Do you have a bucket list of quilts that you want to do…someday? When your skills are better, when you have more free time (lol), maybe when you have a special occasion for quilt gifting? I have a bucket list of quilts. Mine usually include curves (Double Wedding Ring), lots of little triangles (Ocean Waves) or both (Pickle Dish).
I know I’ve been harping on Accuquilt a lot lately. It isn’t just because I work with them, or that sometimes they pay me. (They pay me when I write articles for their blog.) Really, there isn’t enough money in the world to make me do something I dislike. I just sincerely love my Accuquilt machine. It doesn’t hurt that I get dies early, and I feel like I’ve got the inside scoop. You know I love knowing secrets and having industry connections.
Back to bucket list quilts. Pickle dish has always been on my list. It is one of those old fashioned blocks that I think looks fantastically modern when done with the right fabrics. It is also crazy challenging. I mean, look at all of those whacky triangles. Three different shapes, and none of them easy to cut with a rotary cutter. This is definitely “use a template and tiny rotary cutter” work. The cutting alone turns me way, way off on quilts like this.
This month Accuquilt’s Limited Edition “Die to Try” is the Pickle Dish. I was very excited when I learned that this die was coming up. I haven’t been as fast as I like to be making this quilt, as life has been hectic. (Did you know that every single person in NYC has finished quilts during the pandemic, there is only one quilt shop offering longarm quilting services, and I’m the longarmer?)
Yesterday I pulled out my fabrics and started playing. I decided to use a precious Cherrywood Fabrics 2 1/2″ strip set, mixed with a solid white batik background. Once again, I neglected to follow the cutting instructions on the back of the package, I just started cutting. I’m a slow learner. I just cut a bunch of pieces, until I had enough to start sewing. As it turns out, I had enough to make 4 blocks, and the start of 4 more.
These are the blocks I finished in my first burst of piecing.
The blocks finish at 10″, making this a potential 20″ square quilt. I’m not feeling like I want another little quilt, so I need more blocks. I was thinking I needed 12 more. I require symmetry with this design.
I made another 4 on my second day. I would estimate that each block takes about an hour, from cutting to finished and on the design wall. Making 4 at a time is good, as I can finish that many easily in a day, while still running the household, the longarm, and my other jobs.
I started to put my pickle dish blocks together in a group, with a traditional layout, but then my smart brain suggested this layout. If I introduce some negative space, it adds interest and tension to the design. It also gives me somewhere to appliqué some Applipops circles, which I have been craving.
I moved the set of blocks around a bit, with my different options. I’m torn between options 2 & 3.
Option 1 
Option 2 
Option 3
For some insight into how my brain works, I can now see my finished quilt. I will assemble the 4 center units next. Then I will cut the four 10.5″ x 20.5″ units I need to fill in those empty sides. I’ll come up with a swag pattern to mimic the shape of the Pickle Dish blocks that would traditionally be in those spaces, but I will use little circles instead of triangles. Then I will add a narrow white border, then a border of my Cherrywood fabrics, either pieced into V-blocks, or more likely, just little squares in a row. Then I’ll throw on another narrow white border, and bind it, probably with whatever Cherrywood scraps I can scrounge up.
I’m slightly bothered that the pickle dish blocks in the center have a different alignment from the outer edges. I might change that. The center ones have to have their points towards the center – I am really liking that octagonal shape they create where they come together. I also like that the outer ones can create a wreath when they are the “wrong” way. If they go the other way – points out – there is no obvious layout for the circles. I’ll sleep on it, though – it might all look different to me in the morning.
Do you have a bucket list of quilt blocks to try? Tell me about them – maybe my list needs to be longer.
Here are some quilts I wouldn’t have made without my die cutter.
Have a great weekend! Oscar and I have big plans – hand stitching a Mola in the back yard. More later!
I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever had a bucket list, per se. But I do have a backlog of designs, and some speak up loudly sometimes, if that makes sense, so that’s how they get bumped to the front of the queue. 🙂 I like your sketch with the outer pickle dish blocks rotated differently, but I’m curious if you come up with something you like more!
Thannk you