Tropical Leaf Rug Pt 2: Finishing

After 45 days, it's DONE! (This is the back side.)

Do you recall me stating that oftentimes, you need to be in the right head space in order to make progress on a sewing project?

That explains why it's taken this long to finish my tropical leaf rug.

After completing the piecing of the top side and adding some padding, my enthusiasm for it ran low. I decided that until there was "progress" on the pandemic, I wouldn't force myself to make progress on it.

On May 14th, however, we began a phased re-opening of our local economy. I therefore took it as a signal to unroll this partially completed rug and at least contemplate its final form.

Perhaps those of you who also decided to make this project when I originally posted about it are already done, but for anyone who has been procrastinating like me, I'll detail my progress to the finish line.

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The front piecing was completed when I last posted about this. I didn't know at the time what my choice for the back part would be, but it would obviously need some padding in between. (The original instructions called for quilt batting to be applied and then the top quilted, per traditional methods. I decided that I was going to hand quilt it at the end and go through both sides.)

For me, it was an easy option to go back to my blanket remnants for the padding.

Using an old blanket as padding...

The two pieces were basted together and then some of the padding trimmed back (up to an inch in some spots). That's where it was left for several weeks.

When I came back to it, I had decided to use an old curtain panel for the reverse side. It's brown and has a tone on tone leafy motif throughout. (It's been in my stash for a long time, originally used for one of my early purse projects, the Bella bag.)

Bottom and top pinned right sides together...

Let me emphasize again: this thing is huge. It's not fun to sew all the way around it even if you know that you've eliminated any possibility of slippage by basting first. So, BASTE FIRST. You don't need to start with as much extra fabric around the leaf as I did, but this particular fabric is not a quilting cotton and tends to fray, so I wanted to minimize potential headaches.

Back view of my basting stitches...

A suggestion about the basting: keep the stitches relatively small so that you end up creating a sewing line for yourself. Stitch 1/4" or 6mm away from the raw edge of the top piece. You'll appreciate having a guide line to sew along, believe me.

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This was by far the biggest thing that I've ever sewn and it confirmed that making quilts is not for me. I don't have a large enough flat, level surface to push around something like this and had to start and stop frequently to bunch up and rearrange everything, often while attempting to make 180 degree turns. (Remember to keep your needle in the down position!)

I will reiterate: having the basting line to follow was a lifesaver. There is really no other way to keep a consistent seam allowance while making those u-turns!

Turned right side out...

Remember to leave a turning gap somewhere, of course. (Mine was located along the bottom right edge of the leaf.) Once the sewing is done, trim the fabric back to the 1/4" seam allowance — except in the area of the turning gap — and then do what I forgot to do the first time: clip the deep curves where the leaf splits are located.

After turning right side out, I saw these unsightly puckered areas and realized I had forgotten to do that very important task.

Clipping into the seam allowance in this area will resolve the puckering problem...

With curves clipped and puckers cured, I removed the basting stitch that held the padding to the top side. You may or may not want to do this at this point. I felt around and discovered that the padding was curled up along some of the edges, so I had to go in and do some trimming. If you have no issues, leave the basting in place until you're done.

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Important update for past or present Craftsy/Bluprint customers...

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Whichever the case, close up the turning gap with some ladder stitching. I mentioned that you shouldn't trim the fabric too much here because it's easier to tuck, pin and then stitch the opening closed when you have more than 1/4" of fabric to work with.

Hand quilting the "veins"...

With the memory of sewing around the entire leaf still fresh on my mind, I didn't want to machine quilt the veins on this thing. But in all honesty, I had made that decision earlier, knowing that keeping everything secure while trying to sew straight or curved lines in specific places on such a large item wasn't going to be easy.

A rug or a wall/window hanging?

So I turned to some variegated embroidery floss and used it to hand quilt the veins through all layers. The advantage to this method is that the stitching can easily be removed and redone if you're not happy with it.

It's an accomplishment...

In the end, I feel quite accomplished by my tropical leaf rug. (And that's what it is for now, a rug. I love my bright sunny days of summer and don't want it hanging in my window, blocking out the light.) It was a project I admired from the get-go, but wasn't something I would ever have made had I not issued my pandemic challenge.

Hopefully — if you've been on the fence about this — I've given you enough encouragement and/or warning to help you make up your mind!

'Til next...