Ghost Leaves Explained

I made a "ghost" leaf for each of the fall leaf blocks.
I used sparkly tulle sandwiched in between layers of hand-dyed cheesecloth.

I used orange cheesecloth on top of the tulle and brown on the bottom.

I had a hard time deciding how to mark the leaf shape so I could sew around it. I finally would up using a freezer paper template ironed on and then I traced the shape on my machine using a straight stitch.

Then I removed the freezer paper and satin stitched around the edge of each leaf shape and stitched a leafy vein in the center of each "leaf."

I cut out each shape and fastened it to the block using beads.
This is a finished block -- note the thick sparkle thread marking the veins of the hand-dyed leaves. I wound the thread on a bobbin and sewed it on each one from the back.

If you click on the pictures, you can view them close up.

Falloween Blocks Unveiled At Last

This is a photo of the fall blocks I sent out. I made one big block and then divided it into four blocks for the four recipients. I will do another post explaining in detail the methods I used to make the "ghost" leaves.

These are the three different Halloween blocks I made for the Halloween block requests. I used beads and fancy threads to make them sparkle.

I made extra Halloween blocks for myself to use in the final project.

And these are the blocks I have received so far in exchange:

The picture doesn't really do them justice -- they're all sparkly because the artists used really cool threads on them. And they're made with really cool hand-dyes and prints.

Fall Swap Sneak Peek

I am involved in another swap -- this time it's 8 and 1/2 inch blocks depicting either a fall or Halloween theme.

Yesterday I made some fabric. I took an almost-Shibori hand dye:

and picked some leaves from my neighbor's maple tree. I sprayed it down with Tsukineko Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution, using the leaves as a resist. I let it dry, then I heat set it.

Next time I will pick more leaves because I had to keep moving them and after the first spray, they were pretty messy.

I fused on some hand-dyes cut out to look like leaves and next I'll do thread work. I'll post a picture of the finished blocks after I send them out.

Today I sketched out some possibilities for the Halloween blocks. I was going to make two of each (I think I need a total of 5 to swap) so that I could keep one and send the other, but no one said that they had to all be different.

I like the witch the best, but there's another cat that I didn't post. I am not sure which I'll make into blocks yet. I also like spiders, so I might do that too. Or bats. Maybe Jack O'Lanterns...