A New Quilt, 'Chlorophyll'

I got this crazy idea. One of those that come to you in that time between sleep and wakefulness. I saw a branch of a tree turning into fabric, just as it grew. So I thought about it and later went out to 'prune' an oak leaf hydrangea. Above is the lowest leaf on the stem, therefore, the largest, pinned to fabric. Cutting was a challenge, as I wanted to keep as much of the true edge as I could. Used both my large scissors and my tiny ones.
Taking what was once three dimentional and visualizing it on a flat plane was a little harder this way than when I draw it out. While drawing, I am drawing with perspective, allowing for depth. This was just simply a placing of leaves, one on top of another to create a sense of depth. I snipped each leaf, pinned it to fabric and then cut it out. Next I placed it where the real leaf was, pinned and then moved to another leaf.

The end result is a grouping of leaves, straight from Mother Nature herself. The leaves are ironed as I usually do, under layers completely; as they will be first to be sewn, and upper layers; only partially ironed or not at all yet. My backing fabric is a fun print from one of Jane Sassaman's collections. It will wrap around to the front as the border. The background fabric is, as usual for me, silk shantung.

This was an exercise in spontaneity for me. I usually work in a much more controlled way. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to sewing it.