Quilting friends, life has been crazy lately. Suffice it to say, I don’t know if I’m coming or going most days. As a result, I find myself behind schedule on things I’ve been wanting to share with you . . . in particular, a mystery sew day I hosted at my house back in February.
Two good friends and my sister gathered at my house armed with a jelly roll, their sewing machines, and basic notions required for sewing. . . and that’s all they knew. When they arrived, I surprised them with the project for the day: the Holly Jolly Tree Skirt by Andy Knowlton of A Bright Corner. We had a blast!
My sister is new to quilting, and she did a great job putting together her tree skirt. (Her machine was acting up a bit, so she used my Bernina for a while. She enjoyed it so much, she strongly suggested that I get a brand new machine and sell my old Bernina to her. Sisters!)
The Holly Jolly Tree Skirt pattern is absolutely terrific and so much fun to make. Andy’s pattern includes instructions for three different sizes, as well as the option for using either a jelly roll or half yard cuts. We each made a tree skirt in one afternoon. It’s a great project to sew with friends! And because I know some of you will ask, here are the fabrics we used:
Taunja: Christmas Morning by Lella Boutique (top right)
Stacy: Warm Winter Wishes by Holly Taylor (bottom right)
Carolyn: Red Barn Christmas by Sweetwater (bottom left)
Sylvia: a custom made jelly roll, made from 2.5″ strips she cut from her stash!
My sister had a surprise for us as well that day. She designed t-shirts for us on her Cricut machine. (The shirt we are holding was for my scrapbooking mom, who missed that day as she wasn’t feeling well.)
We ate too much, gabbed up a storm and laughed a bunch. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I encourage you to gather a few quilting pals and have yourselves a sew day. It will be a balm for your soul!
~Taunja
