When a Pineapple Smiles

For four years, Mr. Juicy has been a pillow on my couch and an idea in my head. I designed him back in 2017 and I always intended him to be a full-size quilt. 2021 is his year. 

One of the things I love about block-based quilts is their tendency to evolve as you sew. For instance, my original pineapp-o-lantern blocks were all low-volume backgrounds and yellow pineapples. I planned to make the entire quilt that way, but then a friend asked, “Are all the pineapples going to be yellow?”. It made me think. I thought about doing different-colored pineapples but then I considered the backgrounds. I love the result. I love how Mr. Juicy evolved.

One of the most significant transitions has been his smile. It started as a solid-ish black but then the fabric kind of took over.

Here’s my test block. The mouth is fairly bland, mostly solid black.

As I dug through my scrap bucket I found this word fabric. Words come from the mouth so it seemed a natural choice.

The checkerboard fabric reminded me a bit of teeth.

These multicolored swirls are beautiful, but with this application they become slightly sinister. Perfect for a Halloween quilt.

To be honest, this block makes me a little uncomfortable when I look at it. It’s just so creepy. Mr. Juicy is a pumpkin substitute so it amused me to use a pumpkin fabric in this quilt. We all have a dark side, and as this block reveals, Mr. Juicy’s is his inside.

Skull... 'nuff said.

This white block was my last one and I found THE perfect fabric for his mouth. Very skeletal, very creepy… If I make another Mr. Juicy quilt, I will endeavor to use this fabric for all of the mouth pieces.

I have more to say about Mr. Juicy, and I will in a subsequent post. In the meantime, you can make your own Juicy. The pattern is available here. I would LOVE to see your interpretation. Please tag me @thescrappycamper on social media and use the hashtag #mrjuicyquilt.

Thank you so much and Happy Halloween!

Amy