Collecting Leaves – more oak leaf applique

This morning on my way home from an appointment, the streets were covered in fallen leaves.  Our weather change has been swift, so most of them were still a vivid green.  We passed a trampoline covered in a thick blanket of dried leaves and joked about stopping to bounce them all off.  I thought of a favorite quote by Albert Camus, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”   This lovely art print captures that, I think.  It’s a season that draws me outdoors much like spring, especially for collecting leaves.  But this year, I’m collecting leaves made of fabric.

I now have a half dozen oak leaf applique blocks completed.   When I first started my project, I assumed I would use all the pink, red, and orange fabrics on the honey yellow background.  When I got started, however, I was drawn to a blue chambray background.  I used the chambray recently on my Beach Hut pillow, and liked the contrast.

While I love the chambray, I don’t have much of it, so at first I started shopping online for more.  I may regret it, but it didn’t feel right to buy fabric when I have plenty here at home.  If I were on a walk through the forest, collecting leaves from the forest floor in various shapes, sizes, and colors, I would just rejoice in whatever I found.  So, I decided to take that approach with my fabric.  I’ll use what’s on hand.  This led me to cut background blocks in another grayish blue and a dark gray.  The gray reminds me of my Modern Maples quilt from many years ago.

Matching threads for applique reminded me of the multi-colored matchstick quilting on that quilt.  It would be fun to do it again.  For now, I have a LOT of applique to do.  If I make a full quilt of these blocks, I only need at least…..90 more.  Something tells me this won’t be a quick finish.  No hand applique project is.  I do love the organic feeling of all the hand stitched blocks.  It will be worth it!

Time to cut and prep a few more!