sweet Liberty

If there's ever a time to indulge in the luxury that is Liberty of London tana lawn, I'm sure it's in the spring.  Liberty's intricate and colorful floral motifs bring the energy of an idealistic spring day into glorious focus.  So, when brainstorming project ideas for Stitch Magazine's "fabulous florals" feature I instantly thought "Liberty"!  This issue is the "Summer 2012" issue, but it does come out in the spring (available now at Bloomerie, Pink Chalk, Whipstitch and Sew Modern).

Stitch magazine Summer 2012

Anyways, it worked!  I submitted two projects that would use Liberty fabrics and to my surprise, they wanted both!  Luckily they are both relatively quick projects.

pretty.

First, the fabrics.  For my projects I used fabrics from the Liberty Mini Rainbow Bundle available at Purl Soho.  I waited with butterflies in my tummy to see these sought-after fabrics in full color....

Liberty of London from Purl Soho

Oh my, the experience!  The tana lawn is so soft and silky, much like voile.  The colors are simply brilliant.

Liberty of London mosaic

And even though there were a few prints in the Liberty Mini Rainbow Bundle that weren't inspiring me alone, I'm smitten with how they look in a mosaic - just like the field of flowers I had promised to deliver!

in process

This is my journal cover in progress.  Such a perfectly delightful experience trimming and pasting away until everything was just so.  Mind you, a breeze would scatter them all!

Field of Flowers journal cover

Ta da... the journal cover!  Pretty.  And listed in my shop because I oughtn't to stockpile my pretty things.  (Sold!  But, there are some other Stitch projects still there.  Thanks for looking!)

Journal cover

Next up were the notecards, a set of six.

Fresh Cut Flowers Notecards

They are a similar mosaic style, coupled with some careful machine stitching to create stems and leaves. The very small pieces are a great way to use precious scraps.

Liberty of London!

As a person who is uncomfortable with drawing, it took guts to submit this design as a sketch and have faith that I could bring it to life in a way that pleased.  Not that they're very fancy graphics (hardly), but baby steps for me.  Baby steps!

my notecard project

So I am honored to see my projects in the magazine,

my journal cover project

and especially like the way they photographed this journal cover.

Purl Soho's Mini Rainbow Bundle

Directions for both projects are in the summer 2012 issue of Stitch Magazine!  One Liberty Mini Rainbow Bundle would suffice for both projects, or you might prefer to pick up your favorite prints by the yard at Purl Soho.  Maybe someday I'll be so fortunate as to make myself a summer top in one of those vibrant prints.  Maybe!