Christmas Embroidery

Back in the late 80's, when my son and daughter were very young, I thought it would be nice to make a Christmas tree skirt that would be special and unique to our family. In typical fashion, I came up with an idea that was indeed unique, but that also added one more project to my already big list of projects that I wanted to get done before Christmas. The idea was that I would cut out a large white tree skirt, bind it in red, embroider our family name on it, and then add an embroidered patch each year for each child. I did this for a few years, and then ran out of gas. I think it was about the time I got into dollmaking. I'm way far behind.

But not to worry. As with most of my crafty endeavors, the mood has come back around. I'm about to start two new patches. I had a flash of inspiration to do a patch with the names and mascots of their respective colleges (Google to the rescue again!) Son graduated in 2004, and daughter will be graduating this spring. And how can she not graduate if the official Christmas tree skirt patch has been finished? Maybe it will be just that little bit of extra motivation to help her through senioritis.

At this point, I'm not even thinking about the years of no patches. Or of a future time, when they're starting their own homes and Christmas traditions and there might be some bickering over who gets the skirt. I may have to put in a few late nights taking it all apart and making two new ones. And then, the grandkids might want one. Maybe I'll just leave it to the cats.....