Piecing Pineapples at the Movies

During my recovery from surgery I watched the entire season 9 of The Quilt Show one weekend.    Gyleen Fitzgerald was featured on one episode showcasing her ruler for making Pineapple blocks.  Viola…the dreaded Pineapple block is not so dreaded anymore.  Years ago I made a blue/white quilt for my sister in this block.  It was king size…I swore…never again.  I am retracting that statement.
I quickly ordered it here. (plus her book)
When I was given the green light by the doc I would venture downstairs and began to cull down my scrap bins to 1.5” strips…and also a few strips were taken off yardage when I felt more of a color was needed.  Seems I don’t have too many green scraps.
Two weeks ago I began to sew and deemed Sunday’s as Pineapple nights.  I love my Sunday nights…Paul shifts to his night hours and now I can spend the entire time in the studio pretty much uninterrupted. 
I pieced nine blocks that first Sunday and went to bed dreaming of settings for these blocks.  And just as I was about to fall off to sleep it hit me.  I quickly jotted down my idea and went back to bed.

Yesterday (Sunday) I started sewing and unfortunately my head cold kept me to just 4 blocks. 
But I did begin making the “sew line” sashing that I envisioned.




Some feedback on facebook is that is reminds people of filmstrip…and yes I can see that…thus the name of this blog entry….and considering that as the name of the quilt too….hmmm…what do you think?
Note on the sashing I originally put 1.5” strips of black fabric on side of the pieced center…I knew it was too much black but wanted to see it up against a few block before I decided.  I did eventually trim it down .5” on each side. 

The four blocks I did make yesterday were “lights” or opposite positioning of my previous blocks.  These will be used as just “2 packs” as I am calling them…or a relief of the darker “4 pack” traditional coloring pineapple blocks.  This will create some depth and give the overall quilt a look of plaid.  Shown above is 3 units across.  The full quilt will have 5.
Look for Pineapple Updates on Mondays.
oh yeah…and I have also started working on this….

Fruit Water Anyone?

I am slowly working blogging back into my lifestyle.  It will find it’s way.  I am busy at work in the studio..but a few projects must remain “in the dark” for now so I am worried about content.  After all two of my subjects are now living 600 miles away.  But I will find things to share…I promise.

And so another week has slipped on by.  But I do have this to let you know about.

 

The cooking gadgets section of Bed Bath and Beyond has become one of my new playgrounds. So many toys for the kitchen…who knew…I do now!

 

A find that recently came home with us is a Fruit Infusion Pitcher. Easy concept…sliced fruit in loaded in to a center column that is full of vents opening into the pitcher.  Yes this can be done without the fancy pitcher…but I am all about the product in this Kitchen Gadget Discovery phase.  

Since we rarely have soda in the house anymore (for about three years now) tea and flavored tea have become staples. 

I think one of these pitchers will find it’s way to Arkansas for two people to enjoy.

After a few hours in the frig we were treated to raspberry orange water…it was good.

 

I also found this cute little teapot which is just perfect for us.  We have been drinking a lot of tea lately and discovered this wonderful online loose tea shop, SensibiliTeas.    We highly recommend the Caribbean Cooler…and the Blackberry Roobios.

And yes I have been still hexing.   And while doing so I have discovered that Netflix has all 122 episodes of The Rockford Files on instant watch.  And so James Garner has been keeping me company.  The Hexie Quilt top will be done by February 7th…that is the goal.

But today is Pineapple Block day…yes another project.  There will be a full blog tomorrow in which I will show my progress (started last Sunday) and the unique setting I have come up with.

What can I say….we survived.

Ok…it’s January…and already halfway in.  It was the best Christmas Break EVER!

Paul and Emily have come and gone…along with Hayley (Em’s dorm roommate) and Anna (Paul’s girlfriend) and in between we squeezed in oral surgery for Pauli (wisdom teeth are now history) and lots of late nights filled with love and laughter.

I promised a blog yesterday to my facebook friends and then panicked with what the heck am I gonna write about.

I don’t want to write another Hexie blog…at least not right away.   I have updated the website with new workshops for the year…but don’t want this to become a “commercial blog”.

And then while chopping veggies for the stew I was putting together I was gifted with the perfect “Mickey Blog” material.  Let’s back up a bit.

Something dramatic happened to me during surgery…something was most definitely slipped into my IV because…and now brace yourself….I have been cooking up at storm since two weeks after.  And by cooking I do not mean popping a Lean Cuisine into the microwave and hitting go.  I am real honest-to-goodness-I-now-have-recipe-files-on-my-hard-drive type cooking.  At first Paul thought it was residual from the pain meds.  But six weeks in I am still captivated with turning raw food into something edible. 

So back to the veggies.  Our local Mom & Pop grocer puts together veggie packs for making soups/stews and these are wonderful for our now household of just two.  Afterall we do not need but 2-3 stalks of celery, and just one big carrot vs. a bag, etc.   And yes these are veggies that need to be used pretty darn quick and the mix is always what is available so it’s a bit of a surprise as to what veggies may be lurking under the cilantro and parsley.  Pretty much it is root veggies…but you never know.

In yesterday’s pack was a strange veggie I have never seen before.  And since Paul was napping I decided to leave it to the side and not use it in the “Great Stew Experiment”.   Of course the longer I chopped and diced and it just sat there…well my mind began to wander and I dashed downstairs for a few key pins….and viola!  He is now smiling back at me.

Except I still do not know what exactly he is…..does anyone?

p.s. The stew turned out great…I have yet to poison Paul.