'Tis the Season -- Tree Skirt finish #002

I've been looking for a tree skirt I like for years and have yet to come across one.  This year, I have a new hobby, quilting. So I was wondering if I could make one that was exactly what I wanted.  Then I should have a try skirt I love.

After much searching, I came across the French braid tree skirt design in Jane Hardy Miller's French Braid Obsession.  It was perfect!  So I bought the ebook from Amazon and went to pick fabrics!  This books as some other interesting projects.  I think I'll definitely try more French braids in the future (maybe for a binding).

This is one of the designs from the book:

I love snowmen, so I definitely wanted it to have snowmen in it.  I found a fabric with candy, Santa and snowmen, so I would it would be the perfect anchor fabric.

The project took a while to assemble but overall, it was pretty easy.  The most difficult part was maneuvering the binding.  I improvised and it definitely isn't perfect, but it works.  I call it a Candy Christmas and it was done in time for Christmas!! I'm so proud I finished it in time.

Pre-binding

First Quilt - finish #001

First Idea: I was looking for something need to do, but what.  I am a young, married professional that stumbled into quilting.  I thought it would be something fun to try but after completing my first quilt, I'm hooked.

Getting Started: When I first thought about quilting, I ran across Amy Smart's Diary of a Quilter tutorial for a simple baby quilt. 

Based on what I read from Diary of a Quilter blog, I bought:

1- rotary cuter and mat set

2- straight pins

3- scissors

4- starch!

5- 2 fat quarter bundles

6- coordinating fabric for the back

With this I followed the pattern from Diary of a Quilter and learned a lot. Her tutorial was great and easy to follow.  It is a great place to start if you are a new like me :)  Here is a link to the tutorial series: Diary of a Quilter Beginner's Series

I love the way it turned out. 

Here is the quilt top.  Check out final photos Here