Life in the Scrapatch: July 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

My Starburst Christmas in July Tree Skirt

Here is my scrappy Christmas Tree Skirt

for more Christmas in July sewing fun!

I made this tree skirt with scrap strips from my new

Christmas in July Quilt

and I added some other scrap strips to the mix.

This tree skirt is made using a quilt-as-you-go method.

I made this tree skirt following the

Free Starburst Tree Skirt Tutorial Here

Ev Quilts & Co

I cut my strips in various sizes from 2" to 3" and even sewed some
short strips together to make them long enough for the panels.
This is a great scrap busting pattern.

This tutorial uses the wedge template pattern from ...

Free Wedge Template @ Gotham Quilts

There is a simple tree shirt pattern with this template if you wanted to use one fabric.

I have had a thought that it would be easy to make a scrappy
"Crazy Quilt" type tree skirt by cutting the 20 wedges of batting
and sewing smaller scraps directly to the batting wedges with a
sew, flip, quilt method and decorative machine stitches.
It is a plan for another day.

To make this tree skirt you sew two large QAYG panels.

The you cut 10 wedges from each large panel.

It is important to start each of your panels on opposite corners

to achieve the chevron effect.

My quilty kitties were very helpful while making this tree skirt.

You sew the QAYG wedges together to make the skirt.

I used my heavy duty walking walking foot on my Janome.

This makes a large tree skirt with a 48" diameter.

Nutmeg and I made a large pieced width of fabric square for the backing.

This is what I used to add the banking and binding to my tree skirt.

Maestre helped me quilt the top to the backing.

We used the walking foot and made straight lines radiating from the center.

I cut 2.5" strips and made binding tape.

I did not cut my strips on the bias and it worked for me.

I did an machine binding by sewing one edge of the binding to the front and folding

it to the back and machine stitched the binding to them back.

This method made a secure binding with a line of machine stitching

around the front 1/4" away from the binding.

The tie at the top was made when I added the binding

by leaving long strips on either edge.

I am very pleased with this happy, scrappy goodness.

I am sure my quilty kitties will love laying under the tree

on their new quilted tree skirt.

More inspiration may be found

#starbursttreeskirt

Happy Christmas in July!

Thursday, July 30, 2020

I Like Thursday # 60 ~ Home

I have always been a "home body"

so sheltering in place has felt like an extended stay-cation for me this year.

I have spent the last month just enjoying my own backyard,

my sewing space,

my kitties,

just Mr Scrapatch and me,

with occasional visits from my boys

and long conversations on the phone with my daughter.

My little home is not fancy but is comfy

and I have all I need.

For the last month plus I have been tuning out all social media

and have been enjoying the quiet.

I am feeling ready to get back to blogging and sharing with my quilty friends.

So here I am to again join in with the ...

I Like Thursday Bloggers @ Not Afraid of Color

I like my hanging baskets, window boxes and gardens this year.

My quilty kitties and I have been sewing Christmas in July

Ms Katniss is a senior kitty now.

When we adopted her 8 years ago in July as a rescue cat,

the vet at the shelter estimated her age to be about 2 and 1/2 years old.

Her back foot is out in this photo

where she had an old injury from her days as a stray.

Now she has quite a bit of arthritis.

Katniss is still a very playful cat.

Above is a video of her entertaining me with a favorite toy

while I sit and read.

Katniss and her little sister kitties ...

Nutmeg ...

and Maestro are ever helpful.

I have also been pulling old books off of my shelves and doing a lot of reading

and have worked my way though all of this old quilt mystery series,

the Benni Harper Series by Earlene Fowler

I have them all, mostly from second hand book stores.

One is missing from this photo because I

have been passing them one at a time over the fence to my neighbor

for her to enjoy on her yard swing,

while we social distance in our own backyards.

These are fun reads and the cast of characters are all interesting.

Old books are like old friends.

I am on the last pages of the one she wrote about another set of characters

and included an older Benni Harper as a background character.

When I read these books I always have to make

Benni's No Bake Feel-Good Cookies ~ Recipe Here

to munch as I read.

I made a vegan version of them with almond milk and coconut oil

so I could pass some of the cookies over the fence, too.

Whether inside looking out at the flowers

or outside enjoying the yard,

life has been good to me

during this long hot summer.

May all be well with you and yours.

Enjoy your summer days and summer nights.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Looking Forward To Saying Hello To Fall

It has been a long hot summer so far in the northeast

so I am really looking forward to cool and colorful fall weather ...

and Fall Quilts.

I love fall quilts!

So when I saw this blog hop announcement,

I signed up right away.

All You Need To Know to Sign Up Here

Hope to see you joining in the fall fun!

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Christmas in July ~Then and Now ~ Blog Hop ~ My Day

Welcome to my

Christmas in July ~ Then and Now

Here is my "Then" quilt.

In 2012, I posted this photo of Katniss' First Christmas with us
and said I had made it a "few years ago" so I know it predates 2012.
As it does not appear in any other photos on my blog, I know it also
predates my blog which was started in 2009.

All I know is it is the first Christmas quilt I made.

It was made with a panel, some fat quarters and yardage
from an old Nancy Halvorsen collection.
I love the colors in this quilt and the vintage designs.

I made a pillow with then leftover fabrics

Here is the pillow with my "Now" quilt.
The greens and shades of red are similar and there is a bit of gold.

My "Now" quilt is this one ...

A Poinsettia Winter from In the Beginning Fabrics

I love this quilt!

Please enjoy visiting all the lovely Christmas in July bloggers today

July 28

Life in the Scrapatch (you are here)

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Thanks to

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt

for hosting this festive blog hop!

For more Christmas in July fun, click on the link below for my

Starburst Christmas in July Tree Skirt

To make this I cut my Poinsettia Winter scraps into strips,
added some other scrap strips and
used a Free Tutorial and Wedge Template,

More Christmas in July coming soon!

Thank you for visiting me today.

Happy Sewing!