Scrappy Quilt with Liberty of London

I made this scrappy quilt with Liberty of London fabrics for my bed—a quilted present just for me! I wanted something new to adorn the bedroom set I purchased. What do you think?

Once, while scrolling through Instagram, I saw a post about granting a fabric wish to fellow quilters and making a wish, too. So, I said I would love to receive scraps of Liberty of London fabrics of any size. Then, I granted a bunch of wishes, which was so fun!

The parcels began to arrive. I made an Oooh and an Aaah every time I opened them. Later, I purchased scrap bundles, and the collection grew. When I thought of how to use the fabrics, I was stumped! Every design I came up with seemed to focus on quilt blocks and not the fabrics.

Fast-forward to two months ago, when it hit me one day: Let me measure each scrap and see the largest shape I can cut from it. I figured I could cut almost all of them into 5 1/2″ x 6″ rectangles. Then, I used EQ8 by the Electric Quilt Company, my trusty quilt design companion (affiliate link), to figure out how many rectangles I would need for a queen-sized bed quilt, including sashing and cornerstones.

Once I knew how many rectangles I needed, I began cutting. There was no sorting, just making a pile of rectangles. Next, I cut the cornerstones, the sashing rectangles, and the border. I chose gray as a background because it made every print pop and because… I had a bolt of it!

Of course, I was careful when cutting the sashing: one size was 5 1/2″ long, and the other 6″! I sorted them into piles and ensured the rectangles were positioned the same way near my sewing machine. I set aside the sashing rectangle pile that would be used for the horizontal sashing with the cornerstones.

I needed to sew. I am not sure if that happens to you or how often it does, but at times, sewing is the only thing that takes my mind away from ugly things. For that zen effect, I prefer mindless and repetitive projects, such as machine applique, sewing straight lines, or paper piecing. Once I knew what I would be working on, I chose an audiobook, placed my water bottle nearby, and began sewing.

Sewing sashing rectangles to rectangles does not get much easier. As I completed each row, I placed it on my design wall. I also stitched the horizontal sashing rows with the cornerstones and placed them on the design wall.

I took photos to help me decide whether to move around the rows. When I was happy, I stitched it all together. Then, I added the border. The gray border, that is, because I had not decided on the type of pieced border I wanted.

Pinterest, online images, Instagram – I searched everywhere for inspiration for the pieced border. Nothing. Again, I wanted to show the fabrics, emphasize the scrappiness of the design, and not have to spend months piecing it.

And that is how I came upon this simple border. We can differentiate the prints on each rectangle, and my Garden is enclosed within a picket fence! This quilt doubles as an I Spy quilt!

I am so happy with how it turned out! At the beginning of my quilting journey, I hated scrappy quilts! I always wanted to use fabrics from a single collection in my projects. Well, that got expensive—as my fabric stash was growing fast—and too easy very soon! I am a recovered one-collection-only gal!

To be sure, I still make quilts with single collections. The quilt that has been on my bed for a few years is this one, made entirely from one collection. What I mean here is that I no longer despise quilts made with pieces of fabric from different collections or fabric lines by different manufacturers. However, they must be stitched together in a pleasing way… to me! This scrappy quilt with Liberty of London fabrics is my current favorite!

Here it is in all its glory. I am One. Happy. Girl.

Have a great week!