The Pineapple Block

I began this, my fifth block from the Beyond the Cherry Trees Album Quilt at Christmas, but what with all those "fingers" I put it away for another day.

Well, that day came a couple of weeks ago, when I was home with a very heavy cold. I had no stitching prepped except for this block, so I decided to tackle it and you know? I enjoyed the challenge so much, that I had finished stitching it within a couple of days. I decided that I wasn't going to be beaten by tiny selvedges between each of the "fingers", that I was in control and not the fabric. The block has been hanging on what purports to be my design wall now for about a week, but I haven't been home to take a picture of it in daylight - on the whole I am very pleased with the block, although I could do better with the ironing!

I have three more blocks prepped and ready to go as I have four very long journeys coming up this week, more about which I will say next weekend.

Have a good week!

Coming up for air...

It has been some weeks since I last posted, but until last weekend I had been unable to put needle into fabric due to my workload. But... all the marking is now done - well, until April 7th anyway and now I am catching up with the housework, gardening, stitching and just life in general!

Even Hamish was wondering whether he would ever get fed? Hey, remember me...?

And at times pointedly reminded me that he did still exist by jumping onto my work table and then sat and stared at me until he got his way. He knows he is not allowed on the tables etc, so he also knew that this was one of the quickest ways of attracting my attention, which he certainly knows how to do!

Beyond the Cherry Trees Album Quilt

I finished another block earlier this morning. This one I struggled with, not necessarily with the techniques required (although I do need to practise my reverse applique!), but with the colour combinations, especially the flower spray, which went through several re-incarnations, and the two side flowers which I have done in the purple fabrics which I will also be using in the centre block on the grape vine. This block is central and just above the centre block so hopefully the purple will blend in.

I completed the centre flower first by stitching all the layers together in the hand i.e. off the background, and so this, along with the material for the vase, formed the foundation for the entire block. I became a little worried that the centre flower would come to dominate the block, but I think with the red flowers on the vase material, plus the strong colours above and on each side, I think it all blends in well together.

Since looking at this photograph, I note that some of my curves are not as smooth as I would like, which I suspect was not helped by the fact that I had initially stitched it to the wrong side of my background fabric, so I will revisit it and tidy them up at a later date, but for now it is as good as done! I have three more blocks prepared and ready to stitch, so hopefully it will not be too long before my next blog.

Have a good week!