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Quilting a Leaf Quilt

10/11/2014

6 Comments

 
The leaves have been gorgeous this fall.  I'm hoping to get out for a nice walk later today to enjoy the beauty.

Of course my favorite leaves are those in a quilt.  The following sampler quilt top has a wonderful fall theme and was provided by Beth R - who indicated that she wanted "medium custom".  For this week's post, I want to walk through how I decided to quilt it.  Even if not doing a leaf quilt, this can assist you in analyzing your own quilts.
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The theme for this quilt definitely needed to be "leaves".  There are a number of different spaces that need to be filled and I also needed to address how I wanted to quilt each of the sampler blocks.
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I started by going back to my library of quilting books for inspiration.  In looking at "Machine Freehand Patterns" by Nan Moore, I discovered a few pages of freehand leaf designs.  The beauty with using my Art and Stitch software is that I only have to draw "one" leaf and then I can modify for designs I can use     on my Intelliquilter.  If you don't have a computerized system, these designs could also be done freehand.
Here is what I came up with for spaces 1, 3 and 4.  A wreath (or partial wreath) of oak leaves.
On Point Quilter oak leaf
My Initial Oak Leaf
On Point Quilter Oak Leaf variation
Corner Triangle
Oak Leaf for Half Square Triangles
Half Squares
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Oak Leaf Wreath Quilting Pattern
For a free quilting pattern this week, I decided to give you the oak leaf wreath.  Click here for a pdf of the pattern.  Click here for the Art and Stitch file.

For space five I decided to go with another leaf variation.  This one could be used as a point to point design as well.  I like that I can stretch this (or shorten this) to fill a space.
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Leaf quilting for Sashing or Skinny Border
For the sashing I wanted a very simple leaf with vine that could come together in the corner.
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Leaf Quilting for Sahsing or Skinny Borders
For the border, I will use a design that came with my Intelliquilter, Falling Leaves by Dave Hudson.
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Now for the sampler blocks.  There were a number that were based on an eight pointed star, so I came up with a leaf that could be flipped and rotated to fill the space.  For the backgrounds, I will use a point to point arc and do that directly on my longarm.
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Leaf Block Quilting Option
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Eight Pointed Star Quilting Option with Leaves
There were a couple of additional blocks that I designed some other quilt patterns around a leaf.  The second design was inspired by the "Leaf Flower" in Patterns by Helen on my Intelliquilter.
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Will add point to point arcs in the corners to fill the background space.
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For the leaf blocks, I wanted some leaf like texture or veins.  The "S Curve" option was inspired from a book by Deloa Jones.  All of these blocks will also have "arcs" in the background spaces.
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I hope this provides some inspiration when quilting your next leaf quilt.  Here are some photos of the finished quilt.  I used a rust thread for much of the quilt -- which of course means the quilting is only visible on the back.  But you can see more of the quilting in the close-ups.
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Back of Quilt -- lightened to better see the quilting.
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Happy quilting.

Kari
Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips.  As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
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6 Comments
Crystal Smythe link
10/12/2014 10:42:14 pm

Inspiration and instructional! Really nice post.

Reply
Lois
10/12/2014 11:13:46 pm

Very inspiring as usual Kari. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

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Dianne Rankin
10/13/2014 01:28:34 am

Thanks for this post. I often struggle with what patterns to quilt in sampler quilts to get a coordinated look.

Reply
Laura
10/14/2014 03:19:52 am

Kari,
Very helpful, you inspire me.
I have one question regarding stitching in the ditch. Do you do any before you stitch the patterns?
Thanks.

Reply
Bella link
12/3/2014 10:08:15 pm

Wow! This pattern and design is amazing and I am definitely going to make this on my own. The above post is very interesting and inspirational. I have made 4 quilts already and want to make more. Quilting is a fun kind of activity for me and I am really enjoying it. My family is very supportive and they give me proper time for quilting and they do not disturb me. They love my work and inspire me to make more quilts. I want to share a very useful link about quilting at http://www.warpandweft.ca/blog/ I hope you like this.

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Steve Richardson link
7/15/2022 04:05:36 pm

For space five I decided to go with another leaf variation. This one could be used as a point to point design as well. Thank you for making this such an awesome post!

Reply



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    Kari Schell

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