Turning over a new leaf

I am breaking out of my comfort zone and turning over a new leaf. I have tried something new: improvised curved piecing!

A group of fellow bloggers in Australia and New Zealand are starting a round robin quilt. We were introduced to each other through the 2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop. I will link up with each of the bloggers taking part as our Possum Magic round robin gets underway, but for now, here is the block that I am sending in to the round robin.

I am really pleased with my finished block!

I am really happy with how this block turned out. It looks like the picture I had in my head before I started. The only difference is that I was trying to make a 12-inch block and it ended up as a 15-inch square. Whoops! I was improvising and not measuring! After the last round robin block I started, I wanted this one to be a bit smaller and more manageable. At least I accomplished that.

I found inspiration from Red Pepper Quilts’ curved pieced cushion, which made me realise I had never done improvised curved piecing. I did not want to sew stripes, but I knew as a beginner to this technique that I needed to start with a simple shape. As leaves are simple curved shapes, I thought I would try to sew a leaf.

I started with a sketch and a collection of fabrics pulled from my stash. Then I cut free-hand curves and sewed them together. I took photos as I sewed in case it worked out.

I drew a rough sketch on a piece of paper and referred to it as a reminder of the approximate shape and size I was aiming for.

I often find that pulling fabrics out of my stash and choosing which to use is half the fun.

I thought pictures might explain better than words what I did to make this block. I used no pattern. It was all improvised.

If you decide to try making a leaf like this yourself, here are a few notes to go with the progress photos.

• I used my sketch merely as a guide to keep me roughly on track.
• You will need to iron each seam flat before the next stage.
• Sometimes, when nervous, I cut one curve at a time and used the first curve as a template to trace the second. (6)
• I made my background by piecing squares. I would recommend a more irregularly pieced background as the curves distort regular shapes. If it starts wonky, it will end wonky, and that is good. My squares started square and ended up weird shapes; that is not so good. Your background will also need to be a lot bigger than the finished block as there is a bit of waste with this method. (9)
• The second half of the leaf is a rough mirror image of the first. (11)
• I pieced a strip of background fabric to the bottom of the centre stem before attaching both to one half of the leaf. Unfortunately, the background strip was cropped out of the photo. (11)
• When I finished the main part of the block (15), I added extra bits of background fabric to bring the block up to a size and shape I could trim square. (16)
• I deliberately tapered the dark green in the centre and bottom edge so it had a more sketch-like feel.

If you are new to this, like me, I suggest watching a few of the YouTube tutorials on curved piecing. Initially, I struggled with the idea of not pinning, and I wanted to ease the extra fabric in, as I would for setting a sleeve in a dress. Eventually, I realised I should not do either, and my results improved.

If you are inspired to make your own leaf and have a Flickr account, I would love to see pictures. Please post a photo of your leaf on the Granny Maud’s Girl stuff Flickr group.

Those of you who know me well will realise that this free-hand, improvised method is not at all my usual neat-freak, perfectionist style, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only point I worried about lining up was the tip of the leaf!

I am looking forward to what the Possum Magic girls do with this block.