The Precious Tree

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the Christmas tree. My husband asked me yesterday if I had enough ornaments to trim a 6 foot tree, and I said, "yes." That's because most of them are put away. We have a small tree sitting on top of a box in the corner of our loft living room. Still, I love it. I love decorating it ~ a lot of the ornaments are handmade; I love looking at it; I love the lights. This year I'll even love undecorating it because I have Winter Hearts to put on it, and will keep it up a few more months as a Winter Tree (see previous article about hearts, if interested.)

Have a Heart

For about 15 years, it has been part of my holiday tradition to have quilted hearts. I have a bunch for fall, and another bunch for winter. I put them in bowls, tuck them into nooks and crannies, and at Christmas, hang them on my tree. The heart is so symbolic ~ it speaks of love, comfort, home. And every year when I take my Christmas decorations down, I have this kind of sad feeling, because now my house will not be dressed up any more, and it will be grey and blah. I have been wanting to make winter hearts for years, but the lack of a sewing machine kept me from doing it. To take an hour to do something I could do in 5 minutes on a sewing machine just put me off. This year I didn't care. I have been making oodles of Winter hearts ... to celebrate Winter ... blue and white, white on white, different sizes. And this year when I take my Christmas decorations down I will have Winter hearts to put around. In fact, I'm going to leave my tree up and put Winter hearts on our Winter Tree ! I've included some pictures of my Christmas hearts and my Winter hearts for those who want to see them.