Make a Thanksgiving Quilt with pineapples

This year I will greet my family on Thanksgiving with a different Thanksgiving quilt: the pineapple one. Long regarded as a symbol of Welcome, it will be a perfect, bright, unexpected way to remind them our house is THE place to be! How would you like to make a Thanksgiving Quilt with pineapples?

[Edited May 21, 2020.]

This is a UFO project in the making since 2013 – the pineapple blocks are made of strips of fabrics collected from a group of friends after we traveled to Hawaii in December 2012 and then, upon returning, decided to memorialize the trip with this quilt.

Melissa Kelley from Sew Shabby Quilting quilted it for me. I just drop the quilts off, wish her good luck and lots of fun, and let her do her thing. I am always happy with the quilting motifs she chooses. Don’t you love this one?

We used the same pattern – Sunshine Pineapple by Vicki Stratton. Since I am crazy about batiks, mine was finished with gorgeous purples, pinks, and other bright colors. I made one change to the pattern: the pineapple leaves in my version are all one piece as it was quicker to machine applique’ one piece as opposed to six or more. Never mind that, after that shortcut, it took me over 6 years to finish this quilt.

We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Brazil. However, by bringing pineapples into tomorrow’s festivities I am adding a little bit of my heritage to the mix. We do have a claim on the origins of the pineapple as it was first discovered in Southern Brazil next to Paraguay, while the Europeans should be credited with spreading the word about it and making it so popular.

To be sure, there will be plenty of traditional Thanksgiving decorations, old and new. My Turkey Day wall hanging (pattern available) reminds us all to leave room for dessert! Of course, today is Wednesday and I have no idea which colorful dessert will decorate our table. But the house is decorated with lots of quilts – does that count?

My friend Shantell gave me this beautiful piece of decor… I loved it from the moment I laid eyes on it. It simply expresses how I feel every day of my life… It is sitting next to the other wooden craft I worked on last year.

As I was placing a quilt or craft here and there, I kept making a mental list of things I still want to learn. My habit is to purchase books and patterns with things I want to try. However, I am also creating a virtual library with instructional videos and classes. Thus, after welcoming family with pineapples, turkey, pilgrims and only after the FEAST…

… I will shop for what I ‘need’. After looking at what will be happening this weekend, here is where I decided to go, just in case you need help navigating the opportunities (all in the ‘spirit’ of the season, right?):

I will begin with Bluprint as I know they have major sales going on until December 2nd.
Then, I will head over to Fat Quarter Shop because I will need fabric and other stuff to make what I learned.
Finally, I will check out Annie’s as I always find awesome patterns there.

Busy days ahead, so I will ‘see’ you next week. Do not forget: if you want a bright way to say Welcome this year, make a Thanksgiving Quilt with pineapples! Happy Thanksgiving!