how to make a pineapple block (without paper piecing!)

Thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words about my pineapple blocks. I've been working on them off and on for a few months and it's fun to finally share them with you! I LOVE my quilt so far...and just like I had hoped, it keeps getting better as I add to it!

 

Here's a photo heavy tutorial for you so you can make a pineapple block (or 20!) of your very own.

Cut a 2.5" square for the center.
Cut another 2.5" square in a contrasting color. Cut the contrasting square in half on the diagonal once to make 2 half square triangles. Arrange the pieces as shown.

 Sew pieces together and press.

Trim off dog ears and cut two more triangles to add to the center piece. These will need to be slightly larger than the first set of triangles.

 Sew second set of triangles to center piece and press.

 Trim up the piece to form a square.

Cut two strips of light fabric. These strips are 1.25" wide. Varying the width of strips throughout the block is a good idea (I used strips between 1.25" to 1.75" wide throughout)....HOWEVER....I suggest adding the same width of strips on each round. So, all the lights added to this round should be 1.25" wide.

 Sew the strips to the block and press.

Add two more light strips. The width of these strips should match the width of the strips in the previous step. (In this case, 1.25" wide.) The goal is to keep your block as square as possible.

 Sew and press.

 Trim off the triangles as shown. Use your ruler to make the cuts 90 degrees from the center square.

 Discard the triangles. (Can you believe it? I actually threw them away!)

 The piece should look like this when it is trimmed up.

Cut a round of dark strips. These are all 1.5" wide. Again, the width of the strips for each round should be consistent.

 Sew and press.

 Trim off the triangle ends.

 Do you see how the block isn't quite square?

 No worries. Just trim a sliver. That little sliver makes a big difference later on.

 Add two more light fabrics to the sides.

And two more light fabrics the to top and bottom.

 Trim the triangle corners once again.

 And add another round.

 Sew and press.

 Trim.

 Add another round.

 Trim.

 Add another round, trim. You get the idea!

Once the block measures 16" from side to side and 16" from top to bottom, it's time to add the corners.

Align the block on a cutting mat and measure the size of triangle needed to fill in the corner. The measurements here were about 5 3/4", so I added 1". I cut a square 6 3/4" and cut it in half once on the diagonal.

 Measure and cut the triangles for the remaining two sides.

Sew all the corners on and press. Trim up the block to 16" square.

 

A few things to note:

 

I varied the strips in the block from 1.25" wide to 1.75" wide. I think this adds a lot of interest to the quilt! It is harder to predict the final size when you are "building" the block, but once you make one or two, you will surely get the hang of it.

 

These blocks can be made any size...I started with 14" blocks but bumped up the size to 16" after I made a few. This seems to be an ideal size for this strip width and 20 blocks will make a perfectly sized lap quilt.

 

Keep an eye on your values (lights and darks), so the pattern emerges and is consistent throughout.

 

These babies take TIME! I think each block takes me a few hours. (Totally worth it, though!)

 

This is my favorite...the more scraps the better!

Here's a progress shot. I've got 9 done so far! The one in the middle right is on point. That was a mistake, but I love what it adds to the quilt!

 

If you have questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments.

 

Happy scrap sewing!