Riley Blake Oh, Colorful Trees! - Downloadable PDF

Riley Blake Oh, Colorful Trees! Quilt Pattern – Downloadable PDF Summary

The Riley Blake Oh, Colorful Trees! pattern is a free downloadable PDF from Riley Blake Designs that guides quilters through constructing a 60" x 60" finished quilt — a generous lap or throw size that works beautifully as a seasonal or holiday statement piece. Rated as an intermediate difficulty project, this pattern is best suited for quilters who are comfortable with precise cutting, accurate seam allowances, and assembling multiple block types into a cohesive quilt top.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a square quilt measuring 60 inches by 60 inches, designed as a blanket or throw. The quilt features a charming, colorful design built around 8" x 8" finished blocks — specifically Snowman Blocks — arranged with careful attention to fabric placement and directionality. The overall design incorporates a border treatment using a blue stripe fabric, giving the finished quilt a polished, framed appearance. The festive, playful aesthetic makes this an ideal project for holiday gifting or seasonal home décor.

Block Design and Construction

Snowman Blocks

The central design element of this quilt is the Snowman Block, which finishes at 8" x 8". The pattern provides detailed instructions for constructing one block at a time, with specific guidance on piece placement referenced through a Snowman Block Diagram. A key design detail is the use of flying geese units within the blocks, which add movement and visual interest to each snowman motif.

Quilters will construct three distinct variations of the Snowman Block:

• 4 blocks featuring all blue flying geese units
• 4 blocks featuring three blue flying geese units and one red flying geese unit
• 1 block featuring all red flying geese units

Because the snowman motifs are directional, the pattern emphasizes careful attention to the placement of red points within the blocks to ensure the design reads correctly once the quilt top is assembled. This directional consideration is one of the elements that places this pattern at the intermediate skill level.

Techniques Used

This is a quilting project that draws on several classic and intermediate patchwork techniques:

• Flying geese construction — a foundational quilting technique used to create triangular units that suggest movement and direction within a block
• Precise rotary cutting — strips and pieces must be cut accurately to ensure blocks assemble correctly; for example, 6 strips measuring 3½" x WOF (width of fabric) are cut from the blue stripe for the border
• Accurate seam allowances — all measurements include a ¼" seam allowance, a standard in quilting that requires consistent stitching to maintain block integrity
• Right-sides-together sewing — the pattern specifies sewing with right sides together unless otherwise noted, a standard quilting assembly method
• Quilt assembly and layout — blocks are arranged with reference to a quilt photo for fabric placement, requiring the quilter to plan color distribution across the full quilt top
• Border application — a structured border is added using the blue stripe fabric, framing the central block arrangement

Stitches and Sewing Methods

As a quilting pattern, the primary construction method relies on straight-line machine stitching. The ¼" seam is the cornerstone stitch used throughout all block and quilt assembly steps. Flying geese units typically involve sewing diagonal seams across square corners to create the triangular geese shapes — a technique that rewards careful marking and pressing for crisp, accurate points.

Materials – Fabric Requirements

This pattern is designed specifically for use with Riley Blake Designs fabrics, with precise yardage requirements listed for each colorway. The fabrics referenced in the pattern include:

• 1 yard of main print — C7080 Red
• ½ yard of snowman