Leaf Jumping quilt-in-progress

You may remember that when I shared my Jump Space quilt and pattern in April, I also pondered making a version with leaves instead of stars.  I thought it would be a quick little substitution, leaves in place of stars.

Leaf Jumping mocked up in Oh Canada fabrics from Northcott

Not so much.  It was a quick substitution in EQ8, just swapping one block with another and playing with different fabrics.  The not so quick part was refiguring the cutting charts and the fabric requirements, because the leaf has many more pieces in a greater variety of sizes.  I wasted a lot of time trying to "wing it" then accpeted that I would have to devote some time to it to do it right.  With the extra work, and extra pages of instructions, because the leaf was more involved to explain than the star, this turned into its own pattern.  Related, but separate.

Then there was the question of finding fabric.  I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that the Oh Canada fabrics from Northcott that I used in the mock-up above are not available in Iowa! 

White Owl textiles had a call for design submissions for their fall catalog while I was working out the changes, and I love how the design looked mocked up in one of their upcoming fall themed collections.  They didn't select my mockup for the catalog, but I'm definitely going to share it with you after they share this new fabric line.  With that fall look in mind, I planned to browse my local quilt shop and see if any current fall themed fabrics caught my eye.

Before I had a chance to do that, I went on vacation and visited my daughter in Vancouver, BC.  As we strolled through Granville Island, we came across The Cloth Shop quilt shop.  What's a quilter to do?  I had to pop in, daughter and husband in tow.  I turned right.  One shelf in, there was the Oh Canada fabric.  Guess what came back to Iowa in my suitcase?

Fabrics from various editions of Oh Canada fabrics from Northcott

They only had 3 of the reds. I needed 5 but I bought what I could, including the coordinating cream Stonehenge and gold-on-cream tiny leaf print.  When I was back in my sewing room, I sorted through my stash of leftovers and found just enough of two more fabrics from previous Oh Canada collections.  Those are the bottom two reds in the photo above, leftover from my Canada 150 quilt and my not-yet-quilted Flipped placemats.

So, the red maple leaf version of the quilt was clearly meant to be!

Most of the parts for Leaf Jumping

Once I cut into the fabrics, it only took a couple of days to make the blocks.  There were a few HST and some stitch-and-flip corners, a little strip piecing, and some log cabin style assembly for a four blocks.  Ta da!

Blocks for the Leaf Jumping Quilt

There was a pause after the blocks were assembled before I could piece them into a completed quilt top, but with other unrelated tasks outof the way I was able to focus on this one again.  Here's the top, ready for quilting.

Leaf Jumping quilt top.  Pattern coming in September!

I am a bit unsure that the lighter background was the best choice, but I'm hopeful that the quilting and binding will finish it off perfectly and I'll fall in love with it again.  I'm planning a scrappy binding using all five red fabrics from the leaves.

There will be another pause before I get to that point.  We're replacing the flooring in our house and we hit a snag.  The contents of my sewing room and office headed out to the garage on Tuesday and were supposed to be moved back in on Friday evening, but the flooring installer had an accident that paused the installation.  He's going to be OK, which is the important part, but I'm not sure when I'll get my sewing room back.  

In the meantme I'll pivot to designing a wedding quilt for my son and future daughter-in-law.  I have ideas simmering!

What's on your deisgn wall?

Joanne

PS:  The Leaf Jumping pattern will be released in mid-September.  Watch this space, or sign up for my newsletter for updates in your inbox.