The tree skirt is made with eight pieced blocks using basic seam treatments.
Since the blocks were pieced while travelling, I used muslin or assorted vintage cotton tea towels, taken from my Mother's "cuptowel drawer" at their cabin in New Mexico, for a backing fabric. Scalamandre thread was used for the seam stitches. The thread is a nice, heavy weight; heavier than pearl cotton and mimics the threads used in Victorian crazy quilts. I used a large-eye chenille needle and only used several stitches such as Herringbone, Feather, and Lazy Daisy Chain. No beads would be added to this piece.
The great thing about crazy quilting is the melding of fabrics. Some of the fabric remnants are gold silk Scalamandre pieces, taken from bolts of fabric woven for the White House. Some of the pieces are men's tie pieces, and Japanese brocades. Next to those fabric pieces would be inexpensive fabric sample swatches layered next to Paris Couture House fabric swatches, gathered in France. I piece blocks quickly. I assemble an assortment of fabrics, and reduce the stack by 50%. From that stack, the fabrics are chosen for the entire tree skirt. I piece by hand or machine, but prefer hand-piecing. To select colors for a block, takes about 10 minutes.
Where I gather the fabrics, adds to the history of the piece. This skirt was created for my Mother and she selected the gold color-way.
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