Our quilt guild just hosted Joyce Cauthen, the author of a book about Bettye Kimbrell. Athough Bettye had intended to be with us, she took ill. Joyce brought samples of leaf pounding done by Bettye and they were awesome. It is not for everyone, just as tiny little pieces aren't for everyone, or applique. This is a beautiful technique, and Bettye's quilts have won awards all over the world. She used masking tape on the back of the leaf, pounded it and then the green turns brown, or shades thereof. She had asked a botanist how to keep it green, and was told "I think you killed it" will all the pounding! Her quilt done with huge Castor bean leaves was heart-stopping gorgeous!

http://www.outofwholecloth.com/

I belong to Chris Kirsch's quilting blog. She had the technique on her blog last year about doing it. And I watched a show where Georgia Bonesteel did it. One of them said the neighbors came out to see what all the noise was about. It looks like something fun to try OUTSIDE, but it would aggravate my joint issues.

This is a flower pounding I did for a customer. It took a few days to complete. The fabric has to be pretreated to accept dye. Many flowers do not pound out to the same color as the fresh flower. But it is fascinating to watch the development of the project. Just don't hang your creation where direct sunlight can find it.

Neanie- your "pounding" is really pretty. I have never heard of the technique until I read it in an old newpaper from my Quild. i am going to suggest this as a lecture (I guess to be done outsidde) and also for my garden club.

I did some flower pounding back in '02. Wow that was a long time ago!

There was an episode of Simply Quilts with the flower pounding. I do remember there needs to be something to set it, but unable to tell you. A friend told me it was a project they did in Girl Scouts year before. The results are very pretty.

I have done leaf pounding. I did it in late August and found that the lack of moisture in the leaf made it more challenging. It would have been easier to do in the spring or early summer.

Our quilt guild did this several years ago. What fun! Mine hangs on the wall in my sewing room. It has faded a little but I love it and it was lots of fun.

There was an episode on the Simply Quilts show years ago that demonstrated this method. Some of the shows are still able to be viewed online.