Leaf Me Alone!

WOW!  It finally got here, my day for the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop.  It seemed so exciting when I signed up for it.  Leaves, all leaves!  And I do so love leaves.
My leaf is called Leaf Me Alone and was done as part of a group two years ago.  I chose a pattern and they all made me their interpretation of my suggestion.  The leaves I got back were WILD!  I put them together in a quilt top a year ago and there they sit, beside my quilting machine ready to be quilted.  Soon......yes, soon.
After you have finished looking at my tutorial on making my leaves, you can check out the other wonderful fellow participants at:
Leafs me Happy with Cherry from Cherry Blossoms Studio is our cheerleader
Monday 8
Feathered Nest Studio
Grandmama's Stories
From This to That
Little Mama Hen
Quilt Monster in my Closet
Kathy
in stitches & seams
Buzzing and Bumbling
Nunu's Quilt World
Quilts And Dogs
Briarside Lane
I have a curved piece tutorial for you. Most people are terrified of curves but they are really easy if you give them an open minded try. And if you don’t do well the first time, just toss it, no quilt police will know!
Get over your fears and try something new! It took me three or four leaves to get any good at the process, so don’t think I am really special! You will probably do better than I did because you are more patient and a slower sewist than I am! I do things fast and fearlessly.
I created a quilt with curved pieced green leaves from blocks I taught as part of a block swap several years ago.  I love its randomness and will get it quilted one day!     
Here’s what you do.
Go find yourself some scraps of fall leaf colors! You can toss in just a few accent colors too maybe. And let’s try some curves.
Gather up your fall colors. You will need a neutral background for this leafy challenge. Neutral-ness is up to you, however! I used muslin square about 14 inches by 14 inches.
Let me say up front, this is not a precise piecing type block. Sometimes you don't really know how large the block or the leaf  will end up to be. Think Buggy Barn technique. I have a French Curve and find it easy to shape and use as a cutting template. If you use this to cut with be aware that your fingers have no protection, so use a cutting glove or don’t cut close to the curve. Don’t cut yet, keep reading.
I found that large pieces and gentle curves are easier to work with than smaller ones at first. Start out with your leaf fabrics and sew them together to get a nice bit of fabric.  Cut a leaf shape about 12 or so inches long. Make the curve gentle. Gentle curves are so easy to work with when you are learning. You can get fancy-dancy later. Cut the leaf in half. Either curvy or straight. I did my first two straight. Hunt in your scraps to find the leaf's spine. Sew it together --- oops! No thread in the machine!
Oh no, I was so excited I got ahead of myself, I didn't make the veins! If you want veins, take a leaf side and whack off a piece across the half in a straight line. Add a zinger piece to the bottom of your leaf segment. Sew. Do it again. Maybe even again! Trim the leaf half so it can be sewn back to the first piece. You should now have your leaf with veins. OK, let’s put it into a neutral background.
Choose a fabric to be the leaf stem.  i used a 2 1/2 inch strip of a dark color to set it apart so it could be seen.  Black would also be good here, or a dark brown.

Add the stem to the two leaf sides and join, to make a whole leaf.  
 

The background should be larger than you want the final block to be, I  made mine about 14 inches. Lay the background right side up and  place the leaf right side up on top of the background where the leaf will end up. This is where a French curve or a flexible curve will work but I just use a ruler edge.

I carefully move the edge of the ruler along the edge of the leaf keeping the rotary blade against the ruler while I cut the same  exact curve in the background as in the leaf. 














Make a couple of registration marks by placing a pin at a recognizable point on both the leaf and the background.
Fold the leaf back over the background so the right sides are together at the registration point. Pin. Some people use hundreds of pins, some use just a few strategic pins and some don't use any. Sew slowly making sure fabric edges meet.
I put a few pins at strategic points and use a tweezers to hold the two pieces even as I sew.  Sew with the background on top and be careful not to stretch  the bias.  Move only a few stitches at a time and adjust the fabric edges often.  If you work carefully here your curve will be perfect!
 
Open out and press and you have it half done. See!  It actually works! 




Do the same for the other side making sure your first cut for the curve has both the background and  the leaf right side up.  (Smile, check it again to make sure!)



You will have to sew the two remaining open seams by folding the background over on itself and sewing away from the block to the outside edge.  You can add stems or branches if this block will be connected to a “tree”. 

Press. Trim to the desired size and Voila! You have a leaf! These are so fun!
With curved piecing, your leaf will be beautiful! Try some small leaves, fat leaves, skinny leaves or some really odd leaves! They are soooooo addicting
I hope this was enlightening. If you have any questions, please let me know. It I wasn’t clear enough about the curve piecing you can find a number of tutorials on the internet using the various techniques.
And I have the perfect words for the bottom of the quilt! LEAF ME ALONE!
Don’t cha just love it???!!!
Now you should visit my Leaf Buddies and see the leaves they have prepared for you.
Monday 8
Feathered Nest Studio
Grandmama's Stories
From This to That
Little Mama Hen
Quilt Monster in my Closet
Kathyin stitches & seams
Buzzing and Bumbling
Nunu's Quilt World
Quilts And Dogs
Briarside Lane