FRUIT SALAD SAL: WEEK 6 – PEARS

And then there were TWO…but this week, it’s PEARS time to shine! Let’s start with the featured quilt: PEARS IN A ROW.

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways“…

1. The pears can be made in a variety of colors, which is great when working with smaller bundles of fabric or scraps. We used greens, oranges, yellows, AND reds for this quilt…and keep reading all the way to the bottom to see what else we did!
2. The DAISY blocks add a sweet touch and help to offset the vertical pear rows, creating movement. They are again featured in the outer border corners, which helps to frame the quilt.
3. The wide, inner sashing allows for use of low-volume, cream prints to add even more visual interest.
4. The checkerboard border…need I say more?! However, if you are not a fan of checkerboards, you could absolutely switch that out and add a simple, single fabric instead.

Hints of the Week

You will want to pay attention when adding your SEW & FLIP [g] and [h] pieces to the lower half of your pears. The [g] squares are slightly larger than [h] and that is an easy spot to make an error… ask me how I know :-)? If you assemble them correctly, your pear BOTTOM and pear TOP seams will match up once sewn together with a 1/4″ seam.

Because the pattern uses varying pear and daisy blocks within the rows, the BACKGROUND FILLERS (the smaller sashing pieces that go between each of the blocks within the vertical rows) are slightly different sizes to ensure all rows match up to the same finished dimensions. Pay close attention to this as you are assembling and mark your pieces when you cut them!

Special Project

We’ve got another GREAT one from the ever-talented Susan Vaughan! This week, she’s back with the PEAR DRAWSTRING BAG… using the Easiest Accessory Bag Pattern. We are having SO MUCH fun using some of our classic Fig Tree bag and pouch patterns and reinventing them with these fruit additions. We sure hope you join us for one or more of these extra goodies.

For this one, Susan used the EASIEST ACCESSORY BAG pattern available HERE. She adjusted the front panel of the bag to fit a mini pear block on it as directed below and then she finished the bag using the pattern directions.

For Drawstring Bag Outer Shell:

• Bag Background: Using the above pattern cut: (1) 6” x 14” [a], (2) 5 ¾” x 6” [b] and (1) 14” x 19”[c]
• Make (1) Pear Block from FRUIT SALAD at 50% size.  Follow the directions HERE to help with resizing your block to make it half size.
• Attach [b] cut above to either side of the pear block.
• Attach [a] cut above to the top and [c] to the bottom.
• Follow all the remaining directions as written for the “Girly Girl Bag” bag in the pattern.
• Box the bag corners at 3” when it comes time for bag assembly.

Meet the Maker

We think Susan *might* love pears…not only did she create this week’s featured project, but she also made AND quilted the PEARS IN A ROW sample quilt! If you follow Susan on INSTAGRAM, you might know that her IG “handle” is THE FELTED PEAR. But what you might not know is that Susan used to make small felted items as a business in her previous life! Yup, lots and lots of adorable felted goodies. But we are so very glad that she made her way over here to quilting and here she stayed!

Meet the LATE SUMMER PEARS Version & Kit!

As you might have gotten the drift by now… we love our pears and always have! As soon as I finished designing our bright summer version of the PEARS IN A ROW quilt for the book, using FRUIT COCKTAIL fabrics, I started dreaming up a more mellow… more late summer & early autumn kind of pear quilt.

Who is with me on these being just the best color palette around? So for those of you who might have some fruit withdrawal after we are all done here with this sew along, or who might want a LATE SUMMER PEARS version of this quilt… this is for you! We have been squirreling this yummy stack of fabrics for this version for quite some time and the time is now! Click HERE to see it in the shop.

Tomorrow and Next Week

The Fig Tree Quilts Friends Facebook Group is growing! Thank you so much for joining us! And since you’ve probably figured it out by now, next week will be our final fruit feature before assembly. Come on back to celebrate ORANGES!

Until then,

-Joanna