Liberty Lifestyle Quilt - A finished quilt

I'm pleased that I have finished a quilt despite being back at work this week.  I'm also pleased with the quilt as a whole.  White is a favourite of mine at the moment and I think it works so beautifully with these Liberty Lifestyle Bloomsbury Gardens fabrics.  The white fabric here is what I call "white on white" because there is a white pattern on the top, which you sometimes see and sometimes don't.  It makes it a little less harsh and a little more interesting than plain white fabric.

The coloured squares I put together using the string piece method and then cut them at an angle.  It's a good and effective way of making the fabrics come in to close contact with one another.  The only difficulty is that because the fabrics are then cut on the bias there is some give when you are sewing the squares together and I think this explains why my piecing is not as accurate as I would otherwise have liked.  Oh well!  This quilt is not going to be sold or given away, and as I love the fabrics so much I can live with these imperfections.

It has been quilted using tramlines either side of the rows with the lime green Aurifil thread #1231 on the front.  I think it brings out the greens in the fabric which are ever present but never obtrusive.  On the back I used the turquoise thread #2810 which is a good match with the backing fabric.  I chose a very plain, but very tranquil, light blue fabric for the binding.  This colour does not figure exactly in the quilt but I think it harmonises with the blues and greens that are in many of the fabrics and are the centre of the flowers on the back.

This quilt is going in my spare bedroom to join another quilt and cushion using these fabrics.  I like the fact that there are some repetition of fabrics here but then suddenly new ones have been added to the mix.  I think as a trio of items they will look great together, but they are also each a little individual.

Thank you for visiting.

Normal Service Resumed

I am now back to quilting and blogging after returning from a lovely, relaxing holiday in Austria.  I had a great time and worked on a couple of projects (Briar Rose hexagons and knitting a pair of socks) but I missed the sewing machine and within my first 24 hours back home I have worked on two projects.  Sewing hexagons and knitting socks make for relaxing and therapeutic projects but there is nothing like hitting the sewing machine and making fast progress.

I am on a bit of a money-saving mission at the moment because I really do want a long-arm quilter at some point, so I am going to try to work with stash fabrics for the next few months and become reacquainted and fall back in love with some earlier fabric purchases.

At the recent Festival of Quilts (did I mention I went?) I bought some Liberty Lifestyle Bloomsbury Gardens fabrics to add to some existing fabrics I already owned from the range.  I bought two metres of backing as well so this fits my money-saving mission as I have everything to make a complete project.  To make this quilt a little funkier, I have also added some other fabrics from my stash (elephants and CND symbols aren't original to the range.)  I have already made two projects from this range (a quilt and a cushion) and I love these so I know these are going to be fun fabrics to work with again; the pinks, blues and greens are the prettiest ever. 

I am making string blocks and so far have made 30 4" squares.  I like the look but think I am going to make a chequerboard quilt with white squares.  I have plenty of white fabric in my stash so I still won't need to make an additional purchase for this quilt.  I think this quilt will be ready in no time so I am determined to get a Friday finish this week.  That's almost a promise!