QUILTsocial | Issue 08

How to coordinate color-soaked batiks
to make fanciful fall foliage
Stacks of green strips come together in a string piecing
symphony of color.
Group the strips together to make it easier to mix up
the colors when string piecing the leaves.
Start by placing one green strip at a bit of an angle in
the center of a muslin rectangle.
Next… creating the fabulous leaves
that will be a focal point on our Autumn
Harmony quilted sampler.
Begin by cutting 2” wide strips from
various green batik scraps. These should
be at least 10” long.
I cut about 80 strips from the scraps I’d
scrounged from my quilting buddies.
You can take a more design-oriented
approach, but I kind of enjoyed the
randomness of it all.
There was some order to it, honest.
When I cut strips from one fabric, I
grouped them all together in the same
pile. I found it easier to have the scraps
grouped when I began putting the
leaves together.
String-piecing method for each leaf:
Cut eight pieces of thin quilter’s muslin,
9” wide by 13” long.
Start at the center of the muslin
rectangle, placing a scrap right side up
and a slight angle.
Pin into place.
Place a the next strip on top of the
pinned one, right sides together, making
the raw edges align as best you can.
Use a short stitch length and sew
through the fabric and muslin, using a
¼” seam.
Finger press the seam allowance,
using the handy finger presser. Add
the next strip, continuing until the
muslin is covered.
You’ll be doing eight stringpieced
rectangles.
Press the finished rectangles on the top
(right side) of the fabric with a generous
spray of Flatter. It smells heavenly, and
will provide a smooth surface for next
project – the fabulous fall foliage on the
Autumn Harmony quilted sampler.
Sew another strip onto the first one, and use a finger
pressing tool to make it as flat as possible.
Q
72 .com | issue 8
UILTsocial