Hello everyone and welcome to 2024 Hive #6!
I hope your holiday spirit has not completely burnt out, because for the January block I am asking for christmas tree blocks.
I have 2 little kids (my son just turned 4, and my daughter will be 2 in April). Their excitement and joy over the magic of the holiday season was so fun, and we are in that stage where we are forming our own traditions and core memories. I have been meaning to make a christmas quilt for ages, but realized I really need to get on it, or it will be one of those things that never happens (like printing photos for photo albums).
This year my mother-in-law made me a stocking that matches goes with my partner’s.
My partner and his mother are Haida First Nations, and there are cultural rules and protocols about what animal crests that you can use. They are part of the raven clan, so his stocking has a raven design.
My kids don’t have their own crest yet, so their stockings only have the buttons and fur, and no design yet. And for me, she made a hummingbird, which is one of the animal crests that don’t belong to a specific clan so she was able to use that for me, a non-indigenous person.
She really surprised me with the pink colour! So I want to make a christmas quilt that incorporates pink in it, and am inspired by the stocking, as well as by the colours of vintage christmas ornaments.
Block Pattern:
I am asking for christmas tree blocks, based on the tutorial by Amy Smart, of Diary of a Quilter.
https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/modern-christmas-tree-quilt-block/
I am not making any changes to her tutorial in terms of sizing, so the blocks will end up about 7″ x 9″ finished. It might not be exact, because this is kind of an improv block.
Based on the way this block is constructed, you will be cutting and piecing the block in a pair- so you will end up with two blocks that are inverse of each other in terms of colours.
Fabric Selection:
For this block you need three fabrics:
2 colours for the background and trees; and
1 brown for the tree trunk
Medium to dark, chestnut brown is ideal but use what you have (just not a light tan brown though, please)
For the background and trees you can choose 2 different fabrics in any combination of the following colours:
Pink:
Medium to bright pink
Bright Green:
Emerald or kelly green
Avoid olive or lime greens, or any super dark hunter greens
- one of my examples in my fabric pull definitely leans to the light side (the lime green with snowmen)- i dont want anything more yellow or light than that one
Red:
Bright, tomato/cherry true reds
Reds with a lot of white in them are okay
Please avoid super dark reds, maroons and burgundies, or reds that have a lot of brown or orange in them
Aqua/turqouise:
I am looking for a contrast with the bright green, so I don't want something that reads true blue (ie not a cobalt or royal blue) or too mint/green
A bright teal is okay if it leans towards more blue than green
Prints and solids are both great.
If you are using a print, here are some parameters:
tone on tone or blenders are great
novelty prints are great too if they are winter/christmas themed (snowflakes, snowmen, sweaters, ornaments, reindeer, santas, peppermints etc)
Please no licenced characters (no mickey mouse, paw patrol,sesame street etc. while my kids love those, I do not want them in my decor)
Prints that have a combination of the other colours in the quilt, or white, are perfect. Just try to avoid prints that introduce new colours into the quilt
Consider contrast
When choosing your two fabrics, please try to have some contrast between them in terms of both colour and scale . So for example, if you choose a bright tone on tone green, for colour # 2 choose a lighter pink, or red print with more white in it. Or if fabric 1 is a larger print, choose a smaller scale print for fabric #2.
My Fabric Pull and Colour Inspiration
Here is my fabric pull from my own stash.
I found some completed quilts on instagram in a similar colour scheme. Here is one of my favourites. This one has navy though, which is not one of my colours.
Cutting:
Block construction:
Step1:
Stack your two 8 ½″ x 8 ½″ contrasting squares on top of each other.
This is where the “improv” part comes in.
Place your ruler at an angle and make a diagonal cut.
Pull the fabrics from the first cut away, and make a second diagonal cut the other direction to get your tree shape.
You can make the tree fat and wide, or tall and skinny, or any combination in between. The more variety across all the tree blocks I receive, the more visual interest the quilt will have.
***Note: Don’t cut your triangle point right at the top of the block – leave lots of room above the point so that there’s room for squaring up and for seam-allowance.
Step 2:
Sub-Cut your two 2″ x 8 ½″ strips in half to make two sets of 2″ x 4 ¼″ strips.
Step 3:
Swap out the ‘tree’ piece and match it up with the contrasting background pieces.
Sew the tree piece to the background side pieces starting with the side of the second cut.
Tip: When lining up your tree piece with the background piece right sides together, place the top corner of the tree ¼” past the edge of the background piece.
Step 4:
Now sew the side of the background from the first cut to the tree.
Press away from the tree
Step 5:
Once your sides are pieced, square off the bottom so that the edges are straight across.
Step 6:
Sew the two sets of 2″ x 4 ¼″ strips on either sides of a brown 2″ x 1 ½″ ‘trunk’ piece.
Press towards the trunk
Step 7:
Sew the trunks to the bottom of the blocks. (The trunk strips are purposely wider than the tree parts so that you have wiggle room to center the trunk under the wonky trees.)
Press the seam open.
Step 8:
Trim off any pieces hanging off the side.
Do not trim the top. I will do that when I get them all, and trim them all to the same size.
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