Tuesday 11 December 2012

Paper trees - tutorial

Thanks to everyone who expressed an interest in a pattern or tutorial for the Christmas trees in my Feeling Festive table runner (finished project here).

This one!

I have put together a very simple tutorial, which will work great for anyone who has done paper piecing before.  If you are new to paper piecing,  Faith from Fresh Lemons has a great tutorial here, which is for a different pattern, but has great pictures and really clear instructions which should get you started.

Here is a diagram showing the dimensions for the tree blocks.  I just drew nine of the tree blocks out onto freezer paper, four in a row to speed things up.  I then cut each tree block out so that I had nine individual units.


I then cut each tree block into two pieces along the dotted red line, so I was left with the triangle piece and the trunk piece.


Then, I paper pieced the tree blocks in the order shown below.  A couple of tips.  The first (and crucially important one) - I don't include seam allowances on my paper piecing templates (I find it easier that way) but make sure you leave a quarter inch seam allowance around the outside of each piece of the tree block.  The second - make sure you reduce your stitch length, and backstitch at the end of each line - this will help a lot with removing the paper when you're done.

Once you have made the two pieces of each tree block, stitch them together using a quarter inch seam.

My preference is to leave the paper on the blocks until I have stitched them together, and sashed them out.  This is because there are inevitably bias edges which can be stretched and warped if you have to pull on them before they're secured.

I hope this tutorial is useful - please feel free to let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

P.S. - don't miss out on my giveaway as part of Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop Party - all you need to do is leave a comment on my giveaway post.

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10 comments:

Maggie said...

Thanks so much for sharing!

Chelsie C said...

So cute! And I think I can still fit it in before Christmas :)

Suzanne said...

Thank you! I'll pin it so I have it when I want to make it. Not sure it'll happen this year :p

Anonymous said...

This is lovely! You could actually make it a single foundation instead of two separate pieces. Do your trunk section first, then the tree, then the two sky pieces.

Beatrice said...

Hello,
thank you for this tutorial.
I just wanted to let you know: I took the liberty of borrowing the picture of the finished project to include it (and links to your posts) on a French quilters forum.
It's here:
http://patchtopatch.superforum.fr/t31817-tuto-set-de-table-mug-rug-sapin-beau-quilting-machine#470096
If you would like me to remove it, let me know.
Beatrice.

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side said...

Hi Beatrice,
Thanks for your comment letting me know you have done this. You are a no-reply blogger, so I can't reply to your comment by email - please send me an email if you would like to change this and I will send you some instructions. Since you have linked to my blog, using the picture is fine - the only thing is that I can't see what you have put, because the forum is members only (and they are not accepting new members). If you could flick me an email with a screen grab of the relevant post, that would be awesome.
Thanks again,
Adrianne.

Adeel rock said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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Chris said...

This was a great tutorial! I've been looking for a way to make tree blocks with my son. The instructions were very helpful in creating the tree cutting.


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