Liberty London {Fabric}

I can honestly say after returning from our travels that I left my heart in London...

While sitting on the Tube headed to lunch our first sightseeing day, I sent a pinned place on Regent Street.

My husband knew that it was serious if I sent him a link so we walked from the restaurant to Liberty London. 

I was prepared for the boys and hubby to be groaning, but when they saw the interior, they were definitely willing to wander.

The best part is that they found the Haberdashery section because they knew that I had plenty of yardage already at home. Especially considering that I had two quilts loaded up right under my favorite Liberty Color Wheel before we even left! 

We spent a fair amount of time deciding which bundle from the choices.

I had a cute apple pincushion in aqua blues chosen until we spotted this beauty. I mean, honestly, how could I resist a coronation pincushion in Liberty Fabrics when King Charles III was just crowned just a few months ago.

When I got to the checkout counter, the gal that helped me out giggled when she saw my goodies. "You went a bit MAD for liberty fabrics, didn't you!". My husband immediately let her know that I definitely didn't need them. We had a thin tote bag I take along in case in my purse or totes when I think I might become a pack mule which we call a "Sad bag"   My boys added the Liberty shopping bag to the pile saying, "here mom. You need a happy bag instead". 

Of course, both bags became filled up as we continued our adventures along Picadilly....Next time I go, I will fill up my happy bag for some happy yardage!!

Liberty Color Wheel {Quilt}

This quilt.  It has quite a story!
 In 2009, I bought the book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts at the store when I was about 12 weeks pregnant with our Jamie Lynn. 

 I never imagined when I picked it up that I would end up laid up a lot during that pregnancy and reading that book.  Over and over. Some of the projects gave me such a feeling of productivity by making quick quilt items when I was feeling super low and unmotivated.  

 It was, basically, the book that made me see that quilting might bring me solace during my grief journey.  A therapy of sorts.

The one thing I always knew is that I wanted to really make the color wheel quilt!  I always envisioned a scrappy one, but never seemed to be particularly motivated to make one because didn't really have a home for it.

Then, on my 40th birthday, my husband sent me to New York City with our oldest son, two years ago. It's a super long story, but it worked out for him to go with me and we have now established that our family will be doing a Mother-Son trip with each of our sons when they turn 18, just like we do a Father-Son trip when they are 16.  

Josh and I did all the normal sightseeing, but I had to stop at Purl Soho knowing how much that book meant to me. I also always try to pick up a little bit of fabric as a souvenir when I travel.

I was delighted to see that they had bundles all worked out for a Color Wheel Quilt! I chose the Liberty London bundle because we had just visited the Statue of Liberty.
And lets be real,  its beautiful!

After we moved into our new home last year, I realized I had the perfect wall just for the quilt in my studio. After renovations started dying down and the dust settled? I felt compelled to finally make the quilt, one beautiful spring day. 

It was painful to break up the bundle, but I persevered and cut the pieces keeping them in order.

But the good news?  I still have enough to do another quilt!!! 
I'm planning a Flowering Snowball for our "pretty" room since I rainbowtized my library bookcases!!

After cutting, assembly went really well.
I used Kona Snow as my background because the white finishes in my room are a soft, not harsh, white. And it seemed happier with the prints. 

I was surprised how quickly I had a finished top! It seriously goes under the "quick" heading.
I then wondered why I hadn't started it sooner?

I did some quilting sketches for quite a long time.  I really wanted it to be "right" before I ever loaded it up on Ole Betsy.

I knew right away that I wanted to emphasize the quadrants with geometric versus organic themes.  But always using pebbles as a consistent background.

I started at the top left making free motion flowers.
Hindsight, I wish I had looked for more flower motifs and had made sure I did some really solid echo lines around them because some really got lost in the pebbles.

I moved over to the top right to make circles.  I thought it was going to be the most difficult quadrant, but it proved to be the most fun for me!

 

Geometric versus organic...

In the bottom left corner I chose squares, but with the consistent background of pebbles throughout.  I didn't really think about how tricky they would be, but I let go and tried not to be too perfect, because the more perfect I tried to be, the more wonky they got!

I went with feathers in the bottom right corner.
 I love the nod to traditional, but the ability to make them fun and crazy.

The wheel itself was a close to the seam, but not quite in the ditch quilting.  

I was looking for a trapunto effect.

Which certainly helps when you use double batting.
 It was the first time I layered two cotton battings for a quilt and I have done it again since.
I can't resist.  All the texture!!!!

I chose a backing that was a french text/pictorial print.  I really wanted something that felt like a long ago London gal picked up some French Parisian textiles for her home.  The binding was more Kona Snow.

I just adore it in my sitting area in the studio. This is where Button plays (see toy house above), where I sit and unpick my quilts (a lot), occasionally do my hand-stitching and crosstitch. More often than not, where Button and I snuggle and fall asleep.

  It's amazing to see it up on the wall, right where I wanted it ever since we moved in this new house. A testament to my quilt and grief journey since 2009. 

Delightful, really.