My first official finish for 2013 is this Christmas tree skirt I made using less than two charm packs of Reindeer Games and a little bit of yardage for border and binding and a piece of Merry Medley for the backing.

I'm going with 50 weeks ahead of schedule with this one, folks.  I so very much wanted to have it finished for this Christmas (did have it pieced).  That didn't happen as there were other more important things to tend, but as I still felt like working with Christmas fabric, I went ahead and finished it over Christmas break.  I'm so very glad I did.  Making this little tree skirt was a lot of fun and without a doubt next Christmas season I'll be very happy to pull it out and have it ready.  (Whoohoo! I've never been ahead with any project. : )

This tutorial by Jenny at Missouri Star Quilt Co. was my inspiration. Her tutorials are among the best.  Added button loop closure and some wooden buttons I had on hand. I thought all the little corners would be a challenge, but really they weren't (maybe even a little easier than a true corner, to be honest).  It wasn't until I had my binding made and was getting ready to put it on that I realized, "Oh, yes, I have a tight little circle to bind. Hmm, guess I should have made bias binding." Too late. I went ahead with my straight binding, did the circle first thing and took it slow. I think it turned out fairly well. Oldest daughter A assures that no one is going to crawling up under the tree to inspect so I needn't worry. One of my biggest cheerleaders that girl is.



With this project I tried a new way of basting my quilt layers - no tape, no spray, no boards. I had my doubts, worried I would have a lot of puckers, but not a single pucker. Can hardly believe it. It quilted up beautifully. (I love how the quilting turned out!)  I simply placed the backing fabric face down, smoothed my flannel piece over that (didn't use batting), and then smoothed my quilt top face up on the flannel. Starting in the middle I pin basted out from middle to edge smoothing with almost every pin. It was so simple, seemed almost too simple but I couldn't be happier with the results. I used this same basting technique on a lap size quilt next in line to quilted. It is quite a bit bigger so we shall see how it turns it (fingers crossed : ).

Have I said how happy I am with how the quilting turned out?  Here is a shot of a few of my favorite prints - poinsettias, holly, and the little wreaths & candy canes. Yup, I made sure when I laid it out and before I cut up the back that my favorites were in front.

PS: Must say it did take some courage to cut into this little quilt after it was quilted. It was so nice. Would have made a very nice table topper.  Daughter R didn't want me to cut it at all. In her opinion we could just set the tree on top of it and it would look perfect. Almost did this, almost...then decided, no, I can do it. Cut it and bound it late one evening and had it under the tree to surprise everyone the next morning. They all love it and are happy I made something quilted for us to keep.

Blessings, everyone.
Anna

...and my first blog post ever just in time for the Home Spun Holiday Show 'n Tell over at Piece N Quilt




Well, here it is...



After a couple months of reading some very, very inspiring blogs from accomplished quilters (thank you so much, ladies, for taking the time to share), I am so happy to have completed my very first quilting project. It has already been gifted to my mom so I can post away about it : )




Fabrics are a variety chosen from my local quilt shop. There was no cotton batting to be found in my stash so I used some natural heavy flannel as a replacement. Roughly followed Twiddletails Strippy Runner tutorial found here and Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial for binding here (my miters need some work but overall I'm pleased with my first binding - I was nervous about it finishing up without puckers or creases somewhere, but it actually turned out better that I had hoped).



I wasn't sure which quilting method to use so I chose to go with decorative stitching as I'm familiar with them and have several to choose from on my machine. The border would probably look better handstitched on the back, but I was on a deadline so I went with machine stitching. Silly me for trying to complete my first quilting project on such a slim timeline. But, I DID IT! and I'm very pleased with how the finished runner turned out, and more importantly, the recipient is very happy with it and how it fits in her room. Now I just have to get busy and get one made for our own table. I have some Frosted Memories fabric in mind for that one.