It's gettin' hot in here...

If I were a still a kid, this would be exactly the sort of day that my Mom would be chasing me outside to play.

So, what to do on a beautiful summer's day?

Get to work on a Christmas tree skirt, of course! Sorry, Mom. With so much of my Gotta Do list finished, it's time for new projects!

I found this cool treeskirt over at Sewknitsew a while back and filed it away for future use. The blog doesn't provide a full tutorial, just a link to her Flickr stream that shows step by step pics, but she gave a few keys hints on how to proceed in her comments.

The trickiest part (and probably the part I'm most proud of) is that there's not template given for the wedge portion of the treeskirt. I had to draft it myself using the explanation given. No problem for Q-D, but a challenge for me! I don't normally use the angle lines on my ruler, but it came in handy today. Thank goodness for chart paper, otherwise I'd have been taping 81/2 by 11 sheets together!

I went on a little post-Christmas shopping spree when everything was 50% off. Turns out, I could have bought way less of each print. But I didn't know that at the time! Here are my selections. Each wedge of the tree skirt will be a different colour. I'm also throwing in some Kona (quelle surprise!) - White, Kiwi, and Cardinal.

They look so happy out on the deck in the sunshine!

Then on to cutting out the wedges... I cut only 11. Turns out I need one more fabric. Maybe a green Kona - Clover, Jungle, Holly? - so hard to decide. I used the scraps left over from the wedge cut to make 2 inch strips for the asterisks.
 

Then I did something crazy - I signed up for Craftsy. I fear the avalanche of new patterns/classes/ideas may crush me. I knew they had an asterisk block in their 2012 Block of the Month series and I couldn't find a satisfying tutorial. Turns out they're dead easy (and a lot like the Shatter Glass block I made for ModQImprov Canada last week.) Who knew?!

Sorry, no process pics this time... I still have lots of blocks to make, so I'll share the complete tutorial later! Here she is... the first of twelve!

I'm pretty pleased with how well I managed to line up the arms of the asterisk. Normally, they'd end up half wonky on me. I'm prepared for that to happen in future blocks!

So, any Christmas in July action happening at your place?

Happy Sewing (and Happy 4th of July to any American readers out there!)

J

P.S. Mom, if it's any consolation, I'm giving serious thought to going to the beach now that this block's done ☺