About fifteen years ago (I’m guessing by the date of the copyright on the cross stitch pattern), I gave my mother a Christmas present of a tree skirt I had cross stitched. Let me be more specific—I gave my mother most of the makings of a tree skirt (cross stitched fabric and fringed trim) and promised faithfully to finish it for her by the next Christmas. Finishing would have involved buying some appropriately Christmas-themed fabric, sewing the fabric backing to the cross stitch fabric, shaping a hole in the middle of the cross stitch fabric, and attaching the fringed trim.

Needless to say, my anti-finishing bias held sway and my mother never got her completed Christmas tree skirt, in spite of a couple of oblique (and not so oblique) hints thrown my way. My mother passed away in 1997 of breast cancer, and while, fortunately, I don’t feel as if there was much left unspoken between us, that tree skirt has haunted me ever since, especially around this time of year.

But no more! Thanks to a trip to the JoAnn’s fabric store in Porter Ranch (mmmmm…..so suburban……) and to the sewing skills of my roommate, the tree skirt is done!

Here’s a couple of detail shots–I will try to have a complete picture tomorrow, with a look at the backing. First we have a close-up of “Santa with bag of toys on back”:

Followed by “Santa with bag of toys open as if to offer toys to little children”:

And, for the grand finale, we have “Santa with Christmas tree over shoulder”: