UPDATE: The Jolly Jabber’s post for this quilt along was unavoidably delayed until November 2nd. If you don’t receive their posts, it will be available on The Fat Quarter Shop’s Blog on that day. There you can see other bloggers’ projects as well!

I really love fall – especially the changing of the leaves before they spin to the ground! My sweet Mama used to say fall was a sad time of the year for her because everything died. I tend to look at fall as more a time of renewal – a time when we can view mother nature – and especially the leaves of the trees – in all their glory and splendor before they drop to the ground, and the trees take a nice long nap so they will be ready to spring forth in beauty next spring. We can view it kind of like times when we need a rest from what we are doing. After that little rest, we can come back with fresh ideas and a new vision for where we want to take our quilting, sewing, embroidery – whatever we are doing! Breaks (and naps!!!) are good at times!

Today I am excited to be participating in the Fat Quarter Shop‘s Maple Leaf Quilt Along, Classic and Vintage from the Maple Leaf Quilt Pattern, which was provided to me by FQS! Thank you!! Following is a little tutorial for the block and a look at my project and process to create it! It turned out to be so pretty with all the fall colors! I’ve never been much for orange, but because of fall, pumpkins, etc., it’s growing on me!! All of the fabrics, with the exception of one green, is by Moda. Though there are several different collections/designers represented here, I think they blend together so well. I especially love everything Moda Grunge – spots, stars, and basics!!   

Here is the block pattern provided by Fat Quarter Shop. This block ends up being 9-1/2 x 12-1/2 inches unfinished. 

What you will need for EACH block:

 

Fabric A: One rectangle 3-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches, 2 – 4-inch squares, 2 – 3-inch squares, one 3-1/2 inch square

Fabric B and Fabric C: One each 4 inch square

Fabric D : One 3-1/2 inch square

Fabric E: Two 3-1/2 inch squares

Fabric F: One 3-1/2 inch square (for stem)

Assemble HSTs:

 

Place one A 4-inch square on top of one B 4-inch square and draw a line down the center from corner to corner.  Stitch 1/4 inch away from the line on both sides. Cut apart on center line.

Repeat with a another Fabric A and one Fabric C 4-inch square.

Trim the HSTs to 3-1/2 inches.

Assemble the Stem 

 

For the stem unit: Take the two Fabric A 3-inch squares and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Place one square in upper right corner of the 3-1/2 inch Fabric F square, and stitch on the drawn line. Trim 1/4 inch away from stitched line and press toward Fabric A. Repeat with the second square in the lower left corner.

 

Now the “hard” part is over! LOL Follow the diagram below to complete the block!

 

I alternated placing the 3-1/2 x 9-1/2 inch rectangle at the top and bottom and came up with this table runner pattern and an alternate placement.

     

 

 

 

 

 

I cut and organized my pieces and did a little chain piecing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my flimsy:

 

To quilt it, I used Superior Threads #40 wt Rainbow thread “Turning Colors” and Quilter’s Dream batting. Since feathers are NOT my strong suit, and since I had 10 nice open spaces, I decided to let myself practice on this piece!! Here is some of the quilting I did on it. The cute little bug was done using my new favorite ruler from HQ – the leaf and petal ruler!! 

 

And the finished table runner!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this block tutorial and seeing my finished table runner. Be sure and hop on over Fat Quarter Shop and pick up some great Moda fabric and make yourself a pretty fall table runner! Thanks for stopping in. I’ll be posting on some of my favorite linky parties this week as they become available. (You can see them over in the side bar!) 

Join me on Thursday to see what I’ve created for the Fat Quarter Shop Blog Remix! Until then…