The colors of fall: A New Leaf

Autumn lovers, rejoice! The colors of fall last for such a short time, but with Terri Vanden Bosch's A New Leaf quilt, you can enjoy those bold hues whenever you want. Terri used Jackie Robinson's Autumn Leaves collection paired with a paper pieced tree block to make this fun quilt.

"A New Leaf" by Terri Vanden Bosch;
featured in Quilty Sepember/October 2018

What attracted you to Jackie’s fabric collection?

Jackie's fabrics are always so beautiful up close –the tiny bit of metallic glitz just makes this line sparkle even more—like the late fall sunsets shining through the half bare trees!! The collection has a great variety of dark, medium and lights in it, which gave me plenty of options for the trees.

Can you talk about this quilt design came to be?

When I was a child, we traveled to my grandparents’ house and we would pass through a small town with a maple tree-lined street. The top branches of the trees on either side of the street would touch each other and form a canopy of leaves over the road. Seeing those trees meant that we were half way to Grandmas' house!! Only 45 more minutes to be carsick and stuffed with three of my siblings in the back seat of our Dad's Ford. 

Funny twist to the story--my daughter and her family now live in this small town--and the Maple trees still line that street!!

So I designed the quilt to be trees--Leaf Lane was my original name. I think it would be fun to make a few of the "trees" bare--then they might look more like trees and less like leaves.

Why does paper piecing work well for a design of this style?

Paper piecing gives me freedom to create designs that are not based on the straight lines of grid based blocks--while I love those too--sometimes it is just fun to play  and create something new!! I used to be scared of paper piecing--but once I started using the Add-A-Quarter ruler to trim off the excess fabric to a 1/4" seam allowance for easier placement of next fabric--I was hooked!!

Any tips for making quilt?

Always make a test block when paper piecing. Each person has their own way of doing this technique--so make sure the cut fabric sizes work with the technique you use before cutting out the whole quilt. After making sure the cut fabric sizes work for you, then stack the pieces to make for easy chain piecing.

Can you talk about how you quilted this, and why?

As a professional long arm quilter I find that choosing the motifs for quilting is one of my favorite parts of the quilting process. I am quite passionate about making the quilting design fit the feel of the quilt.

I chose a greeny/gold thread color to do a swirling vine and loop across the entire quilt top--mimicking the swirling vines and leaves on some of the fabrics. This let the fabric and piecing be the star of the quilt.

What do you like best about the quilt? 

The simplicity and movement of the rows just feels right and makes me remember the maple-lined streets of a childhood memory!!

Click here to see the Autumn Leaves collection.
Click here to visit Terri's website.
Click here to purchase the kit for A New Leaf.
Click here to purchase the A New Leaf pattern.
Click here to find Quilty magazine.

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A Taste of Fall: Autumn Leaves

Are fall decorations and pumpkin spice lattes calling your name? 
We have a cozy autumn quilt for you! Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton of Tailormade by Design used Jackie Robinson's Autumn Leaves collection to create "Leaf Scatter," the Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting September/October 2018 cover quilt.

"Leaf Scatter" by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton
and machine quilted by Sue Krause;
featured in Love of Quilting September/October 2018

Why did you choose Jackie’s Autumn Leaves collection for this quilt?

Both my sister and I love fall, and this is such a lovely and warm fall line. Plus, Jackie always creates such beautiful stripes that can be used as borders. Her lines have all the elements you need for a quilt—an allover print, blenders, and medium-size prints in different values. It makes it easy to design a quilt!

Tell us about the design.

We wanted it to be simple and approachable, but also highlight the beautiful fabrics. The design itself is pretty traditional—four-patches combined with a larger focal square. The large allover leaf print works beautifully in the focal squares.

Any tips for making this quilt?
It’s not difficult, but you do have to pay attention to direction as you’re sewing your blocks and then when you’re assembling the quilt.

When you cut the focal blocks, I used a ruler close to the block size and cut out a “row” of blocks. Then I moved to a different section and cut out more. I used a little bit more yardage, but that way I didn’t have the exact same squares for each block.

What do you like best about this quilt?

I love the cozy beautiful colors of fall, and the border print is fabulous!

Click here to see the Autumn Leaves collection.
Click here to purchase the kit for this quilt.
Click here to purchase Love of Quilting magazine.

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Jackie Robinson's Autumn Leaves

Start an autumn-themed project now, and it'll be done by the time September rolls around! Jackie Robinson's new collection, Autumn Leaves, is rich with color and texture, and features gorgeously shaded fall leaves, enhanced with metallic gold. In addition to all over leave prints, you'll find plenty of tonals, a large bouquet print, and of course Jackie's signature Split Stripe! Keep reading to learn more about the collection and patterns featuring Autumn Leaves. 

What inspired you to create the Autumn Leaves collection?

I’d done one previously and it was very popular. I love the dark autumn colors, which we don’t get here in Montana. I missed them immensely—we have brighter fall colors—mostly yellow, with very little red.

How did you choose the kinds of leaves to feature?

I went looking for different shaped leaves so there would be some variety. We added the colored brilliance to the leave shapes.

Do you have a favorite?

My favorite is the large bouquet on black. It’s pretty—I love the bouquet—and it cuts up into larger squares with the leaves centered.

Tell us about some of the other prints.

There’s the Split Stripe. It can be used in so many ways!

The Garden Vine is another favorite. I like the way it flows all over.

Tell us about your Autumn Leaves patterns.

Tesselating Leaves is trusted friend that works beautifully with this collection. It needs to be made with tonals so the leaves stand out. When you lay it out, it’s like working on a puzzle.

Click here to purchase the Tessellating Leaves pattern.

Turkey Gobbler is my favorite of all the 3-D wall hangings I’ve created.

Click here to purchase the Turkey Gobbler pattern.

Shoot the Breeze is a more involved pinwheel quilt. It’s a simple repeating block with a light, airy feel to it. It uses a fussy-cut section of the split stripe.

Click here to purchase the Shoot the Breeze pattern.

Bargello Frames features a larger square of cut out leaves, surrounded by tonals. It’s a simple alternating block pattern—a focal square and a pieced block.

Click here to purchase the Bargello Frames pattern.

Starry Eyed Geese is a quick and easy table runner. I like how it’s not symmetrical—it really adds interest to the design. This is available as a free quilt pattern on Benartex's website.

Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Click here to see the entire Autumn Leaves collection.

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