Feeling the felt

It's beginning to feel a lot like winter! Well, it certainly has gotten colder these last few days, hasn't it?  Some members of our family have had snow already, but we have just had cold rain and a lot of wind.  Maybe all of the leaves will blow away and we won't have to rake anything this year.  We can dream, right?

When my kids were small, it seemed like there was always something going on with felt, and it was usually around this time of year.  We had plenty of Halloween costumes, of course, and all kinds of school projects.  Did anyone else's kids have to make dioramas? Gosh, I hated those things.  Anyway, it seems I'm regressing, because I've been making things with felt again.  First I had to get the room set up a little differently:

I pushed both of the tables together so that I could have a bigger workspace and could have both machines set up at once.  I'm sure the new machine could handle it, but I just don't want to sew the felt on it.  Plus, I'm setting that one up to quilt up some tops and I don't want to have to change everything over.  Better to use the backup machine for the felt.

So, what am I making?  Well, there's this:

This is a felt Christmas tree that I'm making for the grandkids to play with.  Maybe they'll leave the real one alone?  I saw these for sale on Amazon, but the one I'm making is a bit larger and more fun (I think).  It could use a little shaping up, but I think it's going to work out fine.  To make this I just bought one yard of the 72 inch wide polyester felt at the J-store and then folded it in half and freehand cut the tree.  (No, I did not use my good scissors!)  I did end up cutting through 4 layers of felt, because I want the tree to be double sided so that it's a bit more durable.  Not quite sure what to do to hang this up.  Maybe the Command hooks?  I'll have to ask my kids what they think.

And what's a tree without ornaments?  These are just the beginnings of some ornaments.  I think I'll have to make these doubled as well, and of course I plan to decorate these very festively.  Since there are three toddlers, I'm pretty sure we're going to have to have a lot of ornaments, with everything in multiples of three.  Thinking I should make at least three presents, too.

I'm also making these:

This will be a felt roadway!  I saw sets of these online, but they were quite pricey.  To make my own I just got some of the black 72 inch wide felt and cut pieces 4-1/2 by 12 inches.  The road sections will be doubled as well, so I zigzagged in some white lines on the top layer and then I've just been stitching around the edges of the two pieces to join them.  This hides the white threads and I think the second layer also makes it a little easier for small hands to grab and play with.

Now I just have to figure out how to make some curves for the roads, and how many road pieces to make.  I was always frustrated when I played with those plastic road pieces that I could never make big roads, so I think there may be quite a few pieces in my future.  If you'd like a pattern for a felt roadway, there is a free pattern HERE.  I didn't end up using it, but it looks like everything you'd need! There are some good ideas there, like T intersections and such.

I'm also basting some quilts, but I need to have these felt projects done before December first so that they can be taken out to the grandkids.  You know they'll need that tree to play with as soon as possible!

Hope you're all having a good week, and if you have any suggestions about how to do some lights for that tree or anything the roadway needs, I'd love to hear them!

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