Know Your Riley Blake: Liberty Tudor Celebration Haberdashery Floral
Some fabrics you quilt with; some fabrics you read. The Liberty Tudor Celebration Haberdashery Floral is one of the latter — a conversational print that rewards a closer look. At first glance it's a charming floral in the classic Liberty style. Step nearer, and the flowers resolve into a hidden world of bobbins, threads, pin cushions, embroidery scissors, and tiny thimbles — a playful homage to Liberty's famed haberdashery department on Regent Street.
This design comes from the Liberty Tudor Celebration collection by Riley Blake Designs, and it carries genuine heritage: it's based on an archival Liberty design from the 1930s, skillfully redrawn to weave sewing and quilting tools into the floral motif. The result is a print that feels equally at home in a quilter's stash and a sewist's wardrobe.
What it is
This is 100% cotton quilting-weight fabric, printed on Liberty's soft Lasenby cotton — the base cloth Liberty is known for — and sold in 44"/45" cuts (43"/44" usable width). It's a true all-rounder: suited to classic patchwork quilting, craft projects, and apparel alike. Care is simple: machine wash cold, tumble dry low.
Best uses for this print
Novelty quilt blocks and I-spy quilts. Conversational prints shine when they're given room to speak. Use this fabric in larger cuts — 4" to 6" squares, feature blocks, or whole-cloth panels — so the hidden notions are visible. It's a natural star for children's quilts, sewing-room wall hangings, and quilts made for your quilting friends, who will delight in spotting the thimbles.
Sewing-room gifts and organizers. This print is practically designed for makers' projects: zippered pouches, pincushions (a pincushion made from a print containing pincushions — meta in the best way), sewing machine covers, thread catchers, and project bags. Pair it with a solid lining so the print takes center stage.
Quilting cottons in apparel. On the soft Lasenby base, this fabric works beautifully for summer tops, skirts, aprons, and kids' dresses. A sewist's apron in haberdashery print is a gift with a punchline.
Cutting and piecing tips
Because the print is a conversational all-over, you don't need to fussy-cut every piece — but for feature moments, it pays to center a particularly good motif (say, the embroidery scissors or a pin cushion) inside a block or pocket. When piecing, treat it as a medium-scale print: pair it with small-scale basics or tone-on-tone blenders from the same collection family so it doesn't fight for attention. In a sampler or scrap quilt, use it as one of your "rest" fabrics — the one the eye lands on and lingers over.
Color pairing
Liberty florals typically carry a layered palette drawn from the flowers and the hidden objects, so pull colors directly from the print: the floral ground tones for your main coordinates, and the small accent colors (think reds of a pincushion, steel of scissors) for binding and sashing. A crisp solid border — white, cream, or a color picked from the print — frames the conversational motifs and gives the eye breathing room. In an apparel project, the same rule applies: let the print do the talking and keep notions and trims simple.
Care
Pre-wash if the finished project will be washed often (quilts, aprons, children's clothing), using the same cold machine wash and low tumble dry the fabric is rated for. As with all quilting cottons, pre-washing also lets the cotton relax before cutting, so your blocks stay true.
The Tudor Celebration Haberdashery Floral is that rare fabric with a story built into the print — 1930s Liberty heritage, a nod to the most famous haberdashery counter in London, and a scavenger hunt of sewing notions for whoever gets close enough to look. Whether it becomes the feature fabric in a quilt, the lining of your notions bag, or the skirt you wear to quilt guild, it's a print that celebrates the craft while you're crafting with it.
Shop the Liberty Tudor Celebration Haberdashery Floral 01667443A 44"/45" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
