Sarah’s Tree Skirt: Mosaic Tiles Quilt Along

Hey everyone! I’m Sarah of Fabric Seeds, and welcome to my stop on the Mosaic Tiles Quilt Along.

My friend Lindsay Conner, had her first book published this summer, Modern Bee. It’s a fantastic book about how to host and be a part of a successful Bee and what to expect from each participant. The idea of Modern Bee came about when Lindsay was participating in a Bee last year. She collaborated with each of her Bee members for each to come up with a pattern for the book.

To celebrate the book’s release, Lindsay has put together this great Quilt Along. Everyone is welcome to join! As an added incentive, for those that do participate, you will be entered to win some pretty great prizes by linking up your own projects after the tour.

When Lindsay asked me to be a part of the quilt along, she asked for a project made using the basic block in the book, the Mosaic Tiles block.

I had but one thought, a tree skirt. I had just pulled out my little tree a couple days before, thinking that the tree skirt for it was also put away with the other Christmas decorations. Nope. I was wrong. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Needing a new skirt anyway, this was the perfect project for me.

My original thought for fabric was to go the traditional route of red and green, with some scraps I have on hand. However, while perusing the ornaments at Target, I was stopped at the gold, bronze and chocolate ornaments. I love that look. It’s a look I keep going back to year after year. For me, it feels more like old Christmas traditional, but modern.

I was lucky enough that Nancy Halverson also had the same thought this year. I was so excited to see the gold and bronze colors in the Christmas section of a LQS. I mixed in a few silvers and a floral to bring it all together.

Since my tree is only a couple feet tall, I didn’t need to make a very big tree skirt. I only needed to make 4 blocks, and it was the perfect size!

I used white cording with a strand of silver throughout for the tie, and bound it in bronze. I had a pretty big debate with myself on which fabric to use for the binding. I may be second guessing myself now, and wishing I had used one of the golds, but really don’t want to redo it.

I even used gold and silver threads for the quilting.

I cut out about an inch and a quarter in the center, just kind of guessing how big the hole would need to be. It’s a perfect fit, and is quite snug nestled around the tree.

One particular song kept going in my head while playing with these fabrics…

“Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Ev’ryone wishes
For silver and gold
How do you measure
It’s worth?
Just by the pleasure it
Gives here on Earth
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Mean so much more
When I see
Silver
And gold decorations
On ev’ry Christmas tree”

I love how it looks under my little tree, especially with our advents bags on top.

My little boy is having more of an understanding of Christmas this year, and has been busy making ‘Thank You’ letters. This one is for Santa and has been under the tree for a couple of weeks now.

Perfect!

If you haven’t check out Lindsay’s book yet, you need to put this book on your list. There are so many blocks in this book I want to do, and how fun is it to get together with friends, with everyone helping out!

The directions are easy to follow, with diagrams to help out if/when needed. Lindsay even includes a few tips on how to save time with assembly and sewing. She did an amazing job with her book.

I hope you’ll join in the quilt along. The best part is seeing what everyone comes up with! I know I am looking forward to the linky party!!

This post is part of the Mosaic Tiles Quilt Along, which you can read about here! You can enter your project any time between now and February 14, 2014 for a chance to win some great prizes. We hope you’ll join us in this beginner-friendly and stress-free quilt along. 🙂