The Golden Pineapple: Free Pineapple Block Quilt Pattern

Sew a beautiful throw quilt using pineapple quilt blocks with a twist! The Golden Pineapple Quilt Pattern has big 20” quilt blocks so it’s fast to sew. The ‘twist’ to this log cabin pineapple quilt block is adding pieced corners that match the center of the block.

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The pineapple block is a log cabin quilt block made with a specific technique that produces a cute ‘pineapple shape’ because you trim the block in between each round of fabric strips.

The traditional log cabin pineapple quilt block (above left) starts with a square center and then background fabric strips are alternated with different colors of strips to make the design. Some pineapple blocks use paper piecing, but not this one.

My Golden Pineapple Quilt Block (above right) also starts with a center square, but I’ve added extra strips in the center and shapes at the corners to give it a new look!

A lot of pineapple quilt patterns require a special ruler to sew the block accurately. All my tutorial requires is an acrylic cutting ruler with a 45 degree angle line marked on the ruler. I used this 6” x 12” ruler from Olfa.

My pineapple quilt pattern has three main colors, deep yellow, bright pink, and white or off white for the background.

I wanted a scrappy look, so I picked lots of different low volume white and light gold fabrics for my background (some have metallic gold accents).

My deep yellow fabrics are different too, some with metallic gold accents too. This is a great place to use fabric scraps.

I tested two different fabrics to use for the geometric shapes. I decided to go with Speckled from Ruby Star Society  – the color Berry.

Before I made up my mind, I sewed a couple blocks using the same background and gold fabrics, but I used Speckled fabrics in the color Citron instead.

I mocked up the image above using photoshop to see what my quilt would look like. It turned out gorgeous with the green fabric – like pineapples with stems!

By the way, the mock up image below shows the quilt blocks set in 3 rows and columns, not set on point as I decided on for my final quilt design.

But after mocking up the quilt using ‘Berry’ fabrics set on point – I liked that even better!

If you want to use just 3 different fabrics (instead of fabrics from 3 color families) that’s fine too! Don’t you think this quilt would look beautiful with solid fabric? I love scrappy quilts though, so I’m glad I raided my fabric stash for scraps to use on my pinapple block quilt.

And just so you know, all of the deep yellow fabrics (and a lot of the background fabrics) are 2 1/2” strips. That means you can use jelly roll strips that you have leftover from other quilts!

So let’s get sewing!

Golden Pineapple Quilt Pattern

Finished size: approximately 71’’ x 71’’.

Fabric requirements:

• 2 1/2 yards of deep yellow fabric (1 fabric or different fabrics)
• 1 1/2 yards of fuschia fabric (1 fabric or different fabrics)
• 3 1/2 yards of background fabric
• 3/4 yard of fabric for binding (20’’)
• a piece of batting at least 75’’ x 75’’
• 5 yards of 44’’ wide fabric for the backing (or enough to piece together a 75” x 75” square for the backing)

You will also need:

• rotary cutter, cutting mat, and acrylic ruler with a 45 degree angle line
• sewing machine and thread

Tip: I LOVE using 108’’ wide quilt backing fabrics so I don’t have to piece together my quilt backings and I can get to quilting faster. For this quilt, you would only need 2 1/4 yards of 108” wide fabric.

Cutting:

From the deep yellow fabric, cut:

• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 7”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 8 1/2”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 10 1/4”

From the fuschia fabric, cut:

• 16 strips 1 7/8” x 3 3/8”
• 16 strips 1 7/8” x 6 1/8”
• 32 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 4 1/2”

From the background fabric, cut:

• 8 squares 3 3/8” x 3 3/8”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 7”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 8 1/2”
• 32 strips 2 1/2” x 10 1/4”
• 32 squares 4 1/4” x 4 1/4”
• 32 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 20 sashing strips 3 1/2” x 20 1/2”
• 2 border strips 3 1/2” x 65 1/2”*
• 2 border strips 3 1/2” x 711/2”*

*These are suggested measurements for the border strips. Before you cut these strips, consider using the correct method for measuring and cutting border strips.

From the binding fabric, cut:

• 8 strips 2 1/2’’ x width of fabric

Make 8 Golden Pineapple Quilt Blocks

1/4” seam allowance allowed (scant 1/4” seam allowance recommended). The instructions below are for one block. Repeat them 8 times.

Round 1 – Fuschia fabric with a background fabric square

1. Start with a 3 3/8” x 3 3/8” background fabric square and two 1 7/8” x 3 3/8” fuschia strips.

Sew the strips to opposite sides of the background fabric square, right sides together. Press the seams toward the darker fabric.

2. Sew two 1 7/8” x 6 1/8” fuschia strips to the top and bottom of the background fabric square. Press.

Round 2 – background fabric strips

3. Sew two 2 1/2” x 7” background fabric strips to opposite sides of the square. Center the strips along each side before sewing – the strips are 7/8” longer than the square.

Open and press.

4. Center two more 2 1/2” x 7” strips along the remaining sides of the square and sew together.

The two new strips cover the fuschia strips and overlap onto the first two background fabric strips by just a little bit.

Open and press.

5. Trimming.

Trim all all 4 corners of of the block as follows:

Line up the 45 degree angle line on your ruler with the top edge of the fuschia square in the block as seen above.

Slide the ruler over until there is 1/4” of fabric past the fuschia square.

Then trim the excess fabric away at the corner.

Turn the block counter clockwise and trim the next corner the exact same way.

Repeat to trim the extra fabric away from all 4 corners.

Round 3 – deep yellow strips

6. The next round uses four 2 1/2” x 7” deep yellow strips.

Center the strips along the sides of the block and stitch.

It doesn’t matter the order in which you sew the strips to the block. The seams on these strips do not overlap.

Open the strips and press.

7. Trimming:

This time, you do not need to line up the 45 degree angle on the ruler. Instead, place the edge of your ruler against the raw edge of the previous round of strips.

This way, you will cut away the extra yellow fabric at the corner without cutting the background fabric at all.

Repeat to trim all 4 corners.

Round 4 – background fabric strips

8. Sew four 2 1/2” x 8 1/2” background fabric strips to the sides of the block. Open the strips and press.

Place the edge of your ruler against the raw edge of the previous round of strips. Trim away the extra background fabric at the corners.

Round 5 – deep yellow fabrics

9. Sew four 2 1/2” x 8 1/2” deep yellow fabric strips to the sides of the block. Open the strips and press.

Place the edge of your ruler against the raw edge of the previous round of strips. Trim away the extra yellow fabric at the corners.

Round 6 – background fabrics

10. Sew four 2 1/2” x 10 1/4” background fabric strips to the sides of the block. Open the strips and press.

Place the edge of your ruler against the raw edge of the previous round of strips. Trim away the extra background fabric at the corners.

Round 7 – deep yellow fabrics

9. Sew four 2 1/2” x 10 1/2” deep yellow fabric strips to the sides of the block. Open the strips and press.

Place the edge of your ruler against the raw edge of the previous round of strips. Trim away the extra yellow fabric at the corners.

Make the pineapple block corners

Each Golden Pineapple Quilt Block uses the following pieces for the corners (they should already be cut):

• 4 squares of fuschia fabric 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 4 fuschia fabric strips 2 1/2” x 4 1/2”
• 4 background fabric squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 4 background fabric squares 4 1/4” x 4 1/4”

1. Place a 2 1/2” fuschia square and a 2 1/2” background fabric square right sides together and sew along one edge. Open and press.

2. Place this piece right sides together against a fuschia 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” strip. Sew along the long edge.

Open and press to make a 4 1/2” corner piece.

3. Cut the four 4 1/4” x 4 1/4” background fabric squares in half diagonally.

4. Arrange the two triangles next to the 4 1/2” corner piece as shown.

Place one of the triangles right sides together with the corner piece as shown and pin.

Note that the edge of the triangle is shorter than the edge of the 4 1/2” corner unit. line up the triangle against the corner of the piece as shown in the photo.

5. Stitch.

6. Place the remaining triangle piece right sides together with the corner unit as shown above.

Stitch.

7. Open the triangles and press.

Place a small ruler along the long edge created by the background triangles.

Trim away the extra bit of fuschia and background fabric to make a straight line.

Repeat to make 4 corner pieces for 1 block.

Finish assembling the Golden Triangle Block

1. Arrange the 4 corner pieces with the center of the block as shown.

2. Place the block corners right sides together with the longer edges on the block.

3. Stitch. Open the corners and press. Trim and square the block to 20 1/2” x 20 1/2”, if desired.

Make 8 blocks. I love this scrappy pineapple quilt block!

Cut 4 Pineapple Quilt Blocks in Half and Cut Squares into Setting Triangles

1. Use a long ruler to cut 4 of the blocks in half diagonally to make 8 half-blocks

2. Sub-cut the 5 1/2’’ square diagonally twice to make 4 quarter-square triangles. These will be the setting triangles at the ends of the sashing.

3. Sub-cut the two 3’’ squares diagonally once to make 4 half-square triangles. These are for the corners of the quilt.

Sew the Golden Pineapple Quilt Together

1. Arrange the 4 Pineapple Quilt Blocks and 8 half blocks on your quilt design wall or work area as shown above.

2. Sew the pieces together with 3 1/2’’ x 20 1/2’’ sashing strips in between the blocks and half blocks as shown above.

3. Sew together the following 3 sashing rows:

2 sashing rows that each contain:

• 2 sashing strips 3 1/2’’ x 20 1/2’’
• 1 cornerstone block 3 1/2’’ x 3 1/2’’ between the sashing strips
• 2 quarter square triangle pieces at the ends

1 long middle sashing row that contains:

• 4 sashing strips 3 1/2’’ x 20 1/2’’
• 3 cornerstone blocks 3 1/2’’ x 3 1/2’’ between the sashing strips
• 2 quarter square triangle pieces at the ends

4. Finally, sew the rows of blocks and the sashing rows together. Sew the 2 remaining half square triangles to the corners of the quilt where they belong.

Tip: When sewing the rows together, pin the rows together at each intersection of sashing and cornerstone block. Do not worry about whether the pieces of the quilt match up exactly at the side raw edges. All of the sides are bias cut edges, and some stretching will occur no matter what you do.

Trim the edges of the quilt to make them straight, if necessary.

Sew on the Quilt Borders

1. Sew the side borders to the side edges of the quilt.

2. Sew the top and bottom borders to the top and bottom edges of the quilt.

Tip: I always recommend measuring and cutting quilt borders after sewing the quilt top. See how to correctly measure and cut quilt borders. It’s especially important on quilts with an on-point layout like this one. So please measure your quilt before adding the borders.

Finishing the Golden Pineapple Quilt

1. Cut the backing fabric in half and sew it together to make a piece big enough for the back of the quilt (at least 75’’ x 75’’).

2. Sandwich the quilt top, batting, and backing together and baste (for a quilt this size, I like pin basting with quilter’s safety pins).

3. Quilt the quilt top as desired.

4. Cut 8 strips of binding 2 1/2’’ x width-of-fabric (or as desired) and sew them together using diagonal seams. Bind the quilt using your preferred method. See how I bind my quilts by machine here.

I hope you decide to make your own pineapple quilt using my free Golden Pineapple Quilt Pattern. Upload a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look!

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