Scrappy Leaves Class Was In Session

Hello Everyone,

 

I spent a fun day in the classroom at Cloth and Quilts in Turlock on Monday.  

 

The class began the process of making Scrappy Leaves......and it is a process.  Scrappy Leaves was designed by Ilene Bartos and is in her Maple Leaf Quilts book.

I had the girls begin by making a large swatch sheet to organize their backgrounds.

We had two husbands accompany their wives to the class, since they drove a considerable distance to get there.  So what do you do with husbands in a quilting class?  You put them to work!

The men meticulously glued the fabrics to the large, gridded sheet of paper. 

Once their work was done, they headed back to their comfy chairs in the reading room, and promptly fell asleep.  This quilting stuff is hard work!  They were such good sports and fun to have in class.  This picture shows you the great selection of books the shop has to offer.

Once the sheets were done, leaves started being born around the room.

The smaller block on the sheet is a small swatch of the leaf fabric.  This method really helps plan out this quilt and keeps you organized.

Making the leaves is a piece of cake once you decide on the placement.

Thank you all for such a great day.  You are all well on your way to making a stunning quilt to display proudly.

Soon,
Lynn

Scrappy Leaves Class was in Session

Hello Everyone,

 

Yesterday, the classroom at In Between Stitches was ablaze with Autumn color.  I wished for a drone to fly over to capture and aerial view of the beauty.

 



I was teaching Scrappy Leaves, a quilt designed by Irene Bartos.  The book is out of print, but you can download load it HERE through Martingale.

First of all the girls sorted through their fabrics and organized them by color.

Then they created their swatch color charts.  I had them select all of their background fabrics first.  The leaves will come later.

Think of the sun coming through the leaf canopy to get the right effect.

Quilters help each other and gently make suggestions.  One of the girls created this swatch chart. 

Another one of the girls made a few switcheroos to create a better transition between the colors, and then the final rows just fell into place.

 

The little rolls are going to be the leaves on the background.

Toward the end of the day when the color swatch sheets were done, leaf blocks started to appear.  Once you decide on your backgrounds, the leaf blocks go together quite quickly.

Their quilts are going to be a work of art. 

This is what the girls are working toward.  An autumn quilt to decorate their home for years to come. I love to decorate with my quilt every Fall.  It is on display in my home from September through Thanksgiving.  Except for this year it was down at the shop.

 

Thank you all for the fun day creating magic.  Your quilts are going to be stunning.

 

Soon,

Lynn

Scrappy Leaves Class is in Session

Hello Everyone,

There was a leaf explosion in the In Between Stitches classroom yesterday while the girls worked on their Scrappy Leaves quilt.

Everyone started out by selecting background fabric then fabric for their leaves.  Susan started on her purple row. 

Genny started with her brown row.

Patti started with her green row and selected all of the backgrounds and leaves for her first two rows.

Then the leaves started to decorate the classroom walls.

Here is my selection and demonstration row.  Just pretend the sun is shining down from the left side through the trees.  The backgrounds get progressively darker.  I decided to have my leaves all different colors of the rainbow.  I get so carried away with this quilt.....I just may have to make another one!

 

 

So, IF....and I do mean IF I make another one, I would make it brighter and lighter than the first one.

The girls were all in agreement that this quilt is much easier to make than it looks.  Just decide where you sun is going to shine, select your background fabrics from light to dark, then add the leaf fabric.

 



After class yesterday, Mr. Joe and I grabbed a bite to eat at home, watched the first few pitches of the World Series to give our Giants absolutely as much support as two people can give over the airwaves, then hopped in the car and headed for the cabin.  I can't remember the last time I listened to an entire ballgame on the radio.  We weren't exactly a Norman Rockwell picture, you know the one with the family gathered around the old tube radio with large lighted dials.  But we let our imaginations carry us away to AT&T park and we were there!  I didn't have my fabulous crab sandwich on sourdough bread that I always get at the game, but we were there in spirit.  We hooted and hollered our way up the mountains and possibly had more fun in the car, than if we had been in front of the TV at home.  We'll support our team tonight, in front of the TV with Zinnie curled up at our feet.  We'll hoot and holler again, but last night, listening to the radio was so special,  old fashioned, and meaningful.  Go Giants!

Soon,

Lynn

Little Baskets

Hello Everyone,

I've gathered lots and lots of Civil War fabrics together and started making little 5" basket blocks for the newest design.

I've been playing around with fabric and trying to decide on the fabric for the setting triangles.....the blue won over a brown.

I design by the seat of my pants.  I have a basic idea and sketch, but I change it completely by the time the quilt reaches the final stage.

It's a dynamic process.....always in the state of change before it gets to a state of grace. 

When I design, I toss blocks and fabric up on the design wall and literally see what "sticks".  If I don't like what I see, I put the blocks away, and they may appear in a different design.  These little baskets could be a stand alone quilt.....and that just might happen! 

This medallion quilt is going to have several rows between the center and the baskets blocks.  I somehow got ahead of myself.  I just knew I wanted to have the little 5" blocks in this quilt.  It still remains to be seen just where their final resting spot is going to be.

I'm off to the shop this morning to teach Scrappy Leaves by Ilene Bartos.  This quilt is easier than it looks but it is fabric intensive.  I used over 120 different batiks.  If this quilt doesn't get you in the fall spirit, nothing will! 

Enjoy your day.  Make some leaves, rake some leaves, or jump in a pile of leaves.  Be a kid again.

Soon,

Lynn
P.S. Way to go Giants!