FRUIT SALAD SAL: WEEK 1 – CHERRIES

Tomorrow is the official start of our FRUIT SALAD SEWALONG and it’s all about the CHERRIES this week! This block has been a fan favorite right out of the gate and I can’t wait to see what projects you all come up with!

If you are a huge fan of cherries, as so many of you are, maybe you want to work on this CHERRIES JUBILEE quilt while you dabble with all of the other blocks as well… bring it [as my teenage kids would say :-)]!!

Also, wait to see what I worked up for this week… you might want to make up a few more blocks for that too. Did someone say there is such a thing as too many cherry items? That would be a hard no in my personal opinion.

A FEW HINTS

If you are working with the FRUIT COCKTAIL fabrics then the mixing and matching has pretty much been done for you already. If you are working from your stash, here are a few hints for this quilt:

• Choose a good variety of scale and prints for the cherries. If the two prints that you have next to each other are too similar, the cherries will “blob” into one another. I know that is a very official and technical word, but I think you know what I mean.
• Find a warm taupe for the stems. The print doesn’t really matter but you want it to be strong enough to show up and warm enough to look good with the cherries and light green leaves.
• Find a soft tan for the posts. I auditioned lots of colors here including red and green and found that they took away from the cherries being the star of the show. The soft tan was a perfect “resting place” for your eyes.
• For the sashing print, we used a tiny little red dot print in the sample above and a tiny tan dot in the kits since that was the best feeling print in the FRUIT COCKTAIL collection. I would stick with either very delicate tan or very delicate red dots/print if you are making selections on your own.

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My New Project

Personally, I couldn’t resist making more cherries… geesh!! I decided to join in on the SEW ALONG fun, too! I made the FRUIT WREATH PILLOW from FRUIT SALAD [info on page 51 of the book] and you guessed it… I made the cherry one. Although a few more of the fruits might also be calling my name!

This pillow was ALOT of fun to make and it was something I knew I could squeeze in in between my other design commitments. I am just a little bit obsessed with the red stripe as the binding and seeing it all squished up on my favorite chair, just makes me ready for summer even more!

And then of course I couldn’t resist a few photos of the pillow with its tiny little pincushion friend that Susan made [see back a few posts to see the directions/formula] for how to size your own blocks down].

The mixing and matching and creative freedom offered throughout the book might just be my very favorite part of the FRUIT SALAD book. Whether you are following the quilt instructions, singular block patterns, or the bonus projects, you really can make it all your own!

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Meet the Maker

I am incredibly lucky to have some wonderful sample makers on the Fig Tree team that help make all this possible. The CHERRIES JUBILEE quilt featured in the FRUIT SALAD book was pieced by Cynthia Bird and she has happily offered to share some of her best piecing tips and tricks!

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Next Week

Be sure to stop by the blog next week for our second block reveal and week 2 of the SEW ALONG!

In the meantime, enjoy all things CHERRY and be sure to tag @figtreeandco in all your makes and progress! I love to see what you do!

You can also follow along with us in our Facebook Group – Fig Tree Quilts Friends. We have SO MANY FUN THINGS PLANNED FOR THIS SEW ALONG there. CLICK HERE to ask for an invite. We are an encouraging group, and your very best cheerleaders for all things Fig Tree!

-Joanna