This large paper folder contains more than the stated 3 dozen transfers, but, other than the design on the cover, I’m not sure they are original to this folder. Five of the patterns are identified as English quilting, and one is identified as Italian (the 5th pattern with double lines). They are quite large at 17″ square.
I’m confused by the whole concept of iron-on transfers for quilting. I never use iron-on transfers for embroidery, because I think the lines are too thick and it’s tricky to cover them with stitching, so I can’t imagine using them for hand quilting, where the ink would be impossible to cover. At first I thought this might be some special kind of transfer ink that would wash out (pretty unlikely since the transfers are so old), but I tested it, and it’s permanent blue ink.
The designs are pretty, but a couple are very elaborate and look more like embroidery patterns to me. That’s not unusual, since I find that quite a few antique embroidery patterns (especially those intended for braiding and beading) make good quilting patterns (see previous post for 5 examples). Click patterns to enlarge.
Thanks for sharing these Martha – they’re lovely.
Thank you so much Martha. I have a ton of tops to quilt and two of them have a lot of open space so these patterns will be so lovely used on them.
These are so pretty! I want to make a wholecloth quilt one day. Maybe one of these would work for a ‘mini’ version. Love these!
I think, at least for the Italian/corded quilting patterns, the transfer was ironed on the reverse of the cloth , and of course could not be seen there. At least this is so in the finished examples I have bought on Ebay….
I love iron transfers for embroidery, but like you said I think for quilting it wouldn’t work unless the ink would wash out for sure. Hmmm… something to think about.
Thank you for sharing!!
These are all pretty designs, but I especially love the two with the trellis backgrounds. I have to figure out something to make with them, maybe reduce them a little for pillow tops?
Thank you for sharing these! I can’t help but think of mini wholecloth quilts when I see those designs. 🙂
These combine my favorites- crosshatching and floral designs. Very nice!
Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing these with us.