Girl Next Door - Month 9 - Tree Block February 01 2021

IT IS A PREREQUISITE OF MAKING THIS BLOCK THAT YOU HAVE A COPY OF THE PATTERN GIRL NEXT DOOR BY LOUISE PAPAS FOR THE JEN KINGWELL DESIGN COLLECTIVE.

Charlotte (@Kirkenoll) here. 

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.” - Chinese Proverb.

The Tree Block is the last month in the series of Girl Next Door blocks.  These tree blocks go together relatively easy. Below you will find tips to ensure a perfect fit next month when we put everything together.  In the meantime, may you enjoy the happy music of singing birds!

Each month, I will share the fabric we used at Red Thread Studio and then layout the cutting checklist.  I have also provided cutting tabs that you can download and print out.  These are useful to keep track of the various pieces used in this scrappy quilt.  At the end, I will also give some useful tips that I encountered when piecing the sample.

Feel free to comment here, on Instagram or in the Girl Next Door Quilt-Along Facebook group with any questions.  Don't forget to share your photos of your work in progress either on Instagram or Facebook each week!  Just use the hashtag #GirlNextDoorQAL.

Choose Your Fabric

We used dark and medium greens leftover from the Picket Fence and Flower blocks.  These worked best and provided the most contrast against our light background.

Cutting Checklist - make four 8 ½”  x 8 ½” blocks

Tree Fabric - cut for each tree block  

• 2 x T106 - use template - 2   x 6 1/4
• 1 x T107 - 6 ¼  x 3 ¼

Tree Trunk Fabric - cut for each tree block

• 1 x T108 - 1 ½  x 2 ¾

Background Fabric - white main background fabric - cut for each tree block

Cut bigger to make the block larger then trim down to exact size - 8 ½”  x 8 ½”.

• 4 x T109 - 2 ~ 2 ½  x 2 ½ - cut on the diagonal to make triangles
• 2 x T110 - 4  x 4 - cut on the diagonal to make two triangles
• 1 x T111 - 2  x 2 - cut on the diagonal to make two triangles (save extra for other trees)
• 3 x T112 - 2 ~ 5 ½  x 5 ½ - cut on the diagonal to make three triangles (save extra for other trees)

If you wish you can cut up tabs and place with your cut fabric pieces.  See attached Cutting Tabs. 

Follow Pattern Assembly instructions to piece four tree blocks

• At first I made the tree pieces the same fabric but I changed my mind and made them scrappy instead. Dark/medium green looks better than light to contrast with the background.
• I made the background pieces bigger to make sections/block larger then cut down to exact size.
• When sewing the green tree pieces together, pin the two edges with mitered seams pointing to the corner of the tree center piece.

• When blocks are completely pieced give them a final press on a fluffy towel using just a little Magic Sizing to flatten all the seams nicely.
• Each tree block should measure 8 ½”  x 8 ½” so trim to get that final perfect size to fit in corners. I used the trunk bottom triangle as a starting point and made sure the tree was straight by lining up the diagonal ruler marking thru the center and making sure each tree side was the same and straight.