Maple Leaf Centerpiece Tutorial + Giveaway

If you haven't been here before I'm Connie and I am excited to be part of the AccuQuilt Fall Blog Hop - I have a tutorial for this Maple Leaf Centerpiece and a giveaway. If you don't have a AccuQuilt GO! Baby don't worry, I'll show you how to make this without it.

I should warn you that I'm a visual person so I like lots of pictures. 

First thing we are going to do is make our blocks out of neutral/tan fabrics - great time to dig into your scraps

.

• Cut 9 - 5 inch squares
• Cut 9 - 2-1/2 inch x 5 inch rectangles
• Cut 9 - 2 1/2 inch x 7 inch rectangles

Sew the 2-1/2 inch piece to the 5 inch square

Sew this piece to the 2-1/2 inch by 7 inch rectangle.

Make 9 blocks and arrange them however you like. If you look at the layout below you can see that I will only have to match the seams of the 9 blocks.

Sew the blocks together. You now have a piece about 20 inches square.

Now fold the piece in half.

Fold it in half again.

Now we are going to cut a circle. This is a tool I bought at a art store years ago. There is a point on it that I put at the center of the piece (lower right corner in photo) and then I place the end with the pencil at the bottom left corner just in a bit on the fabric. I tighten the screw on the point and then draw a line from one side to the other. You can also do this with a pin and a string wrapped around a pencil. Then carefully cut the line with your rotary cutter.

My circle is approximately 18 inches. 

I used my AccuQuilt GO! Baby to cut maple leaves using my Fall Medley Die.

I cut a strip of Heat & Bond Lite and fuse it to a strip of fabric. Since I am only cutting the maple leaf I cut pieces to just cover that die.

If you don't have the Fall Medley die or a GO! Baby you can print off this maple leaf that I picked out of the neighbor's yard. I cleaned up the background and enhanced the edges in Photoshop to make it easier for you to trace. Just click on the leaf to open up a large image and save to your computer. Then print it out the size you would like. There are also many place on the internet that have free graphics you could use.

Place the leaves on the top and fuse.

Next place a backing right side down on your table. Put your batting - I used Warm & Natural - on top of it and the your pieced block on top. I then did a freemotion applique around the leaves with a dark brown thread.

You could also use a blanket stitch or satin stitch.

Then I did a stipple free motion quilting with a creme thread.

Close up

Now trim your centerpiece and zig-zag or serge around the edges. I then stitched cotton cluny lace to finish it. You could make a bias binding - if so you wouldn't want to finish the edges with zig-zag then.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and now for the giveaway!

 

A complete kit to make your own Maple Leaf Centerpiece which includes the blocks, cluny lace, AccuQuilt die cut Maple leaves, Warm & Natural batting and a backing. You just have to supply the thread.  I'll even add a couple pumpkins and other goodies!

1. If you would like to win leave a comment on this post letting me know you'd like to win it. 
2. Be a follower of Quilting by the River (follow via Google Friend Connect in the right side-bar of the blog).
3. Blog about this giveaway and leave a link.

That is a total of 3 comments you can leave. The contest will end Sunday October 2nd and I will post the winner on Monday.

I want to thank Darlene at SewCalGal for organizing this and don't forget to check out the other great blogs taking part.

Monday, September 26th

• Darlene (SewCalGal) - www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 27th

• Terrie (Bits & Pieces) www.terriesandelin.blogspot.com 
• Sharon (Craizee Corners) www.craizeecorner.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 28th

• Katrina (Sunshower Quilts) www.sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 29th

• Connie (Quilting by the River) www.conniekresin.blogspot.com
• Mary (the Tulip Patch) http://www.tulip-patch.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 30th

• Polly (Polly's Porch) www.auntpollysporch.blogspot.com

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