit so perfectly that it is hard to stitch the wrong ones.

This diagram of the block shows where each cut shape will be placed. Note that the “E” and “F” shapes are each repeated for both the light and dark fabrics. They are also repeated on the die so that the correct number of shapes are cut in one pass through the cutter.

Block Assembly (make six blocks):

All seams may be pressed toward the outside of the block except the “FG” seams and the “GH” seams which should be pressed open. All seams may be pressed open if desired.

Round 1: Stitch one dark “B” shape to all four sides of the light “A” shape.

Round 2: Stitch one light “C” shape to all four sides of the AB unit.

Round 3: Stitch one dark “D” shape to all four sides of the ABC unit.

Round 4: Stitch one light “E” shape to all four sides of the ABCD unit.

Round 5: Stitch one dark “E” shape to all four sides of the ABCDE unit.

Round 6: Stitch one light “F” shape to all four sides of the ABCDEE unit.

Round 7: Stitch one dark “F” shape to all four sides of the ABCDEEF unit.

Round 8: Stitch one light “G” shape to all four sides of the ABCDEEFF unit.

Round 9: Stitch one dark “H” corner shape to the ABCDEEFFG unit to create the corners of the block.

Wall Hanging Assembly:

Stitch three blocks together to make the top row and three blocks together to make the bottom row.

Stitch the two rows together.

Add Borders:

Measure through the vertical center and left and right sides of the wall hanging and average the three numbers. Use that measurement to cut the vertical borders to size. Stitch the borders to the wall hanging.

Measure through the horizontal center and top and bottom sides of the wall hanging and average the three measurements. Use that number to cut the horizontal borders to size. Stitch the borders to the wall hanging.

Quilt as desired.

Bind and Enjoy!

by Marjorie Busby

http://bluefeatherquiltstudio.com