My daughter and I made that apple crisp tonight, and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you for posting it.

Hello... I'm a longtime reader, and I think this is the first time I've commented. I have to tell you I did a double or triple take over your mom's needlework on that skirt!! That is amazing!! Is that a hardanger cloth? I did a lot of counted cross stitch through college (I think it's why I have no trouble with knitting charts) so I can really appreciate the amount of work she put into this. Such beautiful work!!!
And I have absolutely no advice for you on the quilting... that, I have never ever done. But I can't wait to see the finished project - what an heirloom that will be!

Just found a really neat cookbook and ordered four - three for gifts and one for me. I'm bad that way - the one for me thing. It's called How To Cook Everything.

I haven't met an apple crisp I don't love,
Li

Thank you for the recipe. I have 10 lbs. of apples in my fridge from apple picking last weekend, so this is just what I need!

What a great tree skirt it will be. No advice on the quilt issue, sorry. But I do have a sky picture for you on my blog. Hope you like it.

I don't get it--how does the skirt fit around the tree without a slit? Anyway, it's lovely--clearly a LOT of work went into it.

And thanks for the recipe! I have a later edition of the JoC; I'll compare the two and see how (if) they differ.

When I saw that skirt I thought the perfect one for me. I have an extensive collection of Santas who would welcome a new addition. Where did your mom get the pattern. I have dabbled in cross stitch, but must admit that my knitting obsession leaves little time.

That skirt is amazing. I tried cross-stitch once, and somehow, it was flung across the room. I'm sure it has something to do with math. Apple crisp is amazing, too--but it's gotta have vanilla ice cream on top! Congrats on your sky picture/color inspiration; can't wait to see what "Sandy's Sky" looks like!

I adore the Joy of Cooking, too! I tweak its recipe for German Chocolate Cake. I also like its roasted red pepper sauce recipe. This weekend, I made an apple crisp from the Joy, too! Mmmm...tis the season for apple crisps!

That is such a beautiful tree skirt! Lots of work to stitch each of the Santa's, too!
Good luck...I can't sew or finish so no help here.

What a funny coincidence! And it's true, that picture would make a perfect yarn colorway!

So funny! Love the picture - the colors are gorgeous. It's fate, I tell ya!

The tree skirt is beautiful. Great suggestions for putting it together too! I think I would go with using fusible batting on the lining and then tying all layers in the back. If you use white embroidery floss and take small stitches, it will not be noticeable. If the reason she doesn't want a slit is because it's for an artificial tree where she can just put the trunk through a hole, I would do this: After it's finished, fold it in half, draw a semi-circle in the middle half the size of the finished opening you want and cut it out. Then bind it with bias binding.
Congrats on the contest!

I agree, it needs to have an opening. Uness it isn't going around a tree. As to the quilting, it's a 50/50 situation. Quitling would help the piece lay better. My biggest concern is keeping the layers taut as you seam the outer edges. Quilting helps to keep them stable as you sew around.
It will be beautiful no matter what you do with it.

Amazing cross stitch! I have the 1943 edition of Joy that was my mother's--complete with all those handwritten notes. Also, a 1944 Good Housekeeping one with wonderful sections in the back about how to hire a maid and what to serve for a formal luncheon.

congratulations on the photo prize. very cool. and that skirt is beautiful. i can only imagine how awesome it is in person.

Wow, Sandy! Congratulations on the whole picture/colorway thing! Awesome! And that tree skirt is looking absolutely lovely. It's all Greek to me, though.

mmmmm, apple crisp!!!

Hey Sandy, Freedom is only a short 15 minutes away from me!!

Apple Crisp was on the dessert menu here as well last night......YUMMMMM

I asked a similar question about some cross-stitch panels I want to do. A master quilter suggested that if I wanted to avoid quilting them I should use the bondable batting. Otherwise, the pannels/and your tree skirt would hang separate from the batting. I have used this product in the past in crafts, and liked the result. For instance, I learned to bond all the pieces of a teddy bear before I assembled it. Then, when I stuffed it, I had a smooth, non-lumpy bear.

Beautiful cross stitch! I have to say that mine has languished since the discovery of the knitting! I'm interested to see what you decide to do, since a tree skirt has been on my "to do" list for some time.
Thanks for the recipe! I'm making apple pie right now with mine from the Joy of Cooking!

Hey Sandy! We're the big winners, what a surprise! Now you have to come out to Rhinebeck for the unveiling. Pretty please?

I am with the sewers who think you will need to quilt it in some way. Tying it on the back seems to be the best way to go. Or you could get fusible batting and fuse it to the fabric, the backing, I would be too worried to fuse it to the top of the skirt. And I too think it will work better with an opening. You could make a closure to keep it from moving about too much. Even velcro or snap tape would do the trick.

BTW-I think I have a cross-stitch kit that I started (barely) that is Father Christmases and it might match that skirt. Is your mom interested. It is an ornament kit. I'll go find it and see if the santas are the same. They look like they will be....

My sister is stitching up a tree skirt remarkably similar to that one, only the theme is Christmas angels. She and I put our heads together (I'm the seamstress in the family) and came up with a plan: thin natural cotton batting, thin woven lining, and very thin piping in an antique gold around the top and bottom edges to set off the gold accents in the stitching. With a thin enough batting, along with the stiffness of the aida cloth, there isn't need for any quilting. As for not having a slit, would she like the skirt to be cut straight through across the diameter of the circle somewhere in the back? Then you could edge with piping and tie with ribbons in coordinating colors.

Very cool! Hey, since you are so into skies right now, checkout the picture on my sister's blog. You will not be sorry! This is the view from my parent's house http://art-neonatural.blogspot.com/2005/09/blog-post_112752573925251227.html

The cross stitch is gorgeous! I think it will require some or seaming though. Could you stitch in the ditch around/between the Santas?
My favorite cookbook is the Joy of Cooking Pie one. It's the absolute best for pie crust and pie fillings!

Holy smokes Sandy...that skirt is AWESOME!!

And congrats on the yarn contest! Let us know where we can get some of your colourway, will you?

wow! That's gorgeous. I am especially fond of the Father Christmas in the pale blue.

I'm 99% sure that you're gonna have to do some kind of quilting. Maybe you could get away with tying it, but tying the knots on the wrong side and trimming it very closely? Just a thought. I'm afraid if you don't do something to it, though, that it'll bunch up unpleasantly.

And how is she gonna get it around the tree without a slit?

I'm not a quilter or sewer, so I can't help you there, but I am a cross-stitcher, and your mother does beautiful work! I also have an affinity for stitching Santas, so the tree skirt definitely strikes a cord with me. Good luck with the finishing;I'd love to see how it turns out. Looks like a future heirloom to me.