I’ve been thinking about making a small, simple quilt that I can put into a table stand to display during the holiday season. I really wanted to use a tree as the focal point with some accent blocks.

I got inspired by Carol Doak’s book, 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks. You can purchase this book directly from Carol’s website or from Amazon for about $10.

There are several different tree patterns in this book, but I opted to use the Funky Tree block on page 28. All the blocks in this book are small – just 3 inches square finished. For my project, I wanted a larger center block. I increased the block 200% so the finished block would be 6 inches square. I then added a small border to the block.

Funky Tree Christmas Block

As you can see, this block uses 5 different green fabrics to create the little tree. I’m keeping my color palette muted for this particular project. The background fabric is actually more cream colored than the photo shows with delicate little snowflakes. The burgundy red border also has a snowflake pattern.

Naturally, what should go under a Christmas tree but some cute little presents?

I used the Gift block on page 38, kept the 3 inch finished size, and added a small border.

Gift Christmas Block

The gift block uses a Moda print (Seasonal Gatherings Tan Burgundy 1068) that I fussy-cut so a reindeer would show on either side of the center ribbon. The center ribbon is a burgundy red print and the background is a Moda cream print (#30150) that perfectly complements both the gift block and the background of the funky tree block.

My next step is to create more of the 3 inch blocks to go around the tree block. Stay tuned for an update on this fun and quick holiday project!

Happy piecing!
~Jennifer~