I’m back with the second part of my Paper Pieced Log Cabin Christmas Wreath. You can see part 1 here.

Today I will demo the rest of paper piecing the blocks, finishing the top, and machine quilting my mini-quilt to finish.

Here is a refresher of the paper piecing process from last week with a few more detailed pictures. My favorite method of paper piecing uses a straight edge and an add a quarter ruler. Be sure to click the images below for closeups.

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Step 1 – Paper Piece all of your Log Cabin Blocks from Last Week

(You can download the log cabin foundations for free or you can purchase a set of printed foundations on lightweight see-through vellum paper from my store.)

• Add your next log to a freshly trimmed side.
• Flip over and sew from the paper side following the  numbered lines in order
• Press your sewn seam with a wooden seam roller
• Fold the paper on the next seam number that you will be sewing (use a business card or postcard as a straight edge)
• Pull back your excess fabric, use the add a quarter inch ruler and trim the excess.
• When all 16 blocks are sewn, trim from the paper side leaving 1/4″ seams all around

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Step 2 – Sew The Top

• Lay out your 16 Log Cabin blocks so that they form a wreath shape.
• Sew each row into pairs and then the pairs into rows of 4 blocks
• Finger press your seams open, or press with a wooden seam roller
• Join the rows to complete the top
• Once the top is complete, carefully remove all the papers
• Add the thinner red borders to the sides and top
• Add the wider green borders around the outside

Step 3 – Baste and Quilt

I quilt everything on my regular Bernina home sewing machine and I love it!

I use Pinmoors and flat flower pins to baste all of my quilts because they are so easy to remove while machine quilting.

Before basting, I marked straight lines around the wreath design with a water soluble pen. Always be sure to test your fabrics for marking removal and to make sure they won’t bleed when they get wet.

I quilted the straight lines with my walking foot. Then I added double loops in the borders and smaller loops in the background with my free-motion foot.

I used matching solid red fabric for the binding. For this quilt, I tried a Sewline glue pen to keep the binding in place on the back while finishing by hand.  It keeps my binding nice and tidy!

You can see an in-depth binding tutorial here.

Voila! It’s finished!

I have tons more ideas of what you can do with these blocks:

• Use as the center of a larger quilt.
• Sew a pillow, wall-quilt or table topper
• Make more blocks for a larger throw sized quilt
• Turn one block into a Christmas Ornament
• Make matching placemats

That was fun. Be sure to email me pictures when you make one, too!