Before Glyn and I got married, way back when, my mother found a pattern for a “soft sculpture” Christmas tree, made of unbleached muslin, a closet rod, and a LOT of polyester stuffing. We made that tree together, Mama and I, and I made a fabric version of the paper angel my mother had made as a small child to put on the top. Later, after our marriage, when we had moved into our first home, my mother came to see us, and once again we made up that soft sculpture tree pattern. We sat on the floor in our “front” bedroom (aka the sewing room), poking handful after handful of polyester stuffing up into the points of the “branches” of that tree with a stick! It was quite a job. You had to insert the closet rod in its “pocket” before adding the stuffing — or you’d never get it in there. We moved took the tree with us when we moved back to Flagstaff, and I redecorated it in various trendy colors and styles over the years. Eventually, it began to sag, the cat’s claws took a toll on it, and finally we gave it up when our son was born and we wanted to use a live Christmas tree instead. But it lives on as one of my favorite Christmas memories.