A few of my long arm quilting customers asked me if I could teach them a new technique. After a few scheduling conflicts, we finally got together and I taught Ashley, Mary and Mallory how to use a special ruler to make a circular Christmas tree skirt.
We all had such a great time at my home in New Lenox! Tables were set up, along with sewing machines and a pressing station, and away we went.
The pattern the girls chose had the option of two different styles of skirt, and Mary chose one style and her two daughters-in-law chose the other. Here are a few of the pictures I snapped as we cut fabric, sewed strip sets, sliced them up, put them back together again in a new way, and, of course, did some special pressing:
Here is Ashley, holding up one of the eighth-units of her tree skirt.
There was not enough time in class to finish the projects, but the techniques were taught so that the girls could finish up on their own time, helping each other along as they went.
A few days after class, Ashley sent me this picture of her almost-completed tree skirt:
I say "almost-completed" because we are going to have another class in several weeks to teach how to bind the tree skirts to finish off the raw edges. Before that class, each student will cut out a circular backing fabric, sandwich it together with the top and the batting, and do some simple straight-line quilting. I'm sure we will have just as much fun at that class as we did at this one!
Thanks, Girls, for being such great students! If there is anyone else out there who is interested in taking a class at your home or mine, click here to find out more.
