Friday, July 30, 2021

Autumn Maples - July's One Monthly Goal Finish

maple leaf quilt
I've had an ongoing love/ambivalent relationship with Autumn Maples:  I was enchanted, then uncertain, then I loved it again, and the cycle continued.  I put the last stitches in the binding of the quilt two Fridays ago.  I immediately washed and dried it.  When I pulled it out of the dryer it was love!  None of the photos do justice to the vibrancy of this quilt's colors.  They practically glow, reminding me of the sun's rays shining through the leaves on a bright autumn day.
maple leaf quilt
I began this quilt in the middle of October, 2019, when fall color should have been at its height in Ohio but which, that year, hadn't made any appearance at all.  It seemed like those colors I loved weren't going to happen.  I decided to make my own brilliant fall colors.  And now, with this quilt, I can have autumn any day of the year.
maple leaf quilt
The blocks finish at 9" with a layout of 8 blocks by 10 blocks.  The background colors repeat but the fabrics in the leaves are all different.
maple leaf quilt
I love the texture of this quilt and the way the quilting lines flow, almost as though the wind is rustling the leaves.  It shows most on the back. You can see in the photo below that I quilted each block individually with concentric arcs beginning at the stem corner.
maple leaf quilt
maple leaf quilt
If I based the measurement of the finished quilt on the blocks' size, it should have finished at 73" x 90".  After quilting, binding, washing, and drying it measures at 67 3/4" x 85".  That's a lot of shrinkage!  So often quilts seem too large when I finish sewing blocks together; this reminds me why that's a good idea.  Shrinkage happens.
maple leaf quilt
I used two fabrics for the back:  red in the center with the blue printed fabric as a border around the red.  I would rather have had an all blue backing but the company where I bought it didn't have enough.  It's another make do back. 
maple leaf quilt
When I had this quilt on the living room floor last year just after sewing all the blocks together, a young acquaintance came to visit.  When she looked at the quilt she exclaimed, "It looks like a pile of autumn leaves!"  She sounded surprised--I couldn't tell if she was pleasantly surprised or slightly judgmental--but she was definitely right.  It does look like a pile of autumn leaves--unless you can imagine being under the trees looking up toward the sky. 

Of all the photos I have, I believe this one (and the second one above this one) captures the colors best, but even it is not completely accurate.  Maybe one of these days we'll have a bright, slightly cloudy day and I'll be able to take it outside for some photos.
maple leaf quilt
Finishing this quilt was my One Monthly Goal for July.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to post this month because I've had computer problems--Windows installed an update then a few days later, it configured the computer, leaving me with photos and documents in places I couldn't find them and a mess to sort out.  (I think--hope!--the computer problems are resolved.)  And my daughter and I took a short road trip.  (Maybe more about that trip later.)    
Niagara Falls, USA
I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal July Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie's blog
> Beauties Pageant 139 at From Bolt to Beauty
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

30 comments:

  1. Your quilt just glows! That is a lot of shrinkage. Something to consider, for sure.

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    1. Thanks, Anne-Marie. Yes, there's that glowing effect, especially in the sunlight, just as I hope it would have.

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  2. Autumn perfection! It glows. The quilting lines swirl, like autumn breeze. I love it, I never stopped loving it. {I want to make my own!] And I am pretty sure I told you that when it was done and you opened it up some autumn crisp day, you would love it too. And you do, you will.

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    1. Oh, Lizzy, I love your enthusiasm for this quilt and your confidence that I would love it in the end.  Thank you!

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  3. Oh, it turned out so beautifully well. Such a pretty striking quilt. I'm so glad you'll have it already done to display for the fall season this year. It just radiates that October sunshine so well. Isn't it wonderful how we grow tired of a project and then once we work on it again - the enthusiasm is back. I was thinking of you this week and a conversation we've had before about getting a new top out to quilt and finding something that needs to be changed. I got out my Sweet Land of Liberty quilt, which is the next one to go on the frames, and one block right in the middle just wasn't right. I finally had to take it out, cut off the applique to re-applique it on a different backing. I also discovered that it isn't squared up. The bottom half is much narrower than the top half. I'm not quilt sure how I'm going to fix that but something will have to be done. Sigh~

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    1. Thank you, Robin.  Maybe that tiredness for a quilt is like "absence makes the heart grow fonder" adage -- we like it more after having not seen it for a while.  I'm not sure how the whole love/not love for projects works but I'm glad I usually love the quilts in the end.
      Every time I think of or pull out a quilt top to layer and baste, I think of you and our ongoing conversations about finding problems that need changed.  I don't understand what happens that we see things in the tops we pull out to quilt that we didn't see when we folded them away to await quilting.  Why do we miss those "imperfections?"  Maybe it's being ready to be finished with the top?  Or maybe we're just tired of it and don't look too carefully?  Or maybe it's seeing it with "new" eyes when we pull it out?  I don't know but I wish it didn't happen.
      I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Sweet Land of Liberty.  You're good to remove and reapplique, but really, it's the only thing to do when our eyes see a mistake.  I'm sure you'll figure out how to add or remove from the top or bottom of the quilt.  I think it's interesting that you, too, think of the quilt in terms of halves--the top half, the bottom half.  The original does seem to have a dark strip across the center (or nearly center).  That quilt is such an unusual one to make, especially the pattern, it's method of making blocks, and Cheri's casual approach to creating quilts -- cut it off if it's too big, add a little if it's too small, etc.  For me (who works toward perfection) it's a challenge.  I'll be interested to read if and how you square up the quilt.  Is it just the outer edges that are off or is there puckering where the blocks are sewn together?  I didn't notice it being off at all when you posted photos.

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  4. What a beautiful autumn glow this quilt has!! I love the vibrant colors...
    and your quilting really added such nice depth..lovely work
    Hugs, Julierose

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    1. Thank you, Julierose.  I didn't know how the quilting would work/look after it was finished.  I'm so pleased wth it.

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  5. Your Autumn Leaves looks wonderful!

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    1. Thank you, Jenny. I wonder, do you get autumn colors like these where you live?

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  6. Your labor of love is truly beautiful. I think the fan quilting is perfect for the windblown effect you wanted.

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    1. Thank you, Pat. I actually wasn't sure how the fans confined to the squares of each block would look, so it was a happy result to see that most flowed together.

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  7. so beautiful....i loved it from the start! congrats on the finish

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    1. Thanks so much, Grace. I'm glad I love it at the finish (since I wasn't sure in the middle).

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  8. Such a beautiful quilt ! The colors (especially all the different “blue sky” backgrounds), the quilting and the pieced backing. Congratulations on a gorgeous finish.

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    1. Thank you so much, FabricDiva54. Some of the "blue sky" colors look a little stormy but that's part of autumn colors, too. Haha.

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  9. Replies
    1. Thank you, Karen! They're not colors I would normally put together in a quilt but I think they work only because they're autumn leaves.

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  10. Beautiful quilt and the quilting makes it really special. Congratulations!!

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    1. Thanks so much for visiting and leaving such a sweet comment, Sharon.

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  11. This is really beautiful!! I live in Colorado and as soon as I saw your quilt it made me want to hike the mountains to watch the colors change!!

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    1. Thank you, Alycia. That's a fun thought, imagining your Colorado mountains change color in the fall. I hope you can see it!

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  12. Beautiful quilt. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congratulations on your finish!

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    1. Thank you, Patty. And thanks for hosting One Monthly Goal every month.

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  13. Congrats on a fabulous finish!! I've told you from the beginning that I love this quilt. Now that it's done, I love it even more!

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    1. Thank you, Joyful. You and several others have believed in this quilt from the beginning!

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  14. Oh, such a lovely quilt all round! And I love the pieced backing, and that swirly cable quilted through it is perfect!

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    1. Thank you, QuiltGranma. It's surprising how many aspects of a quilt go together to make it appealing. I was surprised how the hand quilting looked, wasn't sure at the beginning, but am definitely pleased with it.

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  15. Replies
    1. Thank you, Karrin. The work's not perfect but still fun.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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