THE GALLERY

Leaf Print Wall Quilt

Leaf printing is a fun and easy project.
The materials are right outside your door!

I made this wall quilt for my friend Robert Scribner. In his new hair studio, he has a wall like mine that has an electrical panel that sticks out like a sore thumb. Hanging up a wall quilt is great camouflage! I chose the leaves to go with his great leaf print rugs, distressed concrete flooring and warm natural colors. The hanger is a copper pipe that has been *forced* to age with a salt, ammonia and vinegar solution.

Detail of printed leaves. I liked these off a tree in my front yard. They have great "spiky" edges.

They were printed on simple muslin (the kind with lots of natural "flecks" in it), in earth tones of bronze, gold, copper and olive green.

A straight traditional binding just wouldn't go with the curving lines of the leaves and quilting.

To bind my quilt, I sewed a single strip of leaf print fabric approximately 2" wide to the wrong side of the quilt (all four edges). I then cut the edges in a wavy line, wrapped it around the quilt and held it down with fabric glue.

I covered the raw edge of the binding with a 1/4" mottled rust color fabric trim that I made with a 1/4" bias tape maker. HINT: Cut your fabric on the cross-grain!

Save those scraps!

Not only do I use my test piece for checking the printing, but I can also test quilting stitches, binding techniques, etc.

Use your test or sample piece as a mini wall hanging!

Learn more about this technique!