Candy Cane Joy

Scroll down for the Canday Cane Joy Tutorial!

Converting Merry Christmas to a Wrap Around Tree Skirt

 When I designed Merry Christmas, I had envisioned the tree skirt sitting under the tree or being used as a table topper.   I heard from a number of people who would like to wrap the quilt around their tree.

The six step technique (described below) could be used to convert any  quilt into a tree skirt by following the same simple steps.

Click here to purchase the Merry Christmas pattern for the introductory price of $10 (regularly $12).

Step 1:  Simplify the quilt.  Eliminate the star in the center and replace it with a 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" piece.  Eliminate one of the holiday lights blocks and replace it with an 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" piece.  

Step 2:  Trim the 8-1/2" piece 1-1/2" from the upper right and lower left corners.  Discard the smaller corner.

Step 3:  Layer with batting and backing and quilt.

Step 4:  Before binding, cut through all layers from the center of the edge with the plain setting triangle to the center of the quilt.  Cut a circle 4" in diameter for the center.  Depending on the size of your tree trunk you could make this larger or smaller.

Step 5:  Bind the quilt including both sides of the slice line and the center circle.  Note that a bias binding would be easier to use for the center circle.

Step 6:  Add  iron on velcro pieces along the cut edge.  Space them about five inches apart.  The number needed will vary depending on the size of your quilt.  The bottom velcro pieces (on the left side) should be applied to the top of the quilt and the top velcro pieces (on the right side) should be applied to the bottom of the quilt.

Joy Candy Cane Quilt

When I was perusing the EQ8 block library, I saw a wonderful block in the holiday collection.  Do you see a Christmas stocking when you look at this block?  I actually saw the letter J.

I then thought about how I could expand on the concept of this block by creating a series of alphabet  blocks with a candy cane motif.

I went to the alphabet blocks and found a couple that I thought might work.

After some playing, I realized I couldn't nicely just add the candy cane stripes.  So I decided to just start from scratch and create the blocks in Easy Draw.

My video tutorial this week will share with you how to draw these candy cane blocks for yourself.

Would you like to piece this quilt.  Click on each image to obtain a download of the foundation pattern printed from EQ8 (9 inch finished size)  ​

j Candy Cane Block (a variation of a block from the EQ8 Library)

O Candy Cane Block Designed by Kari Schell

Y Candy Cane Block designed by Kari Schell

Sashing Foundation Block (finishes 9" x 1-1/2")

Joy Quilt - Border Cutting Instructions

Joy Candy Cane Quilt by Kari Schell

Happy quilting.

​Kari

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