The Well-Traveled Pineapple

In 1989, Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan came out with the book Pineapple Passion. It was a huge success.

In the early 1990's I was going through a "use every fabric in the stack" phase and simply "had" to make this quilt. I remember that it took me 3 weeks just to cut out the pieces.

Finally, ahem, FINALLY, this summer I was able to put the borders on! We can only hope that I can get it quilted before I have to move again, as I still love it just as much as when I first started it.

If you have scraps . . . . old scraps, new scraps, red scraps, blue scraps, then this is the quilt for you.

Sad Times, Glad Times

Today would have been my mother's 77th birthday.

This photo was taken at the Philadelphia Zoo and one of her sisters is sitting on the right. I can only imagine the laughter they shared that day.

My mother loved to laugh. She had a marvelous, witty sense of humor. But what I remember most was her love of family and the joy she got from cooking for and feeding those around her.

I remember holiday dinners when the house was filled with the smells of fresh baked pie, roasting turkey, steaming hot mashed potatoes, and her special coleslaw. Then company would arrive and there would be more laughter and merriment around the table.

I have her soup pot and you know to this day, I cannot make soup for less than 30 people. So of course I share it with those I love just like she did.

Unfortunately, during her last days, I did not get to visit my mother until she was intubated in the hospital and unable to respond. However, I was there at her passing. She fought a hard battle with asthmatic illness most all of her life, but her inner beauty, strength of character, and integrity will continue to be my goalposts. She set the bar high. I will always remember her smile and her courage. And how to make soup for 30 people.

If you can, call or hug your mothers today. No matter how far away they are.

The String's The Thing

Frugality can certainly be fun. These string blocks go together very quickly. You can make the top as large or as small as you like. This is also the type of quilt that would make your grandmother very proud, especially if she grew up during the depression. (Maybe you should make one for her.)

The smallest string is 3/4 of an inch wide or thereabouts (before sewing). The narrow strings work best for this quilt as they create more contrast and texture.

The foundation paper is from Golden Threads at www.goldenthreads.com/ or, as Bonnie suggests, you can use old phone book pages.

Squares begin at 6". Then after sewing on your strings, starch heavily until stiff. Starching makes the paper backing come off more easily and deters fraying. It also keeps those bias edges stable with less tendency to stretch. After it dries, trim the block down to 5-1/2" and you're all set to play on your design wall. You may borrow my design idea or come up with your own. Whichever you choose, I hope you'll share a picture.

ASIDE: If you enjoy the process and have some bigger strings to use up, why not check out Mary's blog at http://maryquilts.blogspot.com/ . Click on the Heart Strings Quilt Project and learn how you can donate extra blocks for a very good cause.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . . . . .

Get a grip

Sometimes, it's not easy holding on to a quilt while you are machine quilting. The loss of hand strength can be very gradual, but nevertheless, it happens.

Recently I've discovered 2 items that assist with the grip dilemma. The Nitrile gloves put out by Mr. Clean are very thin, but flexible. When they fit your hand snugly, you get much better control and I tend to use these when working on smaller quilts. The Stanley brand gloves I found in the hardware section of a local store. These fit fairly tightly but are still a bit more bulky than I'd like. Still, when working on larger quilts they do a good job of handling the big rolls.

The brand I prefer, but have not been able to find locally, are those used by car mechanics. They are made of the same blue Nitrile as the first, but are a bit thicker. The plus side of the Nitrile is that they are fairly inexpensive and you can clip off the fingertips on those fingers that need to be available for threading needles, etc.

If you are having any trouble at all manipulating the rolled layers in and around your sewing machine, give one of these a try. Who knows, you may have all of your tops finished by the end of the year.

Awwww shucks. . . . .

It's taken me a few days to post it (new nickname Pokey), but thank you Carolyn for the award. That was most thoughtful of you. And I sure hope you are feeling better soon. For those of you who have not had a chance, pop on over to Carolyn's blog at "Lakeside Quilting" and wish her well as she recently just had surgery.

Now whom do I pass it along to? Well, that will take some serious consideration as I'm only permitted 5 and how can one possibly narrow the list down that far. Goodness gracious. Can you smell the smoke, I'm thinking that hard. Obviously a commercial break is in order and I'll have to get back to you all on this one. You might want to pick up a good book while you wait. Say . . . . War and Peace.