The Merry March Tree Skirt in Confetti Cottons™️ -

Today we are sharing a project that our social media manager has been working on since June! We are thrilled to share the popular Merry March Tree Skirt by The Weekend Quilter all dressed up in Confetti Cottons™️!

I guess it would really make more sense to write this in first person (so weird!). Hi, I’m Maddie! I write a lot of content here on the blog for Riley Blake Designs but today is my first “guest post” featuring a personal project. I have been a huge fan of Wendy, The Weekend Quilter, for years. I love everything she makes, own all of her books, and this year I completed a bucket list make with her Merry March pattern!

As you know, Riley Blake Designs is celebrating the expansion of Confetti Cottons™️ this year. When I saw the new swatch card I was inspired to make a project I have been eyeing for… a really long time.

I had already bought the Merry March Tree Skirt pattern knowing I would make it *someday* but the main hold up was that I didn’t really know how to Foundation Paper Piece. I do a lot of sewing with my work here at RBD but somehow I have evaded learning FPP in all my years and have always been intimidated by it. Luckily for me, Jill Finley did a demo of her FPP method with her Duet Ruler and Maker Paper and it finally clicked!

The Essentials

There are other ways to FPP but can I just say, Jill’s method took me from zero to THIS PROJECT in a single YouTube video tutorial. Her method is simple to understand and feels intuitive to execute. The Maker Paper eliminated the need for a glue stick and the Duet Ruler method actually makes it so you could re-use your paper templates if you wanted to. I linked to the video below! You can shop these projects from Jillily Studio or from lots of other quilt shops!

Other essentials for this project is an ink-jet printer (linking the one I use here), an iron ( I really love my Oliso Iron and my Mini Iron), a sewing machine (of course) and I used the Riley Blake Designs binding clips, thread, and clapper blocks throughout.

The Fabrics

Listen, I work for Riley Blake so this might sound biased BUT the Confetti Cottons™️ solids are the best of the best of the best in my opinion. With 300 colors now, I matched the palette from The Weekend Quilter’s sample in her pattern exactly to my liking. Below is the list of the Confetti Cottons™️ colors I used!

Sage, Deep Water, Sea Glass, Cape Verde, Cozy, Peaches n Cream, Daisy, Riley Yellow, Golden, Cinnamon, Rouge, Riley Coral, Salmon, Raisin, Eggnog, Putty, Shell, and Beehive.

The Process

I really wanted to get this made in time to be the Christmas feature for RBD this year. I very much underestimated the time it would take me to make this work of art but luckily, I have a very good best friend who helped me piece this beauty! So yes, two very first time FPP quilters were able to make this from start to finish which means you can too! This pattern is very well written and with the help of Jill’s incredible FPP notions we were able to pull it off.

The process of FPP uses lots of small pieces and makes lots of piles of teeny tiny scraps. I loved the method of FPP and the happy mess it made all over my studio table. And floor. And my desk. And the kitchen table… haha. But truly, it was a happy mess. And I saved all the scrap piles in a bin. I’m not sure why? Maybe I will get a commemorative glass jar to remember the process by.

I quilted it on my home machine, just a simple wide grid design, and made bias binding using this tutorial from RBD designer Tara Reed!

Anyway, this bucket list make has brought me so much joy from start to finish and I am so excited to be sharing it on the blog for a Confetti Cottons™️ holiday feature! Thanks for following along!