Finished! And it will be quite perfect for Spring, should it ever arrive! I’ve been waiting all week to get photos of 2 newly finished quilts, but it’s been all rain, rain, rain around here (good for the grass – look how green it is now! – but not so great for photos). Yesterday, even though they predicted more rain, we actually got a few sunny breaks, so I finally had a chance to quickly snap a few photos of this Liberty quilt.
I’m really happy with how it turned out, though boy oh boy, can I just tell you how challenging this one was to quilt? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it. It’s partly problems with my trusty sewing machine (it’s definitely time to look into buying a replacement – I’ve been putting it off, but now that it’s making sewing a challenge, I think it’s time), and partly a problem with basting. I usually am a spray baster (tutorial here), though recently I’ve been using the 505 and then also pinning it (somehow the spray doesn’t seem to stick as well as it used to… ). The 505 doesn’t stick to the smooth silky surface of the Liberty, or to the backing I used, so I had to just use pins. I don’t do it often enough, so I guess I didn’t get it taut enough. In any case, the straight lines I decided to use took an absolute eternity to quilt (and nearly caused me to call it a loss!). I’d quilt a line or two, then would have to stop to repin the remaining section.
I’m glad I kept at it though, because a trip through the wash seems to have crinkled it up just enough to make me forget about all the challenges.
Anyway, enough about the problems. How about more about the quilt? As mentioned, the top is made up of all Liberty of London prints – some from my stash combined with a great bundle from Westwood Acres (ps. if you missed the first round of their Liberty monthly club, you have another chance – their second round is starting up in July and you can sign up here. As with other Liberty quilts I’ve made, I chose Quilters Dream request for batting, which is their lowest loft. It makes for a really wonderfully light and drapey quilt, especially paired with the Liberty.
The backing is a lovely solid gray from Robert Kaufman’s Cambridge lawn collection. I usually go for voile for the back of a Liberty quilt, but I think I might like this lawn a bit better since it seems to have less of a sheen to it. I pieced in a little section of Liberty snippets to break up all that gray. The binding is a lilac colored voile – I tested all the solid voile colors I had and this was the best. I wasn’t initially sold on it, but now I really like it.
The quilt measures about 50″ x 60″, which is a great size for covering up on the couch. Once it gets a bit warmer, I’ll be putting this one to use!
Pingback: FITF: solid friendship quilt top | Film in the Fridge