Once Upon a Story Row Along - I Had a Little Nut Tree

Welcome to the opening day of the Once Upon a Story Row along from 2019 - thanks so much to Marian of Seams To Be Sew for putting this together!  This is the fifth year of the Row Along, and the fourth year I have participated.  This year the row along has changed up a bit, we have several different sizes and shapes of rows, including squares which is kind of fun.  Marian is going to have some ideas for layouts, so no worries about that!  And our theme this year is Fairy tales and Nursery Rhymes. I can't wait to see all the great designs that come from this inspiration!  As always, there are FREE patterns and great giveaways, so do not miss checking out all the participants.  You will find my free download immediately below the instructions.

I wanted to choose something a little different for my block.  I've become quite interested in European history, and I have found many Nursery Rhymes are rooted in historical events, some not very child friendly.  I found this article to be highly informative and a good read on the subject.  The Rhyme I decided to interpret is "I Had a Little Nut Tree"

I had a little nut tree,

Nothing would it bear,

But a silver nutmeg

And a golden pear;

The King of Spain’s daughter

Came to visit me,

And all for the sake

Of my little nut tree.

Her dress was made of crimson,

Jet black was her hair,

She asked me for my nutmeg

And my golden pear.

I said, “So fair a princess

Never did I see,

I’ll give you all the fruit

From my little nut tree

You can read the Wikipedia article on it for more information, and I will tell you about how I chose to interpret it.

I like to do mostly pieced blocks because that's my particular love in quilting - and at first I thought I would do a tree block.  But then I found the Prickly Pear block and an idea was born.  Because there are so many triangles in this block I decided that one large block would do the trick, and then I would add a bit of applique to the top of it for the finishing touch!

First of all, you have to sew all the triangles.  Four large one and 20 smaller ones.  Aren't you glad it's just one block?  

The next step is to assemble the center using the four large triangles and squares.  Aren't the fabrics lovely?  Northcott Fabric generously supplied the designers with fabric for our projects!  These are from the basics - I chose a gray instead of white for my background so it would have a little softer look.  Love those wavy lines!  Northcott's fabrics have their famous soft and silky feel and are always a pleasure to sew with.  Their colors are always rich and gorgeous, too!  I chose red and black because those are the colors in the rhyme, and I love both of these fabrics.

Next, you sew all the small triangles into rows.  They all face the same direction, so be careful on this step!  Then add a black square to each end of two of the rows.

Now sew the small triangle borders to the center.  Make sure your light triangles face toward the center, then add the small strips on the outside to bring the block up to 30 inches.  Now you can add the pear applique.  I've already reversed the templates, so just trace onto fusible web and you are ready to go.

That was pretty easy, right?  The placement isn't too important, as long as it looks good to your eye!

And here you have the finished block.  Normally I quilt up my design so you can see it finished, but I am planning on making more of the other designers patterns to make a larger quilt because I loved the theme so much!  Make sure you follow along to collect the patterns and make your own "Once Upon a Story" quilt!  My pattern will be available at no charge through October 8.

Download my pattern by clicking the picture below:

I Had a Little Nut Tree Pattern

Did I mention giveaways?  I had a bundle of 4 Northcott fat quarters to give away! These are lovely Banyan Batik fabrics - love these colors. 

We are so thankful to Northcott for their generosity in sponsoring this event - make sure you look for their products in your local quilt shop and support them as well.

Make sure you visit Marian at Seams to Be Sew and Carol at Just Let Me Quilt today for more blocks!

My Etsy Shop: PamelaQuilts has my patterns and quilts for sale.  

I hope you have enjoyed my contribution to this event and will follow me on my social media links at the end of the post!