It has never been a secret that I adore, love, drool over ,covet ( add anything else that may fit here) Liberty of London fabrics! The first time I saw them was on the internet and I was stunned at the beauty of the designs. At that time, I was not quilting yet and could not figure out exactly what I would do with those lushious pieces of art. That all changed quickly after making my first quilt five years ago. The world of Liberty of London was calling to me ( not really but the voices in my head sure were loud). I purchased my first sets of 4 in squares of Liberty and I was tickled pink! I took them out and lined them up in rows, arranged them them in color order and then randomly then I very carefully put them back... I obviously was not ready.
Fast forward a few years and a few projects later. I learned that all those squares would look so much better if I actually used them, that they were meant to be sewn into, pincushions, Aeroplane bags, pouches and mini quilts. Their loveliness has a synergistic effect...one is gorgeous...a bunch together and BAM! It is a wonderful thing to experience.
A pincushion for a friend
Cathedral window Aeroplane Bag
A mini quilt
I was given the opportunity to experience it in a huge way that started this past May. In Portland, I received an email. I honestly thought it was not a real email because the person sending it to me has such a fun sounding name it could not be business related so I was going to skip to the next one. I could not get the name out of my head so I went back and opened it...OMG!!!!! Sara was there in bed and I SQUEELED with delight...SARA...OMG!!!!!! I think I may have been shaking a bit too. It was from Michelle at Liberty of London asking if I wanted to do a guest post for their blog. I started looking for the candid cameras and could not believe it was true...ME? No...really...ME?
Okay, I can do this! They will want me to make a little bag or something and it will be fun...nope...a QUILT! A full sized honest to goodness quilt...ALL LIBERTY! OH...Ummmmm...hmmmm. A TUTORIAL and a quilt. WOW and yes please! The collection I am lucky enough to work with is the newest Liberty Lifestyle craft fabric Stile. The LOVEtag Tutorial can be found on the Liberty Lifestyle Blog. The LOVEtag is a simple patchwork that any level of sewer can try. This is the perfect beginner project! When you are visiting the Liberty blog, check out the other great tutorials to try, like the Dresden Pouf from Holly DeGroot .
The LOVEtag is a HUGE hashtag, according to Thomas, a sexy hashtag,lol! I love it, I love the quilting ( Lisa was AMAZINGLY kind and lightening fast). The quilt top was made in two and a half days, we were leaving on vacation and I was up at 4 am finishing it and piecing the back together to have it in the mail to Lisa that Friday morning since she was moving and had an insane schedule too.
This is the first quilt I have ever handbound! It took me forever but I did it. I had been having issues with smaller projects with needles bending during binding. It was not fun and ended up really hurting my fingers. On my visit to Kelly Ann's Quilting I asked her for recommendations and she was like an angel...the perfect hand binding needles...BOHN! Small sturdy and perfect for the job. I was able to do the entire 88x88 quilt with no pain or bending. In fact, I think I could use the same needle for another quilt!
I am pretty happy with the binding and now I have the right tool I will get more practice!
When the binding was completed I needed to get photos. This was going to be a challenge, lots of rain and no tall people...time to construct!
Katy and I gathered some tools. There is a hammer and some vice grips in there too ;o)
and made a line across our play structure. I am pretty sure our neighbors think we are crazy by now!
Too many trees and not the right lighting...sigh
Later that day I decided to try again in my favorite spot where the sun is always shining and the kids can RUN!
I still had an issue with how to hold the quilt up since the little man is no where near the right size. Lo and behold a neighbor on a golf cart came through while we were there! I flagged her down and asked if she wouldn't mind helping a crazy quilt lady out. I handed Adam the camera...and I am really proud his eye was on getting the quilt in the frame,lol!
So, after a bunch of words and stuff, here are the photos I was able to take.
The quilting is exquisite. The quilt master Lisa Sipes did her magic on this one. She used Aurifil 50 wt in white and lots of it! I cannot even remember how many thousands of yds she told me she went through. She made the Aurifil look like it is dancing on the fabric...SO AWESOME! The batting I used was Pellon. It was two layers of Natures Touch for a little extra pouf!
Then we had some fun!
and of course what photo session can be complete without a photo bomb!!!!!
I love this quilt more than a little :o)
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