A recently finished, and very timely, non-garment project: a Christmas tree skirt.
Mine is made entirely from scraps of Christmas fabric left over from other projects, including fabric gift bags and
this bunting I made a few years ago (and love!).
I pieced the scraps together, improv-style (
not unlike this quilted jacket I made earlier in the year), until I had pieces large enough to cut the 16 "blades" of the tree skirt pattern. The back is also pieced from scraps, but much larger pieces.
The batting is a piece of fleece from my stash- not sure I would recommend this to others, as the slight stretch in the fleece made it a little bit tricky to work with.
The "blades" are sewn directly on the batting, quilt-as-you-go style, and then the back is sewn to that around the perimeter, and then it's turned right side out and topstitched. No binding, which is great. I considered
hand-stitching like I did for my quilted jacket, but the quilt sandwich was very thick and I decided my hands couldn't take it.
The pattern calls for button loops and buttons, but I opted for ties made from a pretty polka dot bias tape from my stash. I also skipped the tassels on each point, figuring they would just serve as cat toys.
I really love how it turned out! The quilted skirt has some weight to it, so it lays nicely and doesn't get bunched or wrinkled when my cats mess with it.
I also love the scrappiness of it, too! It has a '70s vibe that coordinates with the ornaments on my tree- lots of kitschy '70s and '80s era stuff from our childhood- felt, crochet and Make It and Bake It ornaments (remember those?!). Clashes a little bit with my rug, but oh well. I never claimed to be a minimalist.
The cat certainly likes it:
