Liberty fabric is oddly affecting. I’m not sure if it’s the mix of colours  or the profusion of flowers, the tiny prints or the soft, yet crisp, feel of the fabric  but lately I have been slightly obsessed with the idea of making mini quilts with with 1 1/2 inch (4 cms) Liberty squares. I haven’t posted in a while because I have been working on three mini quilts  with Liberty fabric and I had hoped to post all three together. However, as usual, other stuff has got in the way and the last quilt is taking longer than I planned. The first , below, I mentioned in an earlier post when I was ‘auditioning’ the squares against a grey background and considering this  pattern.

‘Chequerboard’

It’s just a simple chequerboard  pattern but with the middle squares placed on point to make it more interesting. It’s fairly small, just 12 1/2 inches x 10 1/2 inches (that’s approximately 32 cms x 16 cms).  I thought it might be too fussy with a border so didn’t add one.  Do you think it would look better with a border? The quilting is just a running stitch ‘in the ditch’ with a pink variegated thread which means some stitches are dark pink and some very pale.

Quilting ‘in the ditch’

For the second mini quilt pattern, called ‘Circle of Friends’, I chose a blue Japanese fabric and quilted it in the same way, this time with a blue variegated running stitch.

‘Circle of Friends’

A luscious Liberty paisley on the back

I added some pink and lilac running stitches around four of the squares. I chose a paisley Liberty fabric in plums and blues for the back and border but I’m not sure how successful this has been as doesn’t have the body that the regular quilting cottons have. This quilt is even smaller, just 9 inches square (23 cms) but might look nice under a vase of spring flowers.

Use as a Table Topper?

The third, unfinished, quilt I have named ‘House in the Country’ . This one is also on a grey background but has a Liberty house in the centre and an inner border of Liberty squares before an outer grey border. It will be about 16 inches square (41 cms) when it is finished thought at the moment it is only 12 inches (30 cns) square. I haven’t decided how I’m going to quilt it yet. Any suggestions?

‘House in the Country’

I love houses on quilts. I think it’s because I have lived in so many houses over the years and it’s so interesting how different types of houses and different arrangements of rooms can cause you to live your life in different ways.

Before I make any more  quilts this size, I am trying to think what what they might  be best used for. They would need to be more ‘arty’ to be used as fabric pictures. The wadding is not heat resistant, so they would be no use as place mats. So, apart from a small table topper as in the photo with the jug above,  perhaps an  antique doll or much loved teddy bear could sit on one as a way to display it.

Anyone got any other ideas?

Till next time then…