zigzags in the Round

After a false start, here's my fabric do-over! I pulled a hefty pile of happy fabrics from my stash, leaning more towards low volumes than is my habit. Interestingly, most of these picks are by Denyse Schmidt from various collections, especially Flea Market Fancy, Chicopee and Katie Jump Rope. Combined with sprinkles of Anna Maria Horner, Friedlander and Cotton & Steel, the color range feels just right.

For this quilt-as-you-go Christmas tree skirt, I started with a large rectangle of Warm & Natural low loft batting. Before sewing, I drew some lines to get a quick feel for how I would slice the tree skirt segments after making the patchwork. These lines would also initially guide fabric placement.

Next I sewed 2.5" wide cut fabric strips at a 45 degree angle right on the batting. Each time I add another strip, I sew through two layers of quilting cotton strips and through the batting itself. Thus, I'm creating patchwork and quilting it to the batting all in one step, with the quilting lines hidden in the seams. Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) is a very durable kind of patchwork, and it's a nice touch that you don't have to add quilting as an end-step!

When I finished covering my big batting rectangle with diagonal stripes, I cut long wedges out of the patchwork.