Inspired by the Falling Leaves

I have raked my yard twice with the help of my son and his family. But some of my trees are still full of leaves and the ground is covered AGAIN! I have to tell you that raking leaves is not a favourite job of mine. And when you have to do it more than once in a season...well...that makes it my least favourite task.

However, leaves are the most interesting things to sketch and paint as they dry up and curl. I wrote about how I was inspired by them a few weeks ago. I also posted the sketches I did of them. Well, this week I was inspired to make some fabric cards using the sketches as a pattern. I really like the way they turned out.

I traced my paintings onto tracing paper making sure to distinguish all the different values and colours.

Then I photocopied the tracings so I could mark them with numbers for each different outlined shape or value so I knew where to position the pieces.

Then I selected some fabric that were the colours of the leaves and had interesting texture on them. It was a good way to use up some of the small fabric scraps I had left over from other projects. (You know I don't throw any of it out).

Using another piece of tracing paper, I traced each shape separately and used the tracing paper as a pattern to cut the shape out of fabric. Note that I ironed a product called Heat N Bond to the back of the fabric before I cut the shapes out. That way each shape has a backing on it that will adhere to another piece of fabric (in this case the background fabric) when it is ironed.
Here is where it becomes tricky. I have to determine which pieces to put on first as I often overlap the pieces to get the look I want.

In the photo above I have laid down the shadow of the leaf and the underside of the leaf that shows because of the leaf curl.

Here you can see how I built up the leaf by adding the lighter coloured top or outside pieces of the leaf. Once this was completed, I free-motion stitched around the edges of the leaf to give it some dimension with my sewing machine. I also free-motion stitched the veins and the stem of the leaf.

Adding a phrase or word and some embellishments, the fabric card is complete.

This activity has now inspired me to make a larger art quilt with curling fallen leaves on it. So this afternoon I will do some more leaf sketching with that project in mind. Depending on how far I get with that, I may blog about it next week. So stay tuned..............