Quilt As Desired

About seven years ago, I took an online piecing class. The finished project was a Christmas tree made from lots of little blocks. Very nice, and I learned what I was supposed to, but I got to the end, "quilt as desired," and I was stuck. There was so much white surrounding the tree and I just didn't know how to quilt it. I still don't, actually. Into the box it went.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I found the tree in the box once again and decided to go with my usual mode: when I don't know what to do, I cut. I cut from the top and bottom, then sliced again, and had the beginnings of some nice gift-y Christmas potholders.

Then someone suggested that I use the middle section as a table runner. She said, rightly so, that it still said "tree" without the whole tree being there. She was so right - I love the new table runner. Merry Christmas to me.