The city had been talking about it all week: the forecast for our first snowfall over the weekend. Costco garages were lined up with drivers waiting snow tire installations. People canceled weekend plans in advance. Kids got their toboggans out and leaned them against the house at the ready. You see, snow in the third week of November is a rare occurrence in Vancouver and people tend to freak out at the prospect. Having grown up and learned to drive in Ottawa (our capital city which lies in a massive snowbelt), I am a confident winter driver. Having an all-wheel drive Volvo station wagon helps, too.
The snowy blanket over the city was a great mood enhancer for my O Joyful Tree Skirt class! Fifteen members of my guild gathered in a bright church hall to create Carol's beautiful tree skirt.
We shared and swapped red and green strips.
I love teaching classes and to watch everyone's projects come together. Before lunch, everyone got one panel complete. Most chose to use a cream or white background, but there was a black (Michael Miller Fairy Frost) and a pretty blue chosen as well. Some made the tree skirt with modern fabrics, others used up their Christmas scraps and there was even a batik version. We put 8 together on the design wall:
After lunch we all went step by step through the process of creating continuous bias binding using the barrel method (if you google "continuous bias binding", there are many videos and tutorials of varying helpfulness. I use this book's method to teach students). This is definitely the quickest way to 260" of bias binding! We used a 25" square of fabric and this gives you enough to bind the tree skirt and make 4 ties. I demonstrated how to sew the binding on the scallops (explained in this post) before the end of class.
It's been a while since I taught at a quilt shop and this is the first time teaching for my own guild, so I really enjoyed the day. Here are all the gals with their panels:
Some were able to sew up 4 or 5 more panels after we made the binding, so perhaps we'll even see a tree skirt at guild show and tell Tuesday night!
Thanks Carol, for a fun pattern and your permission to teach it to my fellow guild members. There will be 15 more cozy trees this Christmas!
16 comments:
Oh WOW! I love the design as you know hehe! And now all those super lucky ladies will have their own x
Lovely! I wonder how you can stand to cover up this tree skirt with presents?
Yur guild members worked very hard! I love to see all the different trees, especially the one with the light blue background!
You must be taking the picture because you aren't in it!! Love the Christmas skirt!! Very festive!
Paulette
That looks like so much fun, and with brilliant results!
Sooo cute!!!! I love it and that wintery scene is lovely too.
OMG Krista, didn't you feel as though you were birthing a bunch of new creations? That's how I feel! My heavens, such beauties those tree skirts will be. Thank you for being a marvelous teacher and using my pattern. I am sooooo proud!
Doesn't that look like fun!
Looks like you all had fun - the tree skirts are all great!
Oh what a fun post! We had snow too. I refuse to drive in it. The only time I lived in serious snow was in Wyoming and I was just learning to drive at the time so driving in it kind of freaks me out.
Love the tree skirts! I have the pattern waiting for me but now with the move coming up I'm debating putting it aside until next year. I'd hate to make a tree skirt and not have a tree.
Great results from what looks like a fun class. Looking forward to S&T on Tuesday! Love the snow photog!!
We got our first big snowfall this weekend in Winnipeg, too....it is so pretty! Felt like I was living in a postcard :-) I am sure the novelty will wear off by March!
Really cute tree skirts. Must have been fun doing them together. I need to make a tree skirt myself (might have to wait til next year). And that snow is just beautiful!
What a fabulous winter weekend to make treeskirts. They are lovely. It is just a wee bit colder up in the middle of the province!
It looks like up there in the "other Vancouver", you got a bit more snow than us down here. Still, it's nice seeing a thin blanket of snow on the ground this morning. I just hope we get a snowy Christmas again this year. It's been nice the past two years.
Ha! I just read your note on my photo on flickr - yes I'm growing lemons! We visited Ottawa for Christmas a few years back and I got a taste for how amazingly cold your part of the world gets! Our friends there laugh at me all them time when I complain that its 5C (our coldest winter days ever). I grow lemons all year round, it's always warm enough for them!!! Merry Christmas :)
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