Hello!  It's week 1 of the

Scrappy Pineapple Quilt Quilt-Along and I am so excited

to finally get this party started!

There are over 300 of you who have joined the QAL.

I can't wait to cheer each other on and see all of your

beautiful Pineapple quilts come together over the next 36 weeks!

Thank you for joining me on this venture and thank you for your 

purchase of my Pineapple Block Paper Piecing Papers!

You can find those HERE if you're just joining us.

Click HERE for the rest of the details on the 

Pineapple Quilt Quilt-Along.

As promised, I have a video tutorial on

how to make this block.  You can check it out on YouTube HERE.

I also have printable instructions for you HERE.

I've also gotten a few questions on how to decide colors and 

color placement.  There are so many possibilities. My advice to those of you

struggling to decide is to (A) look on Pinterest or through Instagram hashtags

for inspiration and pick something that speaks to you.  (B) Consider picking 

something you REALLY love or a color palette that is timeless since this is a

very time consuming project.  You want to love it forever!  

 Finally, please post your weekly progress on Instagram to help inspire

and remind others.  Tag me @gigis_thimble and use the hashtags

#gigisthimblepattern and #perfectpineappleqal so we can see all

these beautiful pineapple quilts in one place!

(@jenfinwill on Instagram suggested that last hashtag

so she gets to choose a free pattern from my shop!  Thanks for the

great suggestion for our QAL hashtag, Jen!)

I think that's everything. Hopefully you will find the video +

printable instructions helpful but please let me know if you have

any questions.

Happy stitching friends!

Snowball and 9-Patch Quilt

If you're looking for a quick, scrappy way to use up 

some of your fabric stash this is a great quilt pattern for you!

Snowballs (in this case a black square with cream corner triangles) 

and 9-Patches are a classic pairing that look great in any colorway!

This project started because I had some of the black text fabric leftover

 from the back of my Giant Star quilt using the line Urban Cottage by

Urban Chiks.  You can see that post HERE (it's worth checking out, it's 

another super-fast, beginner-friendly project!)

I thought that fabric was cute (and it always feels good to use up random remnants

in my stash) so one day, as I was heading off to a sewing retreat, I grabbed it + some 

cream and black fabrics to go with it and ran out the door without a plan in mind.  When I got to the

retreat I asked my friends what pattern I should make with those fabrics and we quickly

landed on the classic Snowball and 9-Patch pattern.

I did some quick quilt math (I'll share all those numbers below)

and got about half of the blocks made that day.

I was short just enough black text fabric to make 2 snowball blocks so I supplemented with 

another black fabric from my stash for those 2 blocks.

I had my friend Jen Ostler in Highland, Utah quilt it for me

with the Cassava panto.  I've used that panto a couple of times before; 

it's a good one!  A huge thanks to Jen for doing another fantastic job.

I did a 9 x 9 block layout.  The blocks finish at 7-1/2" each

making the finished size of the quilt 67-1/2" x 67 1/2".

This pattern is very easy to adapt to your own desired size.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

2-1/8 yards of black fabric for blocks

3-7/8 yards of assorted cream scraps for blocks

5/8 yard of fabric for binding

4-1/4 yards of fabric for backing

CUT

(41) 8" squares (black) for the Snowball blocks

(164) 3" squares (cream) for the corner triangles on the Snowball blocks +

(360) 3" squares (cream) for the 9-Patch blocks for a total of 524 cream 3" squares.

8 strips, 2-1/2" x 40" for the binding

 MAKE

41 Snowball Blocks

40 Nine-Patch Blocks

I actually used a few black print remnants from my stash for the back of this quilt.

It always feels so good to use things up!

The binding was from my stash too.  So if you're keeping

track, that makes this quilt 100% from my stash and that makes

me a VERY happy girl!

The labels I use are from Ever Emblem.

You can customize any of their labels.

I like the 2" cotton fold-over, sew-in labels.

My neutral, scrappy, make-do, classic loving heart is thrilled with how this quilt turned out.

I truly believe beautiful quilts can be made with high-quality CUTE

fabrics and a really simple pattern.

Hope you found some inspiration here today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Amber

New Pattern - Always & Forever

I have a new Valentine's Day pattern I want to share with you today!

Introducing - Always & Forever!

This pattern was inspired by my postage stamp quilt, actually.

I received so much "love" on that quilt; so many people said they want

to make a postage stamp quilt someday.  So I thought, what better way to ease into

an intense project like a large postage stamp quilt with 1" squares than to

start with blocks with 1" pieces.  You can try this project out first to see how you like 

working with 1" pieces.  They're really not too bad to make; chain piecing 

makes them go together pretty quickly!

And the name? 

Postage Stamp quilts + Forever Stamps + Hearts =

Always & Forever, of course!  

I thought the name was very fitting...

The fabulous quilting was done by my friend, Jen Ostler in Highland, UT

(@drycreekquilter on Instagram).  She's the one that always hides an

image in her quilting for her clients to find.  This time, a heart and I

think it's just darling.  I'm also obsessed with the panto we used

called Starlight by Karlee Porter Designs.

I based my color palette on this beautiful backing fabric

from Sharon Holland's line, Kismet for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I also used it for the

binding so it would pull everything together on the front side.  The background

fabric I used was Kona Lingerie.

Of course, I had to add one of  my simple quilt labels

that I get from Ever Emblem on Etsy.  You can choose any of their labels

and customize them to your liking.  I get the 2" cotton fold-over, sew-in labels.

Always & Forever has instructions for 2 size options - crib and throw.

There are also instructions for how to make blocks with

scrappy backgrounds and center-filled blocks.  There are so many ways to

make this pattern your own.  I'm really excited about the

possibilities and hope to share some more of them with you soon.

I'm calling this my "grown-up" version.  I made it 

to display in my home so I wanted it to have a more mature, subdued feel.

I have a scrappy, crib-size version at my quilter's house right now.

Check back in a couple of weeks to check that out!

Patterns are now available in my Etsy shop and with my distributors, 
United Notions, Brewer, and Checker if you're a wholesaler.

If you'd like to snag a copy for yourself

click HERE for the PDF

or HERE for the paper pattern.

If you make Always & Forever and you're on Instagram,

please tag me @gigis_thimble and use the hashtags

#gigisthimblepattern and #alwaysandforeverquilt

so I can see your version.  That always makes my day!

Thanks for stopping by today and please let me know if you have any

questions about this pattern!