FRUIT SALAD SAL: WEEK 3 – BLUEBERRIES

Here we are! Blueberries will be our focus this week and I know many of you are excited for this one. We don’t always have the Fig Tree blues in all our collections, so when they do make an appearance, they are always a hit…not to mention how CUTE the blueberry blocks are, of course!

The BLUEBERRY PIE pattern in the FRUIT SALAD book includes a combination of blueberry blocks and daisies, with a fun layout using pieced flying geese in vertical rows, adding some amazing movement and visual impact.

The sawtooth vertical borders can look a little intimidating, but I promise it’s worth it and you may even feel better after you read more in the HINTS OF THE WEEK section below. Also, as many of the fruit blocks are the same dimensions, the various layouts featured in the book can be interchanged, making it totally unique to you. Page 37 will give you a rundown of which blocks can be a DIRECT SUBSTITUTION.

Hints of the Week

I’ve been so impressed with how many of you are creating miniature blocks! If you want to try your hand at that, you can check out an earlier blog post for specifics, but the blueberry block would be what I consider the “easiest” to recreate in such small pieces.

The leaf units utilize my SEW & FLIP method, with two different sizes of background squares to create the blueberry leaf shape. Be careful to add the SEW & FLIPS to the correct corners.

For the sawtooth vertical rows (if you are using the BLUEBERRY PIE layout) the points of the flying geese purposely do not touch the vertical seam. This gives you a little wiggle room if you’re worried about chopping off your points. Its one of those simple things that should make your life a lot easier during construction. You’re welcome! 🙂

Meet the Maker

This week’s sample maker is the wonderful Jennifer Martinez! She pieced our BLUEBERRY PIE quilt and did such an amazing job, as always. Jennifer is one of the most meticulous quilters and piecers I know and I have been blessed by her piecing assist for many years. If you have ever worked on or seen my WOOL FARMHOUSE BLOCK OF THE MONTH pattern, that is actually Jennifer’s quilt on the cover!

I actually met Jennifer in a quilting class in Utah many many years ago and I’m thankful for her quilty friendship.

This BLUEBERRY PIE sample was quilted by Marion Bott, and that BAPTIST FAN pantograph is definitely a favorite of mine. As always Marion scaled it perfectly and it added that final perfect touch. It is such a classic design and I use it quite regularly… I highly recommend it if you haven’t tried it for one of your quilts yet.

Tomorrow and Next Week

Be sure to follow along with us in our Facebook group – click HERE to be taken to our group page and request your invite! We will be releasing more information there on this week’s activities – including our next special FIG TREE FRIEND feature and some recipe sharing!

Next week starts week 4 – and a new fruit in the line-up. What will it be?! Let’s use that process of elimination and make some guesses in the comments below for next week’s fruit highlight! Your guess might just enter you to win a little something something next week.

See you then,

-Joanna