It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Yep.  Summer is the perfect time to sew Christmas things; helps to take the mind off how hot it is outside!

Santa Bottle Covers, a Nancy Halvorsen pattern

It's my day to participate in the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop... thought you would get a kick out of these cute little Santa Elves (hee hee).  Thanks, bunches to our own "Christmas Carol" of JustLetMeQuilt for organizing the hop and cheering us on!!

Lots of quilters must have the same idea, getting a jump on holiday sewing, that is -- many of my online pattern sales recently are for my little quilted Star Medallion Tree Skirt!

I love making this festive tree skirt - all with half-square triangles - NO Y-Seams, Yeah!  The top comes together in just an hour or two, but it does take a little time to add the binding with its odd-angles.  You've got plenty of time, though:  Christmas Countdown

If you don't want to fuss with odd-angled binding, an Envelope Finish works too!  Have you tried this? Sometimes it's called a knife-edge finish.

Star Medallion Tree Skirt with Envelope (knife-edge) finish,
featuring A Merry Little Christmas by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake Designs

Stitch the backing right sides together with the quilt top, all the way around the outside edges.  Trim the backing.  Then lay the quilt top wrong side down on the batting, pin, and stitch on the same lines as before; trim off excess batting, about an inch from the stitching line.  Make a slice and cut the center circle to fit around your tree, clip the inner corners, and turn the quilt right sides out.  I don't clip the corners, I use a quick folding technique to flip the corners (tutorial HERE).  Then you only need to bind the cut edges.  Machine or hand-quilt your new tree skirt--It will look so festive under the tree!

I made this one today - just needed an example.  Right now it's unquilted, but I have time, right?

Here's the back. 

If you want to use the tree skirt as a table topper for Christmastime, skip the slice and simply leave a space (about 8") for turning the quilt right side out, then hand-stitch the opening closed. You may even want to leave out the batting for a tablecloth flimsy.

Here's a fun tree skirt I made for my sister on her little ranch in Idaho.  She wanted blues and rust to match her decor.  She and her husband raise cattle, and she has loved riding horses since she was three years old.  She sometimes competes in a barrel racing league.  It's her birthday today, so "Happy Birthday, Buckaroo Jan!

Horseshoes and bandanna print...

Cowboys, saddles, and spurs for the backing:

Fussy-pieced so it could be reversible.

Thanks for visiting my little Tree Skirt showcase - and here's a slideshow from some of my classes.  Fun to see how unique each one is:  Tree Skirt Slideshow.

Patterns for this tree skirt are now available in both printed and digital copies:

Star Medallion Tree Skirt DIGITAL PATTERN
Star Medallion Tree Skirt PATTERN

For more Ho-Ho-Holiday inspiration, Ho-Ho-Hop on over to visit these lovely ladies today!

Quiltscapes (thanks for stopping by!)

Marla’s Crafts

A Stitch In Time

Mehitabel’s Musings

Buzzing and Bumbling

Transitions For Meee

A Little Bit of Lorene

I Piece 2-Mary

Under the Presser Foot

A Reformed Heath’n

Just Sew Quilter
full lineup HERE