A visit to Liberty London and my entry in the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

Hi,

Hope everyone is having a good May! We came back from a visit to London (about 2 weeks ago). I am hoping to put together some notes and make a little scrap book of my visit, we did catch a cold, so that has delayed that a bit!

I am finally feeling better and have managed to finish the edges of my little quilt that I have entered in the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge. 

Here is my little quilt, it is approximately 12.2 inches x 14 inches:

"Under the Sea" Mini Quilt

This little quilt evolved during this year's Online Project Quilting Challenge. You can read more about how I created this in my earlier blog entries. I added the ombre purple batik border - first I was going to hand stitch a border, then that didn't seem quite right, then I thought maybe a faced border, when I found this fabric in my stash, the binding seemed like the right solution! It makes me very happy to look at it!

During our London trip we arrived a day early before our tour (we took a Rick Steve's 7 Days of London Tour), and we stopped by Liberty London. All the Quilt Craft tours make a stop there, so I had hoped to go there. Somehow I imagined more rooms of fabric! It was nice, one big room of Tana Lawn Cotton prints and another smaller room with Quilting cottons and gifts to purchase. 

I chose some Tana Lawn remnants from a small basket, and a Liberty London embroidered patch from the Quilting section. The Tana Lawn fabric is very smooth and soft, a fine weave.

Liberty remnants in packages

Lovely Liberty Embroidered Patch

Liberty fabric prints

The building was fun to see! We did look through the housewares section and the stationary department a bit. It is a bit pricey for us, so we only made the fabric purchases. (It was excellent quality, and a little pricey too, but I'm happy I bought them, they will make their way into my projects.)

Liberty London store outside

Liberty London looking up at the inside roof

Inside Liberty London store

Inside Liberty London - taken with a fish eye camera

It is a very unique and old wooden building! (I looked up some information on their website, Liberty London was established in 1875, the current building was built in 1924 as Tudor Revival architecture.) It took us a while to find it, we were walking and our directions were a little confusing - but we finally found our destination! I am glad we got to visit there.

Hope you have enjoyed my little post.

Many blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Completed Project for Project Quilting Season 16-6 - Buttoned up!

Hi,

I'm finally getting around to posting this little quilt completed for Project Quilting Season 16-6.

The theme for this challenge was "Buttoned up".  I often add buttons to my smaller projects, so I decided to add some pearl buttons to this quilt, from Challenge weeks, 16-5 (follow your arrow) and 16-2 (ombre).

It has been fun letting this little quilt evolve.

I have retitled it: "Under the Sea". 

Auditioning Buttons for "Under the Sea"

Completed with Buttons added

"Under the Sea" Detail

It reminds me of some simplified Modern Art (Chagall's mobiles a bit, for example). 

Some of the small pearl buttons are from a Muscatine button factory, and were given to me by one of my Aunts. I have been using them occasionally in many projects. I used Tula Pink Aurifil thread for the quilting and stitching along the appliqued triangles. The fabric is some I hand painted recently. I'm planning to paint some more fabric this year to create a nice stash. I have lots of fabric paints to play with! It always finds its way into my creations. 

I'll post more about fabric painting later!

Hope you enjoyed this little post - get your buttons out and play and embellish with them!

Many Blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

VIRTUAL QUILT FEST DAY 1! (resharing, fun event!)

Completed Project for Project Quilting Season 16-5!

 Hi,

Hope you're having a good weekend! Here is my completed project for Project Quilt Season 16-5. The theme was "Follow your Arrow". 

I decided to add applique to my earlier challenge piece for the "Ombre" challenge (I hand painted and quilted fabric).  I used fabric from a batik charm pack purchased ages ago. They are nice and bright. I cut the fabric into little "arrow head" triangles. 

I used an arrow stitch from my Bernette B79 sewing machine to stitch around each patch. The stitch on the machine originally had a blanket stitch on one side. I learned how to edit the stitch and make it an arrow only stitch. I like challenging myself to try something new for each of these challenges. The challenges remind me of art school assignments! You have to create them somewhat quickly. They are kind of fun, and no grading!

Here is the completed mini quilt and detail photos:

Mini quilt with applique

Detail showing stitching

Detail showing stitching

Happy Creating!

Many Blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Completed project for Project Quilting 16-4 - Birthstones theme

Hi!

Hope you are finding some time to be creative in your daily life! It does help lift the spirits and keep us all hopeful. 

Here is my completed project for Project Quilting 16-4, Birthstone:

Crossed Canoes Block in Alexandrite colors

Detail Crossed Canoes Block in Alexandrite colors

I decided to use the Crossed Canoes die from AccuQuilt to create a block. I had purchased it a while back and I wanted to try it out. My June Birthstones are Pearl and Alexandrite - I chose Alexandrite and used fabrics from my fabric stash to create a mini quilt. Alexandrite is a color changing stone. I have a synthetic Alexandrite ring that I used for inspiration. The stone is a bit dark, so my fabrics ended up being dark too, I used the lighter fabric to provide a bit of contrast. I would probably do it a bit differently if I made it again, but I did like how the block sewed together. I enjoy using these challenges to encourage myself to try different techniques.

After sewing it, the angles of the block reminded me of gemstones a bit.

Many Blessings to you today,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Completed Project for Project Quilting 16-3, Common Blocks

 Hi!

Here is my finished project for Project Quilting 16-3. The theme for this week was Common Blocks.  You were required to use 3 blocks in your quilt.

I used leftover half square triangles that I had saved from a project from many years ago! (2007, I believe!)

Mini Quilt - Common Blocks

Mini Quilt - Common Blocks Detail

I created this little mini-quilt. The blocks included are Flying Geese blocks, a center square block created from half-square triangles, and a center Yo-Yo applique (the yo-yo was from a more recent project that I am currently working on). I added half circle appliques that changed the look of the blocks a bit on the borders.

It was fun using the left over bits from other projects to create this little project. Save those little bits!

Many Blessings to you today,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Just a quick post - #StandWithUkraine, and Instagram Quilt Fest has started.

Hi,

Just a quick post today. I have more I need to get caught up on, so will be doing that in the coming days! Life gets busy.

Sharing this detail from a quilt I made in the past for Quiltmaker magazine, I was thinking of the Ukraine at the time, and I am still keeping them in my thoughts and prayers.

The quilt was featured on the cover of the August 2023 issue. #StandWithUkraine

Also, #IGQuiltFest2025 has started! (Instagram Quilt Fest!) I am participating as much as I can this month. It is a fun way to connect with other quilters, and they have some giveaways you can enter to win. You can find out more about it at @amyscreativeside on Instagram. Here is a link to her post on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGk9OWruf4V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Thanks to Amy for sponsoring IGQuiltFest every year. Very thankful for that!

Love and Blessings to everyone today,
Hoping for a better world out there, I do like it in my Quilting/Sewing studio! 

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk