Flower Pounding

In a recent post I shared some projects that involved flower pounding and I had several requests for a tutorial so I am going to show you how I go about flower pounding .The first thing you will need to do is treat your fabric , this was my first time doing that process but it seemed to have worked ,I had purchased the fabric I used in my Leafs me Happy blog hop.

You will need to prewash your 100% cotton fabric , (do not use tone on tone for this project) , wash using your regular laundry detergent and add 2 tablespoons of washing soda , shown here in the photo , I am sure there are other brands  it is just what I happen to have . Rinse your fabric a few times to remove the washing soda then soak your fabric in a bucket in a mixture of 2 cups hot water in which you have added 1/4cup of alum for 2 hours .

It was a little challenging to find the alum but some drug stores do carry it so ask around. Once the two hours is up dissolve 1 tsp. of washing soda in 1/2 cup of hot water then add to the bucket of water containing your fabric and let sit for 8 hours or overnight whichever is most convenient.The above amounts are for 1 yard of fabric , if doing more than the one yard increase your amounts accordingly.
Did you have a good sleep , great as now you need to take that fabric and wring it out but do not rinse it ,hang your fabric to allow to dry naturally ,then iron and you are ready to start pounding.
Now that you have your fabric already you will need to gather the other necessary supplies , no problem here as most people have access to flowers or leaves or both so go gather some pretty leaves .

Then you will need some pounding tools ....

First off is an old cutting board or some other piece of wood sturdy enough to pound on , some tape to hold down those leaves and a hammer , that is it !

Take your leaves and arrange them on your fabric in a pleasing manner then take your tape , scotch tape can be used , I have used this painters tape before without issue but you will see in the photos to follow that the tape did transfer on some leaves . Please note the way the leaves are laying on the fabric , the leaves are placed face up so the veins are on the underside and when you pound they will transfer more  easily. If using flowers place them face down ,in some cases it is best to remove the petals and lay them one at a time onto the fabric then tape down. 

I think because we are at the end of our growing season the amount of pigment in the leaves , especially the maple leaf is not as great so I needed to pound much harder but here you can see how they are taped down , you do need to tape well to prevent them from moving , now you can do one leaf at a time if you so desire , I like to make it quick;-)

Here I am pounding , you can see the pigment coming through , no problem with those oval shaped leaves , they are from two different shrubs in my yard but that maple and oak leaf was not cooperating which was not the case when I did them a couple of weeks ago .

Finally here is the end result , as you can see the leaves from the shrubs are lovely but the tape does show on one of those as well , the maple leaf is not that clear , the oak leaf did pound out better than I thought. So there you have it , I think for those on the other side of the world or in warmer climates than I am and have loads of lovely flowers and leaves to choose from you can really have some fun with this , go ahead and experiment .
For those who may have missed my leaf projects here is a photo of one that I did a few weeks back when our leaves were abundant and full of life .

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you find this tutorial helpful , I am no expert on flower pounding but will try to answer any questions you may have . To answer Flo's question on whether I did any stitching on the above finished project the answer is yes, I free motion stitched around each leaf and the veins to better emphasize the leaf , this is not totally necessary it is just something I wanted to do and since I am talking about this , you can see that extra stitching can really enhance the overall look in this flower project as I did some FM as well as some hand embroidery , this is more necessary with flowers as there is usually gaps .The other thing you might want to try is using crayons, yes plain old crayons , nothing fancy and fill in those flowers and add highlights in areas you think may need it , go ahead I know you probably love to color , I know I do.

hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

On yet another dreary rainy day here on the east coast I am sharing some wonderful mail I recieved , I mean doesn't it brighten your day when the mailman leaves you a squishy to open :-) This delightful little package arrived from Germany from Angie .,I had won in a recent giveaway in a blog hop.

Two pretty fat quarters with matching prints ,one in pink the other green , a very unique seam ripper and tweezers combination and a fridge magnet .Thanks so much Angie !
 As for my sewing this week , it has been sporadic at best but I have a couple of things to share . Here is the next block in our BOM for the quilt guild , just ironed on at the moment .

 What do you think of my birds , kind of neat how the fabric makes it look like wings and even eyes . There are also some blocks with stars and hearts which I have prepared but no photos of as of yet.
 I have also been decorating tea towels for Christmas , I love decorated tea towels and have a few done but just one to share at this time.

 Oh I must mention here that I finally was able to find some alum which is one of the ingredients necessary to treat the fabric for flower pounding so will do my best to get a tutorial ready as soon as possible , before all the leaves are gone .
 To close today I want to share this photo I took a couple of evenings ago when the skies were threatening ,I love the contrast of the sky with the very lush green field and the golden leaves.

 I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network , if you have never visited you are missing out on some incredible work , go ahead and head on over to visit you won't regret it I promise and thanks for stopping by today to visit with me I always enjoy seeing you .
 hugs Sheila

And the winner is !

The winner of this little flower pounded art piece is  Judy B who said
 What a wonderful array of blocks! love the leaf/flower pounding, very different. Thank you for sharing and the great giveaway.
I used the number generator to choose a winner amongst my 100 comments , thanks to everyone who took the time to visit and make a comment and for those who became a follower , thanks . Judy I will email you to let you know you are the winner and get your mailing info. 

I am sure I have told you how much I love working with wool , well with the cooler temperatures arriving I just had to dig out some wool pieces and create a little mat.My friend Cyndi had gifted me with these gorgeous wools that I used for the background , they were charm squares of wool and perfect for what I had in mind so thanks soooooooo.... much Cyndi .I adore working with wool , it just feels so nice and soft and the needle just glides through the fabric, a very relaxing type of handwork to do .

Yesterday I got busy and made the 11 nine patch blocks for our exchange this month , didn't want to be the last minute getting those done .

I also prepared the October block for the Shabby Fabric  free BOM, these are such fun to do . I still have no stitching done on this but thought I would share it anyway .

Aren't the pumpkins a sweet addition, I am really enjoying these cottages each month, just two more to go .
Off now to do some house chores , yeah I know I would rather be quilting but somethings are necessary ,enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by . I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network for WIP a day late .
hugs Sheila

Leafs Me Happy

Like so many have stated this past week , fall is my favorite time of year , I love the crisp fall air , the changing of colors and the slower pace that fall brings so when Madame Samm announced the Leafs blog hop I knew I just had to join in . Thanks to Madame Samm and  Cherry of Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio for being our hostesses and for all the work that they have done to make this all possible   . Here in Nova Scotia the leaves are turning beautifully , not at peak just yet but gorgeous all the same, so before I share my blocks with you I thought I would share a couple of photos of the colors we are experiencing at this time.

Isn't that a gorgeous color . How about this scene , just couldn't resist sharing this one.

These photos were taken yesterday afternoon when we took a drive through the back roads something I love to do .
So on with the show , I did make a few projects to share so you just might want to grab a cuppa as this might get a little picture heavy. My first projects involved a process called Flower Pounding  that I learned many years ago at a retreat ,I had the treated fabric in my stash for at least 10 years and decided this would be perfect to showcase some fall leaves .

My first set of leaves , fun but not enough so onward ....

Still not quite enough so why not some fall flowers .All of these leaves and flowers are from my yard , the process is pretty simple , you just need the pretreated fabrics , the flowers and or leaves and a hammer ,you never know what the results will be but it is fun :-)

Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this before finishing it off . ,these blocks are 12" with the borders added .Below are the finished Falling Leaves blocks .

 My next project involved tracing off a leaf shape then dividing the leaf into sections and using some wonderful batiks that I won a short while back from Linda of Lindas Quilt mania ,actually the above borders are also from the bali pops from Linda , thanks so much Linda . I got the idea from a photo in Fons and Porter and the project was a web bonus by Laura Wasilowski  called Autumn Leaves .

I appliqued the sections on with  a satin stitch . I then made this into a pillow. 

This is called Vase of Flowers by Lori Smith , also a Fons and Porter project .I decided to share this one as it has fall colors .

Finally I wanted a little table mat and this project  is also from Fons and Porter Quilting Celebrations for Fall/winter 2011,it doesn't fit into the 10.5"or 12.5" size but it is called Autumn Leaves .

I hope you have enjoyed my little fall display and if you are a follower and would like to make a comment telling me what you like best about fall I will put your name in the hat for this small original flower pounded mug rug or whatever you would like to use it for .

Thanks for the visit and be sure to hop on over to the others that are taking part in todays Leafs Me Happy Hop and if you have missed the other days you can get the master list by visiting with Cherry .

Tuesday 9

Till We Quilt Again

Sheilas quilt world (that is me  :-)

ferristhoughts

Home Designs by Amanda

Quilt n Queen

Polka dot classic

Moonbeams in a Jar

Stitch, stitch, stitch

Sew Me Something Good

quiltingbydawn

My collection of Things
Jessisca

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I last posted but hey sometimes life just happens. First off today is Day Three of the Leafs Be Happy Blog hop , why not hop on over to view all the fantastic fall projects that have been created for this event , you won't be disappointed .

Plum and June

The Recipe Bunny

VroomansQuilts

It's Sew Kiki

PigTales and Quilts

Quilting fiesta

GrammieQ's

Nancy

Just Let Me Quilt

Selina Quilts
The Learning Curve~Quilts and Such

My day to share my leafy projects is Tuesday the 9th so be sure to come back for that, now on to what I came here for today my projects for this week , I have not been doing too much sewing but today I put the  pedal to the medal and got these five blocks made for a BOM with our guild .

First off is these four 12 patch blocks , as you can see they are very scrappy and don't be too concerned that the same fabrics are touching each other here as they will not be even close in the completed quilt .Then there is this applique block which I always enjoy doing .

 I love this funky flower and the fabric I choose for the stem works so well on the bias . So all in all a good day and I have been working on my leaf projects , almost completed and my Wicked projects are actually ready , go figure I should have concentrated on the leaves but no not me I was just so eager to start those wicked blocks that nothing was going to stop me . 

 I am linking up today to the Needle and Threadnetwork and if you want even more inspiration be sure to check them out .It is a glorious fall day here , after so much rain it is a very welcome sight ,enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

 hugs Sheila