Hi!  I'm Jessica Dayon (Instagram @jessicadayon) and I'm so excited be a first time chef in the Moda Bake Shop as part of the Countdown to Christmas.  Today I am sharing a tutorial for my 6 inch Mod Christmas Tree block.  I have been making these trees like crazy lately.  They are tons of fun, so versatile, and quick.  You are going to love making them!

This block finishes at 6" x 6".

1 5" x 5" square of green fabric or green fabric scraps
1 Layer Cake square or 10" x 10" of background fabric {Bella Solids 9900 97}
2" x 1.25" rectangle of brown fabric {Stacey Iest Hsu Farm Fun 20536 18}

 

We use a template in this block, so let's start by making that.  You'll need a piece of card stock or thin cardboard and a pen.  I used the cardboard from the back of a Layer Cake.  I find it's the perfect thickness.  Measure a 5" square from your cardboard, trace it, and cut it out.

Then at the top of the cardboard make a dot with your pen right in the center, at the 2.5" point.

Use your ruler to make a line from the dot at the top that you just made down to the bottom corner.

Repeat on the other side.

Then cut out the triangle out.  This is your tree template.

Now we will start making the tree portion of the block.  This is the fun part.  You can use anything to make the tree.  You can use a whole piece of fabric to make a solid tree.  You can use a bunch of fabrics to make vertical strips, horizontal strips, bias strips, or any kind of scrap to make a crazy tree.  You need any whole piece of fabric or combinations of fabrics that your tree template fits on.

Use a solid fabric that's about 5" square or a scraps assembled together to be about that same size.  Lay the tree template on top.  Use the ruler and rotary cutter to cut away the edges.

And you are left with a perfect tree!

Here are some of the other ones that I made.

Next, we will make the rest of the square.  You'll need a 6" x 8" rectangle of your background fabric.

Place your tree template in the middle.

Make a cut on the right side of the tree using your ruler and rotary cutter.

Then cut the left side.

Swap the white tree for your the tree you made above.

Sew the tree to the left side of the background.

Press and then trim off the little bit of background.

Sew the tree to the right side.

Press and trim off the extra background at the bottom.

To make your trunk, you'll need 2- 2" x 3.5" pieces of background and 1- 1.25" x 2" trunk piece.

Sew them together. Press the seams towards the trunk.

Sew the trunk piece to the tree piece.

Press.

Trim your block to 6.5" x 6.5".  I used a 6.5" square to do this.

When I trimmed mine, I made sure my the top line of my trunk was at 5.25" and the tree center was at 3.25".  That way when I made a bunch of these to put together, all of my trees would line up nicely.

The Mod Tree block finishes at 6" x 6".

Thank you for following along with me today.  If you make one of these blocks, please share a photo on instagram and tag me (@jessicadayon) so I can see your creation!  You can also head on over to my blog (Skein and Hook), where I've posted instructions for making a pillow or mini quilt using this block (or other ones from Moda Bake Shop's Countdown to Christmas).

Jessica Dayon
{blog: Jessica Dayon}