A parcel peeping

As far as days at work go, yesterday was not the best. However things brightened up at the end of the day over a cuppa with a dear friend and some serious contemplation of fabrics. Then even more when I noticed a parcel peeping out of my letter box as I arrived home. How exciting!

What a beautiful treasure I’ve received. An absolutely gorgeous heart pieced from one inch squares of Liberty fabrics in a range of pinks: cerise, raspberry, fuchsia, rose, magenta and coral. It sits so restfully on the grey spot background with echoes of the heart lovingly hand-quilted in creme perle. 

Created by Louise of Lululollylegs

I have loved Liberty fabrics and scarves for as long as I can remember. Here's a favourite Liberty postcard.

Catalogue by Joyce Dennys

Illustration from the 1930’s “She bought a Liberty scarf”

Visiting the Liberty Store in Great Marlborough Street, London was one of the highlights of my UK holiday last year. Here are a few photos from my visit.

Buckets of glorious blooms are
brightening the streetscape

Chandelier seen from each floor

 

Amy Butler was due to visit
that very afternoon

Whilst fabric and Liberty goods are displayed on some levels, others feature beautiful kitchenware, homewares, clothing, perfume, jewellery and so on. Here's a fun YouTube video that takes you on a 2 minute tour around the store. 

To receive a quilt made from my all-time favourite fabric by one of my favourite quilters has brightened my whole week. The dull steel filing cabinet alongside my desk has been transformed by an object of exquisite beauty. Notice the gorgeous little fat quarter rolls and pink ric-rac that came in my parcel too. How lucky am I ?! (And the pink ric-rac is exactly what I needed for a new project I’m brewing up.) Thanks Louise!

Down Under Doll Quilt Swap Round 3

I've just taken part in the third round of the DUDQS. To explain the concept of this to anyone who doesn't either quilt or blog is a bit of a challenge. "Well it's this weird kind of cyber-photo-sharing-friendship-quilting group. Get it?"

A few friends and family members have looked at me rather quizzically. Why would you ponder for hours, days and weeks over what to make for a person you don't know, have never met nor are likely to meet and whose tastes you can only guess about?

But it's been fun and although I wouldn't actually recognise the other participants if I fell over them, I've enjoyed meeting and getting to know other fabric fanatics online. I have to admit, one not-so-fun aspect has been being a little anxious about whether my creation is worthy enough for its recipient. I've been enjoying all the photos being shown on Flickr and am constantly amazed at how creative and clever people are. So many stunning quilts. But one can also feel a little daunted by the prospect of making something that won't quite be up to scratch. So it was with boldness that I wrapped up my quilt, popping a couple of extra goodies inside, and posted the parcel off to NSW this morning.

Looking at my partner's Flickr mosaic, I was inspired by the beautiful warm yellows and soft greys. Yellow's not my usual colour, so it was good to branch out and play with something different. I was also inspired by the contemporary take on dresden-plate-like  patterns that she had featured. So off I went. Here's a link to the fabrics I started out with.

Take 1 : far too traditional, was scrapped.

Take 2: I liked the idea of using the dark grey to create a kind of window frame

The finished quilt, yellow grey binding being picked up by the new leaves on the Golden Robinia tree in my garden.