Circle Wedge Tree Skirt, Part 2

A few of our members were unable to make our tree skirt workshop, so I decided to post the rest of the directions. Instructions for Part 1 are here. 

Making the Strip Sets.  To make a strip set, fold one end of your first strip at a 45 degree angle. Place your second strip right sides together, aligning the top edge of Strip 2 with the bottom of the folded end of Strip 1. Sew seam.

Continue adding the remaining 8 strips in the same manner, remembering to fold each of the preceding ends at a 45 degree angle. Because the circle wedge ruler is placed at an angle on your strip sets, staggering the strips in this manner conserves fabric.  

Press all the seams in the same direction. Ensure that each strip is pressed out completely and that you don't have a small fold next to the seams. 

Once you have completed your first strip set, make 9 more exactly like the first. 

Cutting the Wedges. You need to cut at least 8 wedges from each of your strip sets to obtain the number of wedges required to make the tree skirts. You need 40 wedges to create one tree skirt.

Place the circle wedge ruler on your first strip set with the narrow end at the top of your strips. This is an "up cut". All the up cuts will be used to make Tree Skirt #1.


Align the 45 degree marking on your ruler with one of the seams in your strip set. Slide the ruler as close to the end of your strip set as you can, and make sure your fabric strips extend beyond the upper and lower edges of your ruler. 

Every time you make an up cut, you'll need to place the ruler in the same position on all 10 strip sets. You might want to make yourself a note as a reminder. 

If you are unable to place the 45 degree marking of your ruler on a seam line, align the 45 degree mark parallel to one of your seams. Then place a piece of painter's tape along one of the seam lines and make a note to yourself where to line up the tape on the next cut. Remember, every up cut must be cut the same way.



 

After you have cut the first wedge, flip the ruler around so that the narrow end is at the bottom of the strip set. Again, align the 45 degree marking on the ruler with one of the seam lines in the strip set. This is a "down cut". The long edge of your ruler may or may not line up with the edge of the wedge you just cut. It is more important to have the 45 line on one of your seam lines or parallel to one of them.

All the down cuts will be used to make Tree Skirt #2. Make a note of the placement if necessary so you can repeat the exact placement on all 10 strip sets.

Continue cutting wedges from your strip sets, flipping the ruler after every cut. You should have at least 4 up cuts and 4 down cuts.

If you are able to cut 9 wedges from your strip sets, you can use the extra wedges from several different strip sets to make a scrappy tree skirt.

Up Cut and Down Cut

Using either the up cut wedges or the down cut wedges, start sewing wedges together in pairs, matching the top and bottom edges of the wedges. No other matching of seams is required along the length of the seam. Remember that these are bias edges, so place as many pins as necessary along the seam line.

Continue sewing pairs of strips together until all 40 wedges are sewn together in a circle. Do not sew the last two wedges together because you'll need an opening to go around your Christmas tree. 

Press all of your seams in one direction. Press (up and down), don't iron (back and forth)!

Now make your second tree skirt. 

Quilting. I used a regular weight batting for my tree skirt, probably Warm and Natural, but you could use a thinner batting, like Thermore or Pellon fleece, or maybe even a flannel if you wanted. If you plan to quilt your tree skirt yourself on a domestic sewing machine, quilting in the ditch will suffice. You'll want to use a walking foot. You can start by quilting in the ditch every 5 or 6 wedges to secure the layers, then go back and quilt in the ditch along every seam line. I have a long arm, and I loaded my skirt on a square backing and used a pantograph to quilt my skirt. 

Binding.  Because the outer edge of your tree skirt is a curved edge, you must use a bias binding. According to the original directions that I had, about a yard of binding is required for one tree skirt. I did not add ties to my skirt; but if you wanted to, you could use extra binding or ribbon.

Barb showed us how to cut bias binding at the workshop. If you missed her demonstration, there is a good tutorial here.

February 20 Meeting

Tacoma Quilters of Litchfield met and as always had a great time together.

Barb D. is demonstrating 'how to cut bias binding'. This was a new concept to most of us.

Online tutorial ('how to')

Barb teaching how to on a fat quarter.

Sharon....Kat and Barb

How to cut on a 1 yard piece

Sharon....Barb....Sandy ...Pam

 'Show 'n Tell' 

Bea's cute 'sport focus' quilt for a little one

 This was a gift to Judy from her friend, Myra in Scotland.  A beautiful work of art done with special fabrics and hand embroidery.

 Close-up - stunning work.

 Sue R taught a class on a 'Circular Tree Skirt' done with a 90 degree ruler.

Sample of fabric choices a couple of the gals are sharing.

 Instructions how to lay ruler and cut wedges.

Group Pic

 Sandy K and Sue C. a new member cutting their wedges. It makes 2 skirts and they are sharing fabrics. You can see their choices at the top.

 Sharon

 Pam and Sue B

 Janet

There was a good number of gals that did the skirt....they were all in different stages. Next time we get to see some of the finished projects. It was delightful to see the fabrics that different ones chose. 

Until next time......

February 6 Meeting

Tacoma met for their business meeting and demo of the 'Circle Wedge Tree Skirt' that many will be doing February 20 at an all day workshop. 

 Everyone loves the coffee and special treats brought by the ladies and the catching up that takes place with one another. We did not have a lot of 'show 'n tell' this time. But what the gals did have were the use of wonderful skills.

Pauline with this gorgeous pieced quilt. This was her first time at needle turn applique. It was a McCall's pattern in a book that her friend Sherry gave her and then helped teach her 'how'  to do the applique. STUNNING!!

 Andrea is knitting a scarf/shawl. She bought 3 skeins of yarn and was wondering how long she should make it....and the 'skilled' knitters said 'keep on knitting until the balls are gone.' Of course, we all laughed but I think she was hoping she was near the end. It gave us a chuckle...so Andrea just keep knitting and maybe we can see the finished piece next time. 

 Janet who is the 'Queen of Bargello's.' She received a scholarship from PTQG (Pine Tree Quilters Group) for $250.00. This is the beginning of the use of the monies. A class with Quilt University. She is always doing different techniques and these are some that she has experimented with. She takes the class and if she does not care for how it looks she puts her own spin on it. They were just beautiful. A very gifted lady with an eye for color and technique. Great job!! She is also our correspondent for the state newsletter 'Patchwork Press' and always does a superb job. We look forward to seeing all the new ones she will create. When finished will  give a report at the state members meeting within a year's time. 

DISPLAY-FIVE  JANET'S  BARGELLO'S

(She explained the varied name's of the different technique's)

 This one is so interesting don't you think?

 Sue R. who will be teaching how to make 'Circle Wedge Tree Skirt' gave a demo to the those interested. If you would like to see more just click the link.

GUESS WHO!!!! We have 'secret sisters' and this was the bag full of things that were received. Of course, we do not know 'who' did it until the big  reveal in June. But it brought a lot of laughs!! We always have such fun with those who get a surprise. We drew names in September and we are responsible to give at least 4 times until June when we find out who is our special sister. Chocolate is a favorite of most everyone and always bring a smile. We have a lot of thoughtful girls who are having fun with it. 

 This month represents Mardi Gras and Valentine's

fabric, pencils, napkins for both events, pad of paper and then

of course the mask which was on the outside of the bag. So cute and thoughtful.

Yours truly was the recipient along with a unique note. Thank you SS.

Next time will be our workshop. Until then 'HAPPY QUILTING'

Circle Wedge Tree Skirt

This is the tree skirt we'll be making at the Feb 20 meeting. In order to maximize our time at the workshop, it would be helpful if participants could construct at least one strip set before the workshop. At the next meeting on Wednesday, I'll show you how to make a strip set. There's really not much to it, but the strips must be staggered, so don't start yet.

The instructions will produce two 50" tree skirts with the fabric order reversed in the second skirt. In the example above, the white fabric is in the center of one skirt, and the same fabric appears around the outer edge of the second skirt. 

Supplies. For the workshop on Feb 20, you'll need your normal sewing items, to include a neutral colored thread like tan or gray. Additionally you might bring your rotary cutter and mat. We do have a couple of mats at Tacoma, but you may have to wait in line to cut if you don't bring your own. 

A 9 degree circle wedge ruler in a 25" length is also required for this project. I purchased mine many years ago, probably from a quilt shop. Marilyn Doheny is the inventor of this ruler, and you can buy one directly from her.
http://dohenypublications.mybigcommerce.com/25-9-degree-circle-wedge-ruler/

Amazon also has them for a few dollars less.
http://www.amazon.com/25-Degree-Circle-Wedge-Ruler/dp/B005MGUHXM

Choosing Fabric. You can use 6 to 10 fabrics in your tree skirt. I used 9 in the tree skirts I've made. You can use all different fabrics or you can repeat one if you wish. Tone on tones and small prints seem to work better than large scale prints. In this photo, I used a medium scale floral with red flowers and white flowers. It appears in the middle of the wedges. I like it, but I wouldn't use a print larger than this. You can decide if you like the effect or if you'd prefer to stick with a smaller scale print. 

I like to add a stripe to my fabric set because I think it adds interest. You could also add washable satin or gold lame for a little sparkle, but you might have to back the lame with fusible interfacing. 

Yardages and Cutting Requirements. Once you've chosen your fabrics, you'll need to choose the order in which you'd like the fabrics to appear in your tree skirt. I found it very helpful to make a fabric layout chart with small pieces of my fabrics taped to a sheet of paper, especially when I was sewing the strips together. Next to the fabrics, I annotated how wide to cut my strips.

You will be cutting 10 identical strips from each of your fabrics, and you'll be sewing 10 identical strip sets. You can choose what widths you'd like to cut your strips, but the width of your strip set must measure at least 19" finished.  

Here are the measurements I used for my tree skirt. If you change the number of fabrics used or the widths of any of the strips from my set of measurements, you will need to recalculate your yardages.

Fabric #1:  3-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 4" wide, 1-1/4 yard required
Fabric #2:  2" finished, cut 10 strips 2-1/2" wide, 3/4 yard required  
Fabric #3:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #4:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #5:  2-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 3" wide, 1 yard required
Fabric #6:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #7:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #8   2" finished, cut 10 strips 2-1/2" wide, 3/4 yard required
Fabric #9:  3-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 4" wide, 1-1/4 yard required

In my chart, notice that the total of all the "finished" measurements adds up to 19-1/2", which is fine. Remember, the strip set must measure at least 19" finished. 

Additional Yardage Requirements:
About 4 yards of fabric for backing for 2 tree skirts
4 yards batting for 2 tree skirts
2 yards fabric for binding 2 tree skirts 

You do not need to bring any of your supplies or fabrics to the next meeting unless you want to sit and sew some strips together, but be thinking about fabric choices, and work on getting your ruler. If you have any questions, please call or email me.