Several weeks ago I decided to cut out a new project, and so started my Liberty Long Leaf quilt.
Every time I teach, I come back to my studio wanting to sew, and coming back from QuiltCon this year was no different. There’s something about the excitement of others taking on new skills and new projects as well as seeing so many different fabric and color combinations–it makes me want to sew!
I didn’t spend a ton of time thinking about what I wanted to do. I’ve been enjoying cutting from my Long Leaf templates, and I also wanted to dive into my Liberty stash–so, that’s what I did. Liberty is not only buttery soft, but it’s also one of those fabric genres that plays so easily together. There’s no need to worry–it’ll all work together. I just started pulling and cutting out prints that caught my eye and laying them out on the floor.
For the background, I had a hankering for blue. Without a ton of thought, I grabbed a few blues that were on the top of my solids pile–Harbor and Mediterranean–plus a bright blue piece from Kept. I felt like 3 was a good enough variety, while still speaking to the same idea.
I plan to make this a bed-sized quilt, so I’m orienting the triangular pieces to run sideways across the bed. I’ll add solid panels to the top and bottom to make it the size I want and to give the piecing a bit of room to breathe. Plus, I don’t really see a need for a ton of piecing under where I’ll be setting my pillows. As for which fabrics to use for the borders, I want to go with blue so that all of the blue reads as the background, but I’ll definitely audition a few other choices before making the final call. Sometimes you can be surprised by an option in a good way so it’s worth a shot!
Project Details
Pattern: Long Leaf (with some layout changes)
Templates: Long Leaf
Fabric: Liberty from my stash, Kona Harbor and Mediterranean, Kept
And here it is as a kite since we went out to photo this on the windiest day ever. Ha!
It turned out great….your fabrics are so beautiful..so much thought and care put into each one…and they are so wonderful they work well with other great designs like liberty…..you have such a great talent for it…I was thinking how having been an architect was helpful…..thanks….and you should make a kite with your designs that would be neat.
Thanks so much, Rebeca! I really appreciate the kind words. 🙂
It looks great! Can’t wait to see it w/ the borders…
Thank you!
I admire your work so much. It’s gorgeous, abstract, modern. For this quilt (Liberty Long Leaf), I love how it makes you think about what you’re actually seeing underneath that blue mask of sorts. Congrats on another project executed supremely well!
Thanks so much! It is fun seeing the blue as a mask, and so I’m glad you’re seeing it that way too.
I love the background variations with the Kept fabric included and the areas of concentrated color in the leaves. I am wondering with the Liberty fabric, do you change up anything with your paper piecing, such as stitch length, needle size etc?
That’s a great question, Ann! I didn’t change anything in this project using the Liberty. The Liberty is more fine than the Konas and Kept, and so if you are going to be careful, I’d just make sure to press everything evenly. Sometimes when you have a thicker fabric and a thinner fabric, the thicker fabric can pull more of the thinner fabric into it, if that makes sense. These are all pretty close, so it wasn’t an issue, but it’s something to be aware of.
Always love your projects! The blue fabrics in the background really showcase the Liberty fabrics so well. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Thank you, Melanie! It’s always fun to figure out a fabric to complement another. 🙂