Nova and Jo have been hosting the Liberty Scrap Challenge all through 2012 showcasing beautiful projects and tutorials featuring Liberty lawn. The master list is here, a great resource with the gift making season upon us. October is my turn and I just snook in on the last day of the month!
I wanted to do a foundation paper pieced design as Liberty lawn is an amazing fabric to piece with. It has strength, vibrancy, and print variety whilst being incredibly lightweight and reducing bulk on seams. Any of you who have paper pieced with linen and dealt with the humps and bumps it creates surely know what I mean! I have kept the design simple, suitable for a first time paper piecer and you can foundation or freezer paper piece. You can find beginner resources here and at Sew-Ichigo and there are a wealth of videos on Youtube. Techniques can vary but the principles remain the same. As all these pieces are square/rectangles it makes for an ideal project to learn basic paper piecing an conquer any fears. If a mini is not your thing, the house block could be used to make multiple terrace rows or just singularly for a little zip pouch.
You will need:
Home pattern sheet: To print correct size, open link, look for print icon top left corner and check 'actual size' is ticked.
Liberty lawn scraps including pieces suitable for fussy cutting windows and doors, roofs, path
Linen/light neutral scraps for house walls
Liberty lawn blue print: 2 1/2" x 11 3/4" for sky
Liberty lawn print for border: 2 strips 2"x 9 1/2", and 2 strips 2" x 14 1/2"
Batting 14" x16'": a cotton rich poly blend makes hand quilting a lot easier e.g. Quilter's Blend
Backing fabric 1 Fat Quarter
Assorted thread for hand and machine quilting
Finished size 11 1/2"x 14"approx.
Use 1/4" seams throughout.
Foundation Piecing
1. Print pattern and cut out pattern sections A and B allowing 1/4'' around both pattern pieces for seam allowance.
2. From your Liberty Fabrics fussy cut 3 windows 2" x 2" and 1 door 2'' x 2 3/4''. The finished windows will be 1" x 1" and the door 1'' x 1 3/4''. I have allowed a generous seam allowance for pre-cutting the fabric which is often a good idea for paper piecing.
3. Foundation piece sections A and B, trim seams as you sew to 1/4''. Press each seam as you sew,
4. Join section A to B. Remove paper, press seam downwards.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 to make 2 more houses.
Freezer paper piecing
1. Print pattern. Lay waxy side of freezer paper on top and trace with fine permanent marlier, e.g. Pigma Micron 01.
2. Cut out section A and divide int o separate pieces. Freezer paper will be ironed to the reverse side of fabrics. You will need to add a 1/4'' around edge of freezer paper when your cut the fabric out.
3. Join pieces in numerical order. Once section A is complete, repeat same process with section B.
4. Join a to B. Remove paper which can be reused for further houses. Press seam down.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 to make 2 more houses.
Assembling Mini Quilt
1. Join houses together in a row of 3.
2. To create a path/pavement: Randomly piece small Liberty scraps that are at least 2'' wide. You can improvise here. Trim to make a strip 1 1/2" x 11 3/4". Stitch to the base of the houses.
3. Add a 2 1/2" x 11 3/4" blue Liberty strip for the sky. Stitch to above roof of houses.
4. For border, add 2 strips 2"x 9 1/2" to sides of mini quilt. Add 2 strips 2" x 14 1/2"
5. Press and baste or baste spray to batting. Hand quilting can be added at this point.
6. Trim excess batting. Place on lining, right sides together, and use as template to cut lining. Keep mini quilt and lining right sides together and stitch around edges using 1/4" seam and leaving a 4" opening to turn through. Turn through, press and slip stitch opening closed. You can add stitch-in-the-ditch quilting to hold the layers together e.g between the houses. Bury the thread ends.
Your mini 'Home' quilt is complete!
Giveaway in exchange for a tutorial!
If you have a Liberty Scrap Challenge idea, Jo has a bag of Liberty scraps all ready for you. Leave a comment describing your idea at then end of this post and I will pick one next Wednesday and Jo will send you the scraps- open internationally so don't hold back wherever you are in the world and
worry you wont be expected to post a tutorial until next year! You are of course welcome just to comment normally without an idea so I don't feel too lonely in this post!