to full size. Take care with the order you add the appliqué pieces so that any overlapping works properly. Make two strips of fencing 13½in (34.3cm) long (left of house) and 7½in (19cm) long (right of house). Make them in the same way as stems – see Appliquéd Strips. Cut each of the strips into four. Appliqué the cross pieces of the fence first, making sure their ends will just be covered by the house. Add the fence posts, making sure that the bottoms will just be covered by the hill.
3 Prepare the house walls and roof for appliqué using the Freezer Paper Underneath method. Join them to each other by hand first and then appliqué them to the background, making sure the base of the walls will just be covered by the hill. Using the Freezer Paper on Top method add the door, windows and chimney, making sure the base of the door will be covered by the hill. Add the hill (freezer paper under) and turn the top raw edge over the paper as normal but leave the sides and bottom raw. The bottom of the hill should be in line with the bottom of the background fabric. Add the geese, bodies and then wings (freezer paper under).
4 Add the stems for the large flowers, followed by flower heads and leaves. To make each flower place two 5½in (14cm) squares right sides together. Draw the flower shape in the centre of one of the squares, on the back. Sew all the way round the drawn line and cut the flower out with ¼in (6mm) seam allowance. Snip into the curves and snip a hole in the centre of the flower. Turn inside out and press. Position the flowers so that they cover the end of the stem and machine in place. Add the leaves using template plastic and the Appliqué using Templates method. Using two strands of embroidery thread, embroider the windows using backstitch and the geese features with two small parallel stitches and a French knot eye.
This variation of the quilt was worked entirely with hand appliqué using a more mellow colour scheme. It is very similar to the quilt described in the instructions but with an additional lower panel. The templates for this variation are available from my website: www.clarespatterns.co.uk
Making panel 2
5 Cut out the background fabric 20¾in × 10¼in (52.7cm × 26cm). This allows for a seam. Again, if you want more allowance make the rectangle bigger. The finished size for panel 2 will be 20¼in × 9¾in (51.4cm × 24.8cm).
Sewing the appliqués
6 For the tree branches and trunk use the Freezer Paper on Top method. Number all the branches on the template and on the freezer paper to help keep track of the pieces. Follow this order to add the pieces.
a Small branches first, making sure the large branches will overlap the end of the small branches.
b Sew on the large branches, making sure the trunk will overlap them and that the tree trunks end ¼in (6mm) below the bottom of the drawn rectangle.
c Using template plastic or freezer paper prepare the leaves in a variety of different greens and sew them in place.
d Add the bird.
Using two strands of thread, embroider the twigs of the trees in back stitch and the bird’s beak using two small parallel stitches, and the eye as a French knot.
Making the top and bottom panels
7 Cut two pieces of background fabric each 20¾in × 4¼in (52.7cm × 10.8cm) (includes a ¼in/6mm seam). Leave more allowance if you wish and trim later. The finished size for these end panels is 20¼in × 3¾in (51.4cm × 9.5cm).
Sewing the appliqués
8 To help place the appliqué pieces for the flowers, fold each piece of fabric in half both ways and steam iron to crease. Prepare the appliqué pieces. Add the stems – each is 7½in (19cm) long. See Appliquéd Strips. Add the flower heads and leaves.
Making the triangle strips
9 The strips of triangles that go between the panels are made with foundation piecing. Make a plastic triangle using the foundation piecing template. Note: the template shows the cutting, not the sewing line. Use it to mark out triangles, making sure that the longest side of the triangle is either along the grain of the fabric or at right angles to it. You will need forty-eight triangles from the main background fabric and forty-eight from various red/pink scraps, using perhaps eight different fabrics. Place the triangles on a work top so they are arranged alternately, pink, background, pink, background, and so on.
10 There are three strips of triangles altogether. Trace the template for the strips three times on to paper. Using these paper templates, join the triangles into strips using foundation piecing – see Foundation Piecing Triangle Strips. There are thirty-two triangles in each strip.
Joining the panels and strips
11 Using a ¼in (6mm) seam, sew the strips to the main panels and end panels. When you join the triangle strips it is important that the seam does not cut off the points of the triangles. It may help to place a pin through the panel and strip exactly where each triangle point is.
Making the outer border
12 The wide outer border is made up of twenty-eight nine-patch blocks, which are joined together with triangles. If the match between the sizes of the outer and inner borders is not exact, there is some scope for adjustment by changing the size of the inner border. For this reason it is a good idea not to add the inner border until after the outer border is made. Choose nine different fabrics and cut twenty-eight 1½in (3.8cm) squares from each (252 in total). Collect the squares into groups of nine, with all nine fabrics in each group. Sew the groups of nine squares into nine-patch blocks, so you have twenty-eight blocks, each 3½in (8.9cm) square to its raw edges – see Fig 1.
Fig 1 Nine-patch block
13 From the fabric chosen for the border triangles, cut twelve 5½in (14cm) squares. Cut each square across both diagonals to create forty-eight triangles in total. Sew these triangles to the nine-patch blocks to make the border (see Fig 2). Make separate border sections for the two sides, the two ends and the corners, as shown, and set aside.
