I love all things British, so England has always been on the top of my travel destination wish list. Although Mark would like to visit the UK, he did not want to
travel to the UK, and told me to find a travel partner. When I mentioned it to our son, Aaron, he gladly accepted the job, and in February 2024 we spent ten glorious days in London.
As he had been there twice, he asked me to list the Top 10 things I wanted to do in and around London. One of them was a stop at Liberty of London. So on our first full day, we walked to Liberty of London and spent a couple of really lovely hours. Well, he spent some time on his phone while I looked at all the lovely fabric.
I think most quilters would be surprised to find out that with all the gorgeous fabric available, I limited myself to a single 1/2 meter, a really lovely orange floral print.
We ended our morning by having coffee in the Royal Albert Cafe, where I got inspiration for another project.
When I got home, I ordered a fat quarter bundle of Liberty of London prints that included famous landmarks. I also wanted to use some of my precious stash of Oakshott shot cottons. I paired the prints with solids and made a simple 2x3 grid block. I put the orange print block in the center and included the selvage.
I had also purchased some embroidered patches from the Liberty of London store and was never quite sure what to do with them. I decided the best thing was to add them to the quilt label.
The backing was one of my favorite Kaffe Fassett shot cottons called "galvanized," a combination of peach and aqua threads that makes the most beautiful warm gray. For the binding I purchased extra of the print that was inspired by the London Underground. Aaron and I used the Underground extensively and I'm so glad that he had an app on his phone because I would not have wanted to navigate it by myself.
I chose a quilting design that, in my mind, mimicked all the different tube lines with circles interspersed that reminded me of all the different stations.
There is a realty agency in Fresno called London Properties and I have always loved that they have a red British phone booth, so that seemed the most obvious place to photograph the quilt.
The memories made on this trip are so precious to me--and traveling with Aaron madse it even more special.
Quilt: Welcome to London
Pattern: Original
Made by: Cindy Wiens
Quilted by: Darby Myers
Completed: May 2024
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