Click this picture to lead you to my other blog

Friday 30 September 2011

Liberty Lawn fabrics

I am using a great many Liberty Lawn fabrics in this quilt, simply because they are so suitable for tiny piecing and of course I have a great many of them, as I have been collecting Liberty for very many years.  However, I  am still buying the odd bit on eBay and am constantly amazed at the variety on offer.  In fact as I'm typing this I just bought one!

 
Though I have all this Liberty fabric and know a bit about the company, I wish I knew more.  I know at one time manufacturing was in Lancashire, because friends from the Manchester area had access to the mill shops, but I suspect that this is no longer the case and production has moved east?  If anyone can enlighten me please do?

The pictures here are not of the ones I'm working with on the Cottage Orne Quilt, I thought I would just pull out one drawer of my stash and photograph it!  Please excuse the creases - LL does crease when jammed in a drawer! 
 
There is a range of classic designs in lawn that is current for quite a few years.  There is also a yearly collection with no guarantee that it will continue, but it may do and all these designs and the classics, have different colourways. Now there seems to be a new kid on the block "Liberty Art Fabrics".  I first saw it last year when they started producing reproduction fabrics for the big patchwork exhibition at the V&A.  I didn't like or buy that fabric, it didn't look "Liberty" to me, the colours and quality weren't up to standard, in my opinion and it was cheaper, which indicates something?

Liberty Lawn is expensive stuff, retailing at £21 per meter at the moment.  It has always has been expensive in comparison to other cottons and for decades it was bought by the upper class for their children's clothes.  At one time, when we were feeling extravagant, we actually dressed in it (I have a dismembered blouse I cut into regularly) and clothes can still be bought at the store. You would need deep pockets though!

I should perhaps calculate the value of my stash?  No - better not!

2 comments:

fabriquefantastique said...

Goodness gracious...whats this?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4481088/Liberty-store-owner-plans-4m-revamp.html

Lynn S said...

I'm really surprised looking at the fabrics! For some reason, my brain locked on lilacs, greys, pinks, blacks when I first saw the quilt picture. This is going to be an amazing quilt!I love the sunflower block. I've never tried that and will have to study a bit about it.