Merry Little Christmas - Brightest Star Christmas Tree Skirt -

Hi everyone, it’s Luci from Sea Garden Sewing. If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that it’s never too early for a good Christmas project. If you’re looking to get a head start on your Christmas sewing, take a look at the new Merry Little Christmas My Mind’s Eye!

I chose to make a Christmas tree skirt using the Brightest Star pattern by Megan Collins Quilt Design. This pattern offers directions for making either a round baby quilt or tree skirt. The pattern is written with yardage in mind, but I followed Megan’s blog post on Making a Brightest Star Quilt Pattern with Fat Quarters to make the tree skirt with fat quarters. I’ve made this pattern twice with fat quarters both times, and prefer the variety that this version can showcase.

This pattern is made using three different templates. I cropped the image slightly to not fully reveal the template, but you can see that the curves are very broad. The broader the curves, the easier it is to sew. This would be a good pattern for someone who is tentative around curves or would like to try sewing them for the first time.

When matching template points, the pattern recommends to finger press the fabric in half and pin in place. I’d also recommend that you stitch slowly and shorten your stitch length to maximize maneuverability. Lastly, be sure to press (not iron over) the curves to avoid any distortions.

To make the tree skirt, you sew together all of the ‘slices’ but leave an opening for the slit of tree skirt.

For the backing, I decided to piece the backing diagonally. This is a great way to use less backing yardage when your intended quilt width is 1.5x your width of fabric or less (62″ or less, when using a 42″ width of fabric. I calculated the yardage needed using Jinny Beyer Studio’s Calculating Yardage for a Diagonally Pieced Quilt Back.

If you’re not sure how to picture a diagonally pieced quilt back, I’ve created a visual:

Once my quilt was basted and quilted, I began working on the binding. Because the tree skirt is circular, it’s best to use bias binding. Whenever I need to make bias binding, I love to pull out my special gadget!

This is a Simplicity Bias Tape Maker. I’m not sure if they make these anymore, so the price to buy one is pretty steep. I happened to get extremely lucky and find one for $10 at a garage sale!

Here’s a better look at the bias tape, and me sewing it around the tree skirt. I love how it looks like candy cane stripes!

Here’s the finished product!

I don’t have any Christmas trees lying around, so I had to get a little creative with the staging.

I chose to back the quilt in Alpine Sweater from Lori Holt’s Bee Plaids to give contrast to the red striped binding.

For once in my life, I now have a Christmas project sewn well before December! I know that future me will be grateful that I didn’t have to rush it in mid-December. Thank you so much for stopping by!