The Perfect Storm!

Halloween may be over but I had to share this one before I put it away for next year.  This quilt is the convergence of my current obsessions...  pineapple blocks, circular quilting, and the Ghastlies.

It started with this awesome Pineapple Variation by my insanely creative friend Alexis and suddenly everywhere I looked there were pineapples.  Psych!  I used this amazing pineapple block tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts to make my blocks and then played with the layout until I came up with this.

I probably would have tucked the finished top away to quilt next year if Alexis hadn't come to the rescue again.  This was the perfect thing to work on during our quilt camp weekend at her fabulous beach house in Scituate.  A Nor'easter raged outside but we rode out the storm in style stitching away with snacks, wine and lots of laughter.

I may have gotten carried away with the pictures but we had a perfect fall day for a photo shoot.  I had a blast driving around Concord with the top down looking for spooky locations...

I promised myself no more trips to the graveyard but how could I resist;-)

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 36" x 36"
Pattern: Variation of a traditional Pineapple Quilt.  Blocks made using this amazing pineapple block tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts.
Fabrics: from the Ghastlies collections by Alexander Henry, Onyx Grunge by basic grey, stash.  Binding Blush Grunge by basic grey.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo
Thread: King Tut Rosetta Stone (978).

W.i.P. Wednesday: The End Is Near!

My BQFs and I couldn't have asked for a better Quilt Camp weekend!  There is nothing like a nor'easter for the perfect excuse to batten down the hatches and quilt the days away!  As the storm raged outside we set up shop and got sewing.  

It's true Halloween has passed but rather than consign this to a year (or more) in the UFO pile I decided this was the perfect opportunity to just get this done.  Mindless quilting is so much better with friends...   plus chocolate, wine & Kurt Russell;-)

I probably would have gotten bored going around and around endlessly but with good company I pushed through and finished all 14 sets of rings.  Quilting all these circles I created my own vortex that sucked up everything in it's wake.  Between the crashing waves outside and spinning my quilt around I was starting to feel a bit queasy.

The end is near...  I just have to finish tacking down the binding and this will be ready and waiting with the rest of the Ghastlies when Halloween rolls around again next year.

Quilting it up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

W.i.P. Wednesday: It's been a Ghastly Week

As soon as October rolls around I always have to break out my Ghastlies stash.  I already had two Halloween projects hanging around from last year that I'm trying to finish up for this year but I couldn't stop myself from starting something new...

I've been obsessed with this incredible pineapple variation quilt made by the insanely creative Alexis.  I used this awesome pineapple block tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts to make these blocks.  Cutting all the strips took a while but from there the blocks go together fairly quickly.  I don't usually work with a lot of black and grey but I was able to pull all of this from stash.

As I mentioned in my Around the World Blog Tour post I don't really plan things out preferring to work more by trial and error.  My original vision for this quilt was to have additional fussy cut Ghastlies blocks in the negative space.  I tried a few different ideas but it was way too busy and just looked like a hot mess.

 I'd also deliberately made the blocks wonky so it was going to be a challenge to fit them together since the outer rings wouldn't match up.  Eventually I came up with this configuration...  I like the way the cornerstones in the sashing echo the center diamonds.  From a distance it creates an interesting vibrating XO effect.  Now the race is on to get it quilted before Halloween is over and it gets banished to the UFO pile until next year:-)

Speaking of the Around the World Blog Tour, I tagged my fabulous friend Tina of ModGeometry.  Hop on over to her blog to get a glimpse of her creative process and awesome quilts!

Quilting it up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)