Quilts for Dolly's Bed - Small Wonders Part I

Simple 9 patch c. 1930

I recently did a talk and trunk show for a local quilt guild called "Small Wonders."  I included about thirty vintage doll quilts from my collection and a dozen or so small quilts that I've made as well as a few small non-quilt textiles.

Here are a few vintage examples:

c. 1880      16" square 

A few of them are reversible.

Was it a case of trying to use up fabric bits, or possibly more practice perfecting the stitching of a young girl ?

c. 1950       22" square

This one has a special backing. It's printed patchwork; now often called "cheater" print.

c. 1900            14 x 22

The back

14 x 17

                                                                                This one was obviously made with care, perhaps by a loving mother or grandmother. 

Small scale hand-pieced stars, two borders with corner squares and hand quilted.

                                         

11 x 16

This little strippy could have been made by a little girl for her doll but we shouldn't assume that children had inferior sewing skills. In the 1800's young girls may have had better skills than older women who may have had arthritis in their hands or poor vision.

This being c. 1940,  I'd guess a youngster made it.

Polyester knit c. 1960
22 x 22

We can't ignore the poly period!                               

This little log cabin is tied, has a green plaid polyester backing and will outlive us all.                                                  

And here's a special treat!

 I just came across this poem in my files. It appeared in Good Housekeeping, July 1886.

A Jingle for the Little Ones:  

The Crazy Quilt

O summer sunset give to me 

The crimson glow you shed. 

Violet give me of your blue - 

O rose give of your red. 

O parrot give me all the green 

That round your neck is spread. 

O thistle give me of your down- 

O spider weave me thread. 

I want to make a Crazy Quilt 

For on my dolly's bed.

-- Frank H. Stauffer

Next:Part II of Small Wonders; quilts I've made - including a Crazy!

Bricks Series Returns - #8 In Progress

Does this look familiar?
If you've read my posts over the last few years you've seen this top.

Click Here to see the first post on the Bricks Project

I am taking up the Bricks Project again. I've  been on hiatus from this for too long. I had to switch gears when a few other projects took priority. . . but I'm back.

I still want the answer to the question I asked in  2011:

 "How many small quilts could I make out of this one top?"

See the first 6 small quilts here
And #7 here 

I once swore that I would never make a hexagon quilt but you know what they say, "Never say never!"

For # 8 in the series,  I've decided to experience the technique of English paper piecing - the old fashioned way; trace and cut out my own papers. I know you can order them pre-cut but part of why I do these small quilts is to learn, experience and appreciate the way things were done before we had so many 'helps' on the market.




For paper I am using the little annoying inserts that fall out of magazines...a good weight I think for cutting the hexagons and making them removable.

After tracing and cutting the first few one at a time, (duh) I decided to staple 4 papers together, draw as many hexagons as possible on the top sheet and staple the center of each one enabling me to cut out four at a time.
Generous friend, Dawn (Collector with a Needle), gave me the metal template for tracing, (okay, I'm not a total purist), and she gave me a quick demo on basting the fabric to the paper. She has a lot of experience with hexies.

I did two the first night and my thumb joint hurt! Yes, after just TWO! I was having second thoughts about this.




Today it went more smoothly.  I tried using a small applique pin to hold the fabric to the paper and another of those pins to hold down the starting fold. That helped keep things from slipping.








I'm using up old spools of thread to baste. I don't go through the paper so once I've joined each hex on all sides I will remove those papers and re-use them.

Here's my growing pile:

My new question: 

"Will I ever 'use up' all the fabric gleaned from that c. 1910 top?"