Tag Archives: christmas tree skirt

Happy Sewing!

26 Replies

Honestly, I should be dressed and out the door by now. I want to get to the grocery store and have another errand or so to do. Instead I am on my second cup of coffee and thought I would do a quick post. The grocery store can wait.

I spent all week down with a cold – honestly these grand daughters of ours really need to stop sharing germs with me. Ray is fine, the girls only felt mildly ill for about a day or two and I felt crummy for over a week. I think I am on the other side of it, just in time for Thanksgiving!!

While I was being lazy on the couch and scrolling Facebook, I saw a post in our (sort of) local sewing group. Someone had made these ornaments and I really liked them. Looking at the tutorial on AppleGreen Cottage, I saw how easy they would be to make. I carried my Kleenex, Ricola cough drops and water up to the sewing room and got started. I love them! The bells really finish them off but the center could have anything – a pretty button or a fluffy pom pom would also be cute. I am going to put a thread loop on them for hanging.

When we were with the girls two weeks ago, A was really enjoying playing with American Girl Dolls (they were her mother’s). I thought about making something for them for Christmas and had this brainstorm to make a set of hospital items. My daughter in law is a physician so the girls see her wearing scrubs quite often. She is a radiologist so I am trying to create a way for them to play pretend doctor. There are two dolls so one can be the patient and the other, a doctor.

A few months back, the conversation above happened between A and Daddy. Clearly she is trying to understand what Mom does when in her office (she works at both the hospital and from home). Maybe she doesn’t understand one doesn’t have to take their skin off to look at the bones, she does seem to grasp that taking pictures of bone suits is the way to make some money. Hahaha

Additionally, I got to work on a Christmas tree skirt for Julia. This is her first time putting a tree in her apartment so she is collecting a few holiday items. I didn’t use a pattern for this – but in case you are wondering, I used five inch squares and kept the diameter at less than 42″ so I could back it with one piece of fabric. The pom poms really add some character to the skirt. It was an easy project and I will bring it to her on Thursday.

OK – my coffee is now cold (ugh!) so it is time to get dressed and head off to the grocery. For those of you in the US – enjoy the holiday this week. I know the world is a bit of a mess but we always have so much to be grateful for. Find those small blessings and count them up. Happy Thanksgiving!

Finished! Christmas Tree Skirt

11 Replies

First of all, I want to thank you for the sweet comments on my last post.  I appreciate it.  Life isn’t predictable and this is just how it is — The migraines started almost ten years ago and I don’t see this changing any time soon.   But this week has been reasonable and I actually finished a project!  I also made a Christmas gift which I will share after the holidays. Hurray for time at the sewing machine.

I have wanted to make a quilted skirt for the Christmas tree for a long while.  Until now, I have just used a large piece of holiday fabric which I wrapped around the base of the tree.  But this year, we decided to decorate with two smaller trees instead of our usual very tall one.  This required two skirts, right?

I used a selection of holiday fabric for this.  Several of the prints are from Tis the Season, a line I carry in my shop.  The black print, the white tone on tone, and the darker red snowflake print were in my stash. The skirt was based on a pattern by Judy Metsker of Night Owl Quilting. This pattern when finished was a bit smaller than I wanted.  However, I had an older version of her pattern; it looks as though the newer version has size options.

At any rate, it was a very simple pattern.  I chose to quilt it sampler style with a different motif on each fabric using a white Mettler thread. I stitched a stipple on the red snowflake fabric and a little boxy FMQ motif on the Christmas gift fabric.

My favorite quilt motif is the row of basic Christmas trees I stitched along the border of the skirt.  I used a variegated Mettler thread in red, green and white which looks so festive.  On the white fabric I quilted a few wavy lines with stars on them.  I wasn’t able to get a photo that really shows this motif very well. I machine stitched the binding down using a zig zag stitch with the same variegated thread.  I think it looks great.

The second tree remains wrapped with that holiday fabric I have been using for so long.  But that is fine. The house looks festive and Christmas is around the corner.  How about you?  Is your tree up? Holiday shopping well underway?  Julia and I plan to go to Sacramento on Friday afternoon for the finishing touches on Christmas shopping.  I usually try to finish up early as the crowds get so crazy the week before Christmas.

Finally, I will be hosting a fun giveaway on Instagram this weekend.  Be sure to pop over Saturday morning to find out the details!  I held one last weekend and it was a lot of fun so I am going to do it again. Maybe this is your weekend to win!

Linking up to my usual favorites.  Check them ot at the top of the page, under Link Ups.