First Snow: Free Christmas Quilt Block Part 2

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It’s that time of year again! Join us as we offer four free block patterns from Tina Curran’s Christmas series quilt First Snow. This wall hanging features rows of foundation-pieced houses interspersed with trees, each one different than the next in a neighborhood where the snow has just started to gently fall.
First Snow by Tina Curran
First Snow by Tina Curran
Tina used a huge variety of fabrics, bringing the houses and trees to life with strategically selected and placed fussy-cut appliques, beads, and ribbons. It’s the perfect project for using cute Christmas prints from your scrap bin. When Quilters Newsletter debuted First Snow as a series quilt in the August/September 2014 issue, the block patterns were released online on a weekly basis for free download, but only for a limited time. We’re bringing back four of the house blocks and making them available as free pattern downloads—think of it as an early holiday gift to you from us! We’re presenting each free pattern with a new version made by a Quilting Company editor. This week we’re sharing House Block #1, which was remade by associate editor Anissa Arnold. If you missed the previous house block pattern, you can read about part one, and be sure to come back the next two weeks to download the full-size foundation pattern for the other houses!
I chose to make House Block #1 of First Snow because I wanted to make a mini Christmas quilt with a simple house design and lots of room for embellishment. I had no idea how I was going to embellish my block when I started this project so it was a “create-as-you-go” project. I started by pulling out my box of Christmas fabrics and chose the fabrics for piecing the block.
Anissa’s First Snow house block pieced and ready to be embellished
Anissa’s First Snow house block pieced and ready to be embellished
Once I had the block pieced together, I searched through my other Christmas fabrics to find some fun designs that could be fussy cut and added to my house block. I fussy cut a “Candy Cane Quilt Shop” sign, a bird with a present, and a Christmas tree.
Anissa’s embellishments included snowflakes, fussy-cut applique patches and a strand of tiny Christmas lights
Anissa’s embellishments included snowflakes, fussy-cut applique patches and a strand of tiny Christmas lights
I topstitched my appliques in place using black thread and then added some super cute doodads: snowflakes in the sky, a strand of lights on the house, a candy cane hanging on the front door, and beads to decorate the Christmas tree and to add some snowy sparkle to the roof.
Embellishing in progress on Anissa’s First Snow house block
Embellishing in progress on Anissa’s First Snow house block
I really loved making this block and want to use it as a small wall hanging during the holidays, so I bound it with a beautiful green fabric and sewed a hanging sleeve on the back.
Anissa’s completed First Snow house mini quilt
Anissa’s completed First Snow house mini quilt
Wouldn’t this make an adorable Christmas quilt gift for one of your quilting friends? I plan on making several more blocks from First Snow, embellishing to my heart’s content, and giving them to some special people this Christmas. Happy Stitching, Anissa
Download the free pattern for House Block #1 so you can get started!

Want to make the full version of First Snow or any of Tina Curran’s other amazing Christmas quilts?

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Join the Conversation!

  1. Thank you very much for the block. You stated that you would be giving the first four blocks free. Did I read that correectly? If I did will you be sending me a email when they will be available and then how will I be able to get the others and how much will they cost? It is a very lovely quilt.