Start your Christmas quilting today! Make a traditional centrepiece for your festive table
You'll have the best laid table in town when you top it with this quilted Christmas table centrepiece! Perfect for celebrations throughout the festive season, it looks equally stunning in classic red and green or modern, non-traditional Christmas colours.
If you haven't done English pieced patchwork before then this is a great opportunity to learn, and Lynne Edwards' in-depth tutorial will guide you through all the steps. Collect your supplies, switch on your sewing machine, and get ready for a cosy Christmas project to get you in the festive spirit.
“It is very tempting to assume that everyone knows how to do English pieced patchwork (now often referred to as EPP) and that you will have already established your own favourite ways of doing this traditional technique. There are many YouTube tutorials to refer to for guidance, and I tackled the whole process in one of my own videos, but I still want to offer the methods and choices here, plus a few tips for making things easier.”
Lynne Edwards
- 17 fat quarter quilt patterns you'll want to make tonight
- Make a warm hug in blanket form with our DIY weighted blanket tutorial
- Fall in love with these autumn quilt patterns!
You will need
- Contrasting fabric 1 (green) – One (1) fat quarter
- Lynne used fabric 1 as the border fabric, if you wish to use a different fabric you will need one (1) fat quarter.
- Contrasting fabric 2 (red) – One (1) fat quarter
- BKG (fabric 3) – Two (2) fat quarters
- Batting – 22in square
- Backing – Two (2) 11in x 20in pieces
- Templates – EPP and cutting diamond templates
Finished size
- 16½in x 19½in
How to make a Christmas table centrepiece
Making the papers
The whole design is made using one (1) shape, shown in Fig 1 – a diamond that measures 1½in along each side, with the sharp corners forming an angle of 60 ̊. The EPP template is used to draw around and cut out as many paper versions of the diamond as are needed for the design, in this case fifty-four (54) diamonds.
TECHNICAL TIP
This task is now made so much easier by using pre-cut papers from a specialist supplier. These ensure an accuracy that is hard to achieve when cutting out each shape by hand.
Step 1
If you are making your own EPP paper diamonds, you can make an accurate template by tracing the Fig 1 shape from the templates section onto tracing paper and cutting it out roughly approx. ¼in outside the drawn outline. Stick this onto card and then cut out the exact outline through both tracing paper and card.
Step 2
Draw around the template and cut out fifty-four (54) diamond shapes from firm paper.
Cutting the fabric
The fabric needs to be cut in the same shape as the paper but about ¼in larger on all sides. This can be cut by eye, but traditionally a second larger template is used to help cut the fabric accurately. This second diamond is given in Fig 2, with a template in the template sections and is needed for this method of cutting. If the fabric needs to be cut so that a certain detail of the fabric pattern is exactly in the centre of each diamond shape, make a template for Fig 2 from clear template plastic so that each diamond shape can be carefully positioned on the fabric and drawn around with a sharp pencil ready to be cut out, usually by hand with scissors.
If the fabric has an overall pattern and no special positioning of each diamond is needed, a card template is fine to use. The use of rotary cutting equipment means that now there is an easier and more economical way to cut the fabric diamonds, which is Lynne’s chosen method.
Perfect your EPP diamonds
Get to grips with this technique by following our beginner's guide to English paper piecing Diamonds.
Step 3
Fig 2 shows the cutting template needed for the fabric. Make this either in card or plastic, as described in step 1. The arrow drawn on the template shows the depth of the template, which in this case is approx. 1¾in. Cut a strip of the chosen fabric 1¾in wide. Note: A 1¾in x 15in strip will comfortably yield six (6) fabric diamonds.
Step 4
Place the strip on a flat surface with wrong side uppermost. Place the cutting template on the fabric strip - it should fit along the top and bottom edges of the fabric strip (Fig 3A). Draw along both slanting side edges with a sharp marking pencil. Move the template to the right along the strip so the left slanting side fits against the drawn line as in Fig 3B. Draw along the right-hand slanting line of the template.
Step 5
Move the template along and repeat step 4 until the number of diamond shapes required have been marked on the strip of fabric (Fig 4).
Step 6
Cut along the drawn slanting lines to separate the diamonds, using a ruler and rotary cutter, or with scissors if you prefer.
Making each diamond shape
Step 7
Position a paper diamond centrally on the wrong side of a fabric diamond with ¼in of fabric extending all sides. Pin in position. The points at the long corners of the fabric diamond can be shortened to leave a ¼in margin of fabric beyond the paper (Fig 5).
TECHNICAL TIP
You may prefer to use a glue stick to keep the fabric in place rather than a pin. Apply a smear or two of glue to the central area of the paper diamond. Turn the paper over and position it centrally on the wrong side of the fabric, pressing the paper firmly to glue it in place.
Step 8
Now the seam allowance needs to be folded over the paper shape and secured, either by tacking stitches or by using a glue stick, whichever method you prefer. If tacking, begin with a knot and tack fabric to paper by folding the seam tightly over the paper edge and stitching it down – the corner of fabric extending beyond the paper can be ignored at this stage (Fig 6A). Fold the next side seam allowance over the paper and stitch in the same way (Fig 6B). Continue to stitch each side in place around the diamond (Fig 6C). Finish with a double stitch that will be make it easy to undo the stitching when the papers are finally removed. Turn the tacked shape over and check that the corners exactly outline the shape of the paper beneath it (Fig 7).
If using a glue stick, run the stick along the outer ¼in of the paper diamond and fold the fabric seam allowance tightly over each side in the same way as for the tacked version described above.
Stitching the diamonds together
Once again, it seems unfair to assume that everyone knows how to do this, so Lynne has documented it here. Those addicts of the technique can just ignore this section and move on to the project itself.
Step 9
To stitch two (2) diamonds together, thread a needle with no more than 18in of matching thread. If stitching two (2) different coloured fabrics together, match the thread to the darker fabric as it is always less obvious than the lighter. Take two (2) diamond shapes and place them right sides facing, ready to sew. Fix the corner you are working towards with a pin (Fig 8) so that as you stitch along, the two (2) corners will match exactly.
Step 10
Starting with a double stitch to secure the thread, oversew with small, even stitches, making sure that the two (2) sets of corners match exactly. The stitches should be about the same distance apart as small machine stitches. As you stitch the corners together, push the seam allowances to one (1) side as in Fig 9. Once the papers are removed, these extra flaps dovetail with each other without extra bulk, so don’t be tempted to trim them down as this can weaken the seams. Finish sewing with a double stitch and cut the thread, leaving about ¼in for safety.
Creating the Christmas diamond table centrepiece
The arrangement of the two (2) main fabrics (fabric 1 and fabric 2) plus the background fabric (marked as fabric 3) is shown in Fig 10.
Step 11
Use the English paper piecing method described in steps 7-8 to make the following diamond shapes:
- From fabric 1, make fifteen (15) diamonds.
- From fabric 2, make twenty-four (24) diamonds.
- From fabric 3 (the background), make fifteen (15) diamonds.
Step 12
To make the centre of the design, take three (3) diamonds of fabric 1 and arrange them to make the hexagon shape shown in Fig 11A. First stitch two (2) diamonds together. Open out the two (2) diamonds and attach the third diamond in the same way, sewing a double stitch at the centre of all three (3) diamonds to strengthen it (Fig 11B). You may need to fold the pieces to bring the edges together, but don’t worry they will flatten out perfectly once stitched.
Step 13
Take nine (9) diamonds of background fabric 3 and arrange them around the centre as shown in Fig 12. Oversew the diamonds together in this arrangement. Note: There is no specific order needed to do this, just find a route through that suits you, reinforcing any junctions with a double stitch as you go.
Step 14
Take one (1) diamond of background fabric 3 and four (4) diamonds of fabric 2 and arrange them together as in Fig 13. Stitch the diamonds together in this arrangement to make a unit.
Step 15
Arrange the stitched unit with the main block as in Fig 14. Stitch the unit to the central design in this arrangement.
Step 16
Make five (5) more of the units shown in Fig 13. Arrange them around the main design (Fig 15). Stitch each unit to the centre design as in Fig 16.
Step 17
Now take two (2) diamonds of fabric 1 and arrange and stitch them together to make a chevron unit as in Fig 17.
Step 18
Position this unit into the centre design (Fig 18). Stitch the unit to the central design in this arrangement.
Step 19
Make five (5) more of the chevron units shown in Fig 17. Arrange them around the main design (Fig 19). Stitch each unit to the centre design in this arrangement. This completes the central design of the Christmas table centrepiece.
Adding the outer background
Step 20
Press the design well and then remove the papers, keeping the seam allowances of the outer edge tucked under the design out of view. Note: You may want to tack around this outer edge to keep everything in place, it’s your choice.
Step 21
To complete the table centrepiece design, position the pieced shape centrally on a fat quarter of background fabric 3 (or a new fabric if you prefer). If possible, there needs to be 1½in or more of background fabric extending beyond each of the six (6) chevron units of fabric 1. Pin or tack the design all around the edge to keep it in place on the background.
The outer edges of the block can now be appliquéd onto the background fabric, either by hand or by machine making sure to tuck any seam allowances away.
Step 22
Trim the background fabric into a hexagon shape. Lynne used the outer edges of the diamonds made with fabric 2 as a guideline, cutting parallel to the edges and 2½in beyond those edges. This made an outer edge that was a comfortably clear of the six (6) chevron shapes of fabric 1 so the whole design floated on this outer background.
Adding the final border
Rather than struggle to make mitred corners on this hexagonal shape, Lynne used the following method.
Step 23
Measure the sides of the table centrepiece. Hopefully they will be about the same as each other, but this is not essential. Just take the longest measurement and add 2in to this. Cut six (6) strips of the chosen border fabric, each 1½in wide and the length of the longest side plus 2in. Lynne used fabric 1.
Step 24
Centre, pin and stitch a cut strip to one (1) side of the hexagonal block. Repeat this on the opposite side of the block (Fig 20A). Press the strips out from the main block and trim the ends to match the angled sides of the block (Fig 20B).
Step 25
Repeat step 24 with another two (2) cut strips (Fig 21A). Finally, repeat step 24 with the two (2) remaining strips (Fig 21B).
Finishing the table centrepiece
Step 26
Take the two (2) 11in x 20in pieces of backing fabric and stitch them together along the long sides, leaving an unstitched section about 6in long in the centre of the seam (Fig 22A). Press the seam open, including the unstitched section (Fig 22B).
Step 27
Trim the backing and the piece of batting to fit exactly the front of the table centrepiece.
Step 28
Layer the three (3) pieces in this order: first the batting, then the front of the block onto it with right side up, and then the backing fabric, right side down, matching all the edges exactly. Pin the layers together around the edges.
Step 29
Using the walking foot, stitch a ¼in seam around all the edges. Trim the corners a little to reduce the bulk and turn the table centrepiece through to its right side through the unstitched section of the backing fabric.
Press the edges of the runner and stitch the gap in the backing fabric, ready for the final quilting.
Quilting the table centrepiece
Step 30
Lynne quilted by machine around the centre hexagon and on the background fabric ¼in beyond the pieced diamonds. A line of quilting in the seam of the outer border and ¼in within the outer edge of the Christmas table centrepiece completed the design.
Decorate for dinner with a Christmas table centrepiece
A beautiful centrepiece is essential for a well-decorated Christmas table! Add a candle in a holder to this quilted table topper for an eye-catching display you'll want to use year after year.
Make a traditional quilted wreath with Gathered
Complete your festive decor with our folded fabric wreath by Lynne Edwards. Made using an origami-inspired technique it'll elevate both your skills and your style this Christmas!
Read more:
