Autumn Leaf Quilt

I wanted to work on a project that would keep my embroidery machines running while I was busy doing other work in my sewing studio. So I decided to start embroidering fall leaves to make into the quilt on the front of this magazine, American Patchwork & Quilting October 2009 issue. Yep, that's right . . . I'm not one to follow directions exactly as laid out. I'm veering off the beaten path and plan on making embroidered leaves the focus in the centers of these log-cabin type blocks rather than piecing the leaves as shown. They have an alternate color option for this Maple Leaf Log Cabin quilt. Mine will be just one more alternate when it is finished. Yeah for alternatives!

I've only just begun with these leaves. As I recall it takes 56 blocks so I will need 56 leaves in various colors, shapes and sizes to do this quilt. So far they are absolutely gorgeous colored leaves - each one slightly different! The embroidery design is from Anita Goodesign's Autumn Harvest 2 collection. I've also got a few other designs with fall leaves I may mix in with these. It should be a lot of fun to embroider these bright colorful leaves - and to mix and match thread colors to make them all different.

I've already got lots of 2 1/2" strips cut from my scraps. I could use those and ignore the printed instructions which call for 2" strips. I'm not decided about that just yet. I've still got a nice big stack of fabric to cut up into strips so I think I will be cutting some appropriate fall colors into 2" strips to use on this quilt. I noticed the magazine cover shows other colors thrown in the mix like blues, greens, purples along with the browns, tans, reds and orange colors of fall.

I have not forgotten about my rattlesnake quilt. That's still on hold for just a while longer. My finger is nearly healed. The nail and skin have all grown back and look pretty much back to normal. But I'm still experiencing some numbness and tingling in the tip. It still feels a bit painful when I ding it on something or press hard on the tip. I can barely clean under the nail as it is still very sensitive. I still need time on it for healing more.

In the meantime, while I'm doing other stuff in my sewing studio, I'll be running embroideries on two of my machines to keep raking up these beautiful leaves. Lately I've been cutting more strips or satin stitching and detail stitching on some appliques. I've usually got something going . . . or rather lots of things going all at the same time. Occasionally it will just be one thing at a time when I feel like winding down in the evening. It just depends on how distracting it can be keeping multiple machines going at once. Does anyone else work like this as well? Sometimes I want to only do one thing, other times I feel like I'm wasting time, or just not using it efficiently enough, to not have more than one thing going on at a time. After all, those machines are made to just keep on running on their own as long as I can keep up with the thread changes and the hoopings.

A few days ago I rummaged through my stash and pulled out a few different off-white background fabrics to pre-cut the blocks for the leaves. I want them to look a bit scrappy using different fabrics, but keep them in the same color tones. I've got a nice little pile going to pull from now so hooping goes a bit faster. I can't wait to get this quilt done. The leaves look so pretty.