Christmas Tree Magic

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

15 Responses

  1. Ginger says:

    James will look be it in the morning! The new tree is cute. Merry Christmas

  2. Laney says:

    Loved reading this post Leah! I hope James loved the tree when he saw it this morning. Great positive message. Merry Christmas!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Your post provided many thoughts for me. How much I rely on the externals to provide what only can truly come from within. True heart joy is not dependent on my surroundings but how I view those realities and what value I choose to assign them…….too much value and THEY will determine my state. May you(all) know the true Joy that gives Peace! Hugs….Doreen

  4. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps your word for next year will be Empowerment. You took the problem, and you fixed it, and you made it better. We don't always have to take what life dishes out. Your new slimline tree is very pretty, manageable and best of all, THERE!

  5. Leah, the older I get (73 next Sun.) the more I realize how I shorten my life when I feel angry and I stop. I don't get angry anymore, I fix the problem. I love your work, BTW. Merry and Happy to you and yours.

  6. Good on you for "making lemondade out of a lemon"! It shows that positive thinking will triumph every time – I love that you didn't let the tree go to waste and still have something to symbolise this magical time of year. I also love seeing/having a Christmas tree in all its glory, with the special memories attached of each decoration. Have a Merry Christmas!!

  7. LJ says:

    Out of the ashes…a tree grew. 🙂 Love that you are so creative. The first 25/30 years of my life, cutting a cedar out of the woods was a joy. Not that they always looked perfect – they weren't – but they were all lovely. We ended up with trees that were HUGE – they look so small in the woods compared to the dining room! My Dad made a tree stand out of 2x4s and often – even then – he had to attach wires to the wall to make it safe!! (How did my Mom stand for nails being pounded into the woodwork/walls?) Need I say that our home may have been filled with love but it wasn't the most beautiful of homes. As handy as you are Leah, I'll bet you could make a larger/bigger/heavier tree stand out of wood. I'm sure you could even incorporate the old tree stand into it so you'd have the water receptacle and the bolts to stablize the tree. Just thinking… Merry Christmas is how you want to play it.

  8. Claudia Wade says:

    I love your ability to turn negatives into positives, Leah. Reading your thoughts about things like this help me try to do the same. Merry Christmas!

  9. straythreads says:

    I had that problem with that style of tree stand, I drilled holes in the outside rim and screwed it to 2 x 4s that stick out in a big X the 2 x 4 s stick out at least 18 inches on each side of the stand
    maybe next year a big tree in that stand
    Merry Christmas

  10. this is a thought provoking post, You and treadlemusic are confirmation of somethings
    God was saying to me this morning. At 67 you'd think I could remember this by now.
    Thank you both.
    Have blessed Christmas

  11. For years after my husband and I met in '71, we always rescued the 'Charlie Brown' Christmas trees that Lowes sold for $2.00 His thinking was that we were saving money, but I liked the rescue idea. When the popcorn and cranberry chains were on, plus the few ornaments we had, those trees looked pretty good (we'd always turn the 'ugly' side to the back). In the 40 years since then, we've mostly used artificial 4 foot trees on a wooden box (makes them 6 feet tall!) and they always look beautiful (and no mess). I do miss the pine smell, though–and refuse to use air fresheners or spray pine smell (yuck!) Still, it's all about attitude, as you know–that, and family being lucky enough to be together and be well. All the best to you and your lovely family, Leah. Thank you for all you do for the quilting community and for our attitudes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    p.s. I LOVE your quilt box.

    Linda

  12. Liz I. says:

    One of my favorite posts, Leah! We are so lucky as artists, as we can turn the "oh (expletive)!" moment into "That's interesting. I didn't expect that. What can I do with this?". That's the essence of creativity and you embody creativity every day. Have a joyous new year!

  13. Lou says:

    Well done, Merry Christmas to all xxx

  14. Fireangel says:

    That has made my day Leah, reminds me that although you are incredibly creative with mad desirable skills , things can and do go wrong just like the rest of us . I'm also pleased that you didn't give up on the tree altogether and MADE it work for you and the family . So funny love hearing your story 🙂 Happy new year lovely

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