January BOM: Winter Trees

I took my cue for this month's block from Mother Nature. Look outside and you will see a variety of bare trees in all shapes and sizes.

In order to keep the palette simple and modern I encourage you to use a solid background in shades such as these blocks from @quiltoph. Think of the morning sunrise and sunset and how the sky changes throughout the day when choosing your background colour.

Branches and trunk should be solid black in sizes ranging from 3/4" to 2" wide strips and in various lengths. Your tree shape and branch and trunk sizes are totally up to you.

Method: Improv

I was uncertain as to how to approach the actual construction of this block but happily found free instructions for a Spooky Tree at auntemsquilts.com but my instructions are more detailed

Materials:

1 - 14" square for background in a solid colour. I recommend this size to allow for any mishaps and so that the block can be easily trimmed to 12.5"

An assortment of solid black strips in various lengths and ranging in size from 3/4" to 2" wide for trunk and branches

Rotary cutter

Pencil or other marking implement

Ruler

Step 1: Draw a trunk and branches on your 14" square

Draw tree on background block

Step 2: With your rotary cutter, cut along all the marked lines on the left side only. You don't want too many pieces in play at one time which could lead to confusion. I recommend you take a photo to aid you in remembering the correct placement of the cut pieces

Cut along drawn lines

Step 3: Starting from the top choose a branch size and using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew a black strip to the edge of one background piece, right sides together. Finger press. Sew a second background piece to the black strip. Continue to sew strips strategically to the background pieces and finger press as you go. Don't be too concerned about the direction of the seam allowances. They tend to naturally go in the correct direction.

NOTE: Although improv is very forgiving, it is important to visually line up the fabric and flip it over (much like paper piecing) to ensure that the edges align before stitching your seam.

First branch added. Note the alignment of the edges

Trim the edges and continue to trim after the addition of each black strip

Edges trimmed

Left half of block almost complete

Step 4: Using the same procedure, complete the second half of the block

Step 5: Select a black strip for the trunk and sew it to the left half of the block, then sew the right half of the block to the trunk strip

Step 6: Press seams with an iron

Step 7: Square the block to 12.5 inches

I hope you enjoy making these Winter Trees. I know I did!