Free motion quilting leaves

Lane Wilhite (That man quilts) does fabulous free motion leaves on his quilts!  Actually all of his quilts are most excellent!  I asked him if he marked his leaves before quilting them.  He said no, but his does study different kinds of vines to see how the leaves grow on them and thinks about how they grow as he quilts.  So I started practicing leaves.

The first practice piece is left over ivory coloured scrap drapery cotton folded over four times.  Then I made two 10 by 10 inch square cotton sheet sandwiches with a scrap of old towel in between.  I found it was easier to do the inside of the stem first...travel back for the veins, then sew around for the outside of the leaf.  After sewing almost the whole square, I decided to follow Lane's advice.  I took photos to study the way leaves grow.

Note to self:  Lime green thread doesn't show up well on cream coloured fabric!

It looks like a lot more practice is required to master feathers!

It is very difficult to tell the back side from the front because the Bernina 930's tension is perfectly balanced.  I just love this sewing machine.

The top photo is the front side and below is the back side.

 

These two practice squares are now potholders in my kitchen.  Next practice project...placemats.