Living This Creative Life

I have two favorite quotes. The first one is by Emile Zola, "If you asked me what I came into this world to do, I would tell you that I came to live out loud". I don't know who the second one is by, but it goes like this, "If you're not living on the edge then you might as well jump". Both of these sentiments sum up my personal philosophy of this experience we call life on earth. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Machine Quilting Challenge - Blocks #15 & #16

Good Morning,

We're going to have one more day of playing with leaves. These two blocks feature large leaves, both suitable to put in plain, un-pieced or alternating blocks.

This first block features a stem of three leaves with tendrils and berries. The leaves are made just like the leaves made in the previous two blocks. The stems are formed first then one side of the leaf is stitched in a down ward stitch motion then the other side of the leaf is stitched in an upward stitch motion. The veins are stitched after the outline of the leaf is complete.

The tendrils are double stitched and the berries are simple clusters of tiny circles, stitched in double rows that all touch each other. I stitched the entire design on the diagonal. Begin with the large center most stem and make the leaf outline then the veins. Double back to the stem then angle over to one side to make the smaller leaf. Double back to the stem again and angle to the opposite side and make the remaining leaf. Add tendrils, which are elongated Loop d'loops, and place a berry cluster here and there to fill in space.

Block #16 features just one large leaf. It has lots of hooks on it and it is surrounded with small half circles then echos. It has great movement.

Begin by doodling out large leaves. It can be tricky getting both sides somewhat symmetrical. After the first side has been drawn, try to match up the second side hook to hook for a mirror image. Once you can draw it, stitch it.

After the leaf has been stitched then stitch small half circles around it's perimeter, each about 1/2" to 3/4" wide. To make the echos, simply follow the curves provided by the half circles.

Enjoy,

Till tomorrow,
Heather

1 comment:

Debadoras said...

great idea, working on a quilt with appliqued leaves and I never echoed before. This helped me to visualize what I could do thanks.