STITCH LINES...... Ramblings on life as a quilter, stitcher, traveler, photographer, gardener and lover of books, cats and fine chocolate....

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Finally Finished.

My little "Not Quite Civil Pineapple" is finished! It is 8.75" square, with 447 pieces. It's taken me a while to get back to it. The concensus on whether to border it or not was roughly 50/50 - thank you for your suggestions/comments! My problem was that I had no yardage of any of the fabrics, since it is totally made from 1" wide (or less) strips that were trimmings from squaring up larger quilt blocks. Besides being very narrow, none of the strips were much more than 6 or 7 inches long. My friend Sandi Mac gave me these trimmings, and all her yardage for these blocks is in her other studio... in Florida. A little too far to go for border fabric! I had nothing in my stash that worked either (hard to believe, I know, for those of you who know how extensive my fabric stash is...) So I decided to just go with the old traditional finish of a Pineapple quilt and simply bind it. I have added a narrow corded piping in a light tan, before the olive green solid binding (thanks Lee for the suggestion of using a solid.) Solids are another thing I don't have many of in my stash, but this was
in a bundle from a George Siciliano workshop a few years back, and I thought it was perfect.
I bound it twice!  More than twice actually. The first time, after binding was all sewn on and I started to hand stitch it to the back, I realized I just had not made the binding quite wide enough. The addition of the corded piping adds another two layers of fabric in that seam allowance, giving you a total of nine layers- my binding just wasn't wide enough to wrap to the back over all that thickness and completely cover my line of stitching without looking like it was pulled too tight. So I ripped it all off and cut a wider binding. Stitched it all on again and had the hand-stitching 90% finished. At the last corner I realized there was an issue with the mitred corner of the binding - so I once again "unstitched" one entire side (and two corners) and re-did the corners and the joining seam. So it DOES feel good to be done! I'm pleased with it. It's not my usual colour palette, but it's a good exercise to step outside one's usual "comfort zone" occasionally. It's done. And "done is good."

Piece!
Linda

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." ~ Tom Landry

16 comments:

Gwen Buchanan said...

I Love it! a superb piece! and the tan cording sets the whole thing off.. Great finish!

Vee said...

It looks wonderful. I had to read the size again. You must enjoy working with such small bits of fabric. You persevered and now have a treasure!

Catskill Quilter said...

What a gorgeous little quilt! It is stunning!

Anonymous said...

Incredible workmanship Linda. Your level of patience is amazing. Scrap quilts have always been a favorite of mine. You are one meticulous quilter.

Jeanna said...

Haha... Wise Tom Landry. Florida may be far away but not too far for some travelers we know, love and adore!

Lorraine said...

Now this takes patience! Lovely results Linda.

Sue said...

Lovely and so tiny. Hope to see you this week at the KVQG Show, Thursday, Friday. Sat.....

Karen said...

It's PERFECT. (Bet you can't take your eyes off it!)

Anonymous said...

The colours are amazing. Beautiful work as usual, I am always amazed at your creativity.

Laura said...

WOW!! Glad you went with the green border, too -- looks good! xo

Pamela Gordon said...

Wow, that is so beautiful and so much intricate work. Great job Linda! It's done! Like toast. :)

Raewyn said...

Oh my goodness - it is gorgeous! I love that piping before the border, it finishes it off classily but without too much extra busyness.... beautiful work!!

Lee said...

Didn't get a chance at guild to tell you how lovely it turned out! The piping and binding turned into a sweet, non-competing frame to all those exquisite little pieces that make up the pineapple pattern. Your miniature collection is certainly growing!

Sheryl said...

Amazing piece of work. A real beauty.

Anne Mattie said...

I love the Pineapple mini Linda. It's a favorite block of mine. Great job!
So sorry to have missed the KV show this year. We are in Missouri for a couple of weeks. Visited a most spectacular quilt shop called Hickory Stick in Hannibal MO today. Totally awesome. I love how each different quilt shop has an identity all its own. This one was a charmer!
All the best to you!

Karee said...

Love your pineapplicious mini! So delightful and inspiring.

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