I know I'm not supposed to have favorites for this sort of thing but "if" I were to have a favorite Block Head, it would probably be Jan Patek.

Isn't this glorious?  It's the quilt from Jan's upcoming book, Sleigh Bells.  The book will be published in August, just in time to start stitching a folk art quilt of Winter fun.  (That's on the cover so it must be true.)  The blocks can be finished as a big quilt, as wall-hangings, table-toppers or pillows.

Now for Jan's Block Heads Block - Number 8 - Pineapple.

To see more of Jan's block and get the block instructions - Jan's Blog ~ Block 8 - Pineapple Templates & Instructions.

Jan is using her beautiful Lilac Ridge collection to make her Block Heads 2 quilt...

As for my block, I improvised a bit.  I hope Jan approves because she is a big part of why-how I chose to do it this way.  

When I started making quilts in the early 1980s, most of the work I saw was very traditional.  (Pinterest wasn't a "thing" yet.)  While it was a great starting point, flash forward about ten years to when I started seeing the books authored by Jan.  The quilts were fresh, different and distinctive - she was breaking all the so-called rules.  And the results were glorious!  (They still are.)  With fellow quilters and artists Linda Brannock, Barb Adams and Alma Allen, Gerry Kimmel-Carr, Renee Nanneman and Sue Spargo, Jan filled the space and used fabrics, prints, proportion and color in a way that expressed originality.

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So when I saw an appliquéd pineapple made with "fabric" pieced from half-triangle squares... wow!  There was a time when that was way-outside-the-box thinking.  In doing things her own way, Jan was giving the rest of us permission to do the same thing.  

All that said, I wish I loved appliqué as much as I love Jan and her work.  But I love piecing.  (And no, I won't time being a factor as an excuse.)

So using some skinny strips and an improv-ish way of piecing, I made a piece and cut my pineapple shape from that.  Machine-edge-stitching for the appliqué with some additional stitching along the seams.  

The fabrics are from a variety of collections - Jen Kingwell's Beach Road and Looking Forward and the background is from Zen Chic's Modern Backgrounds Paper.  

Block 8 - Pineapple Templates & Instructions ~ on Jan's blog.

These are Jan's first six blocks - including Block 6 that she pieced "backwards" then fixed.  

To see how the other Block Heads are going to Spin this block:

• Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson
• Jo Morton
• Sherri McConnell
• Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings
• Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts
• Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles
• Barbara Groves of Me & My Sister Designs
• Me - the Cutting Table
• Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic
• Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique
• Betsy Chutchian
• Stacy Iest Hsu
• Jan Patek

If you're looking for links to any of the first seven blocks or the blog posts - Moda Block Heads 2 Archive

And be sure to check the Moda Blockheads Facebook Group and the blocks being posted on Instagram – #ModaBlockheads

That's it for Week 8 of the Block Heads 2.  

Happy Wednesday!