Thursday, December 23, 2010

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. -Peg Bracken

Well it's almost Christmas and I finally finished the tree skirt for my Mum! Quite a number of years back my Mum received a tree skirt cross stitch kit as a gift, but didn't finish it because our cat, Smokey, wasn't de-clawed and she knew he'd tear it up. Smokey was put down last year when he got very ill, and my Mum decided it was finally time to finish up her cross stitch. She finished it just before last Christmas, but she doesn't sew so she asked me if I could turn it into an actual skirt for her (it was just one giant square - about 48x48" or so - of aida) and of course I said yes!

Now, me being me, it would not suffice to finish the skirt the way the directions said; they basically said to cut the aida into a circle, hem it, and throw it under the tree...what?! To me this just seems a little crazy - you spend all that time on the cross stitch and this is how they direct you to finish it? No no, this would not do! So let me present you with a tree skirt finished the "Kaye-way",


Now, isn't that better? I cut the back half of the aida off because let's face it aida is not cheap (especially for that much of it) and it bothered me that the back half of the skirt would just be blank (not cool). I used a brushed cotton plaid and also used a cotton print on the underside. I also bound it because my Mum asked that I finish it "like a quilt" - and my gosh, binding circles is HARD! I had never tried it before and it was a test!


I quilted some snowflakes on the plaid to add a little fun, and sewed in a couple of stay stitches throughout the cross stitch area (only on areas that were blank aida). Here are some close-ups of my Mum's stitching,



Didn't Mum do a fabulous job?! She's a "great stitcher" according to Amanda!

I also wanted to share with you the fact that I'm in a magazine - the issue just came out! I was interviewed for Quilter's Connection magazine in my capacity as President of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild and they showed a picture of my The Garden Path quilt (actually the same picture twice - once in the table of contents and once in the article).



Yes, please ignore the part where they misspelled my name next to the quilt (grrrrr)! I'm not sure if this magazine is widely available in the States - it's a Canadian publication and relatively new (only on their 6th issue) but I have heard a rumour that it is available at some Joann's stores.

Okay all, I'm off to a Christmas party in a little bit and then Alex and I are heading to my Mum's tomorrow to spend Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely holiday weekend!

12 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure i've seen this magazine around town, and i'm willing to bet it was Joann's, since that's about the only place I look at quilt magazines anymore. I am going to try and find a copy!

    The tree skirt is beautiful! What amazing work you and your mom did! I love your snowflake quilting - they are so perfect!!

    Wonderful job Kaye!

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  2. What an amazing tree skirt! You both did a wonderful job!

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  3. I saw that article the other day and didn't put two and two together. Congrats!

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  4. That is a lot of work that your mom put into a tree skirt! I hope it's visible under the tree! That was nice of you to finish off the project properly for her. Congrats on the article!

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  5. Cool being the magazine. Bummer about the misspelled name. I'm going to check Joanns here and hopefully they'll have a copy. And that tree skirt is amazing!

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  6. That tree skirt is SO SO SO pretty!!!!! Your mom has the patience of a saint with all that stitching and it is seriously GORGEOUS!!!!

    I'm so excited & proud of you..magazines = AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!! xoxox

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  7. Amazing cross-stitch!! Your collaborative tree skirt has "precious heirloom" written all over it!!

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  8. The tree skirt is beautiful and I think you made great choices for the finishing - the quilted snowflakes are so pretty. Your mom certainly is an expert stitcher, the images of vintage Christmas are lovely!

    Great to see you in QC mag!

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  9. Congratulations! I'll head over to JoAnn's tomorrow and look for it! I loooove the tree skirt! The cross stitch is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I could find a snow village cross stitch, too! :) Happy Holidays, Kaye! :)

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  10. I just found your post. I love what you have done!!. The tree skirt is beautiful.
    I know its been a long time but does your mom have any idea what company made that print?? I have looked and cant find it anywhere. My daughter just got married and it would make an awesome Christmas gift for the future.
    Thank you
    Blessings to you and your Mom
    Dawn

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    1. Hi Dawn,

      The cross stitch was part of a kitted pattern that Dimensions released in 1998. It was called "Country Holiday" (pattern number 8577). Unless you can find it on eBay or the like, it is likely not available anymore. However, I think Dimensions releases new tree skirt kits every year, so you may be able to find something fairly similar.

      Thanks so much for the tree skirt love!
      -Kaye

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