Category Archives: quilting

The Perfect Tree

Quilters know how to put up the perfect tree

I’m a huge fan of Christmas trees. I grew up in New England so for many years, I was a devotee of the “real” Christmas tree, you know the kind where you trek into the woods at some upstate tree farm, cut down your own tree, then after copious amounts of swearing, wrangling it onto the car roof, messing up your new mittens and coat with tree pitch and raining a trail of needles all through the house, you are too tired to decorate the darn thing. Surely there must be a better way?

Since those far away years, I’ve tried lots of other kind of trees, including:

  • The Beer-Bottle Christmas Tree – My mother is to this day horrified by this one, but for a mere 10 cents apiece, an abundance of Rolling Rock bottles resulting from a neglect of timely recycling made for a glowing pyramid of green glass for my first Christmas on my own.
  • The Green Styrofoam Ball Tree – The result of a short lived fantasy about “making” all my Christmas trees. This lasted exactly one season.
  • The No-Brainer Artificial Tree – The perfect solution for the “I have 3 kids and a job and I’m a tired Mom” me. I even bragged about getting one for only 20 bucks!
  • The Norway Pine Tree –Technically, it’s a house plant so your ecologically minded 5 year old won’t accuse you of “murdering a real tree”. Sadly, they are impossible to keep alive after the holiday is over.

This brings us to the Quilt Christmas Tree. There are many very cute versions online everywhere, including a cleverly arranged collection of green Log Cabin blocks, a tree made from dozens and dozens of gathered Yo-Yo’s, and even the “advent calendar” version, festooned with an array of buttons so you can attach an ornament once per day. Whichever version you chose, take heart in knowing you won’t have to water it and, after the holidays, you can simply roll it up and tuck it away for next year.
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In My Head, I’m Quilting


As a busy Mom and small business owner, I’m always busy. Everyone and everything is always demanding my time, and most of the time I just want to be quilting. Although I can’t be sitting at my sewing machine all the time, I’ve found ways to sneak in some quilting time.

  • Graph Paper Notebooks – It’s no secret that I love office supplies and none more than graph paper notebooks. I have them in my car, on the couch, on every desk I own, even in my work bag (back when I used to have a respectable day job). I prefer the 4 square to the inch variety. I can sketch out a quilt idea and play with block design while enduring other must-do tasks like: waiting for an appointment or suffering through a boring teleconference.
  • Project in a Bag – Have some hand sewing to do, like a Grandma’s Flower Garden or Yo-Yo quilt?I just pop those little parts into a zip lock baggie and take them wherever I’m going. Grade school recital? Visit to the in-laws? You can sew the whole time and still look like you are sort-of paying attention!
  • Pretending to Clean – My family still hasn’t caught on to this one yet. Fortunately (or not?) they spend so little time cleaning themselves that they wouldn’t recognize the act if they saw it. I just tell them I’m “cleaning” my office/studio, when I’m really re-arranging my stash and trying out different fabric and color combinations in preparation for my next quilting project.
    However you manage to find it, I hope you can sneak in some quilting time today!