The Hankie Quilt

So, I've had this stack of vintage hankies around for awhile-some were from an old friend who passed away, some came to me in a box I got at an auction, some I don't know where they came from, but they are so pretty. I saw on Pinterest where folks were making quilts out of them...I can do that I thought to myself! So probably a year ago, I washed and ironed them, then I cut a bunch of white squares to back the hankies, then I got distracted.

 So it's September 2018, and I don't have a project going so I go outside to spray baste the hankies to their backing fabric. They are all different sizes, and a lot of the time they do not have nice straight edges.

 But I ignore the oddities and I also ignore the dozens of different shades of white/ecru/ivory/off white.

And after about an hour, I have them all spray basted to their backs...then I get distracted......

 So now it's October, and I have finished a bunch of other stuff...you've read my blog, right? So I start to lay out the backed hankies into a pleasing design. And I notice that some of the ones with just a small motif in the corner are too plain to hold their own against some of the bright printed charmers.

 So I think to myself, I'll just cut them into quarters and make one block out of four of them. Trouble is, I can't cut that pretty hankies can I???? Deep breath...it's just like the first time I cut up a book....bad bad bad.....no it's OK, it's for a good thing...it will be used and pretty!!

 So here we go!! I had to cut them just slightly larger to allow for the seam allowances, but I did it!! This particular hankie had a little sticker on it-it had never been used!!!!

 Now let's see about that layout.....hmmm, better!! And just to be even more of a hankie rebel, I SERGED THE WHOLE THING!!!!

Yup, I serged the blocks together, fast as you please!

 Don't they look great! Serging them together kept all the threads and messy-ness out and kept the layers together too!

 Look at that little 4 into one block! It looks great! You'd never know they were serged together!

 SO I press the heck out of it, and decide I need borders. In addition to getting to a larger size, I think it needs a little calming influence.

 So I pick up this pastel 30's print from the quilt shop over in Amana-Heritage Needleworks. I don't have really any pastels in my stash, I'm not much of a pastel person....I was trying to not purchase anything, but..... it's a nice print that kind of brings it all together. And I used it all up!

 I used more of the plain hankie motifs in the corners-I had plenty of them basted to the backing so it was easy to cut them for the corner stones. Oh and see that hankie with the pink flowers-it's nylon! Or some kind of slinky synthetic like that and it was pretty large! It had a crazy wavy edge, so I spray basted it so two edges were in the quilt and two were hanging over the edge, when I serged it the edge was trimmed off and it looks great!

 These blocks really did shape up well. I'm glad I serged them-it cut off the edges that were on the oversized hankies, and made it super easy to press the seam allowance to one side.

 I do love these 4 into one blocks-I just thought of that name, pretty clever, right?

After spending their whole lives in a dresser drawer or box in the closet, these hankies are ready to shine!

 I go outside to my garage door to do the quilt sandwich-spray baste is my friend! And those little magnets are awesome! This is the biggest quilt yet using them!

 It was pretty breezy on Saturday, but I want to get this project done, so I brave it with my trusty magnets! I used warm and natural cotton batting, I'm hoping the natural color won't allow shadows behind the white.

 It worked great! I am so happy with the results! Magnets rock!!

 And so I do a big meandering stitch on the center and loops along the border.

 I get it all trimmed up and get the binding on it. I think I'm loving this quilt now!

 Here it is! Outside on the clothes line...

 It's breezy today, but it looks really good. I wasn't really loving it until now.....

 I'm glad I ignored the many white shades and added the border!

And now into the washer for a good clean up-so many of the hankies have stains, and even after one wash, they still have quite a few issues.

 And now after a wash-almost all the stains are gone-Thanks to Tide....I kind of feel like those that remain are OK because it shows those hankies were used, not just put away.

 And the back-I had to piece it, but it looks good too! This quilt washed up so nice and soft!

 

Gosh all those pretty hankies get to see a new day!

 I'm really pleased with how this came out, and it came together pretty fast using the serger!

 And no one will ever know the difference! I don't know why it took me so long to dive into this one, but I'm glad I did!

NEXT!

Magical Magnets

 So I was working on this table runner-I need to get it in the mail. Anyways, I like spray basting my quilts outdoors. I have been taping them to the garage door and spraying them there. But the last quilt I did wouldn't stick very well. I don't know if it was bad tape, or too hot outdoors or what, but I had a heck of a time with it!

 

So, since I'm kind of a genius in my own mind, I thought why not try magnets?! I grabbed the strongest ones I had from the fridge door-they weren't very strong...but the idea has merit!

I shopped on Amazon for a little bit and found some that are supposed to be able to hold 25 pounds on the hook!

 And they are pretty strong little magnets-only about the size of a nickle, but they worked great on this little table runner.

 I just smoothed the backing on the garage door, and secured with magnets all around.

Then spray basted and had a pretty good result! I need to make another big quilt to give them a real tough teat, but I think they will work well-I may need to order more though, just to keep that backing nice and snug!

I'm A Genius....hahahahaha

 I'm a genius, see I figured out last fall that I could tape my quilt to a board in the garage and spray baste it with out making a mess in the house. However I also found out that when it gets too cold, spray baste doesn't stick well to anything.

 So now that the weather has cleared up and turned to spring, I decided to try again. I didn't have a space big enough to lay this kid sized quilt on, so I taped it to the garage door! This is the back of the quilt-right side down against the door, I just used masking tape to stick it up.

 Then I sprayed the backing and stuck on the batting. This is the first time I used this needled poly batting-it looks kind of thin, but the finished quilt washed up wonderfully. The batting stuck down just fine and I felt like I could use a little less spray to keep it together. I just smoothed it out and then sprayed the batting.....

 and stuck on the quilt top! I love spray basting, and it is the only way I will make a quilt sandwich. Doing it on a vertical surface instead of on a table top or counter top works the absolutely best!

I read all the time about how folks lay their quilt on the floor to pin it or baste it...OMG! Not these knees!! ANything is better than crawling on the floor!! Here's the way it all layers together.

 Backing, batting, and top, all smoothed down. The garage door has textured squares, but I didn't have any trouble with that making bumps in the fabric.

 When I was all done and took it down I was happy with the way it all laid nice and smooth.

Peeling off the masking tape was easy and I already posted the finished quilt HERE.
Now I'll try the garage door method for spray basting for a bigger quilt...when I have one done I mean!