Posts Tagged ‘swap quilt’

This is the doll quilt I am making for Lori’s (Humble Quilts) annual swap — the completed top can be found in an earlier post.

When I’m creating a doll-sized quilt, the most important thing for me is scale — in the design, prints, and quilting. Although I know it’s practically impossible to make a doll quilt that looks exactly like a full-sized quilt in miniature, that’s always my goal. So, I try to make quilts no larger than 18″ x 24″; draft blocks that are 3″ or less; select prints that have a smallish design; and make the quilting stitches as tiny as I possibly can (this is the hardest part — so many seams!).

My quilting pattern is pretty simple — double footballs in the diagonal pieces, a tiny circle in the center square, and 2 nested circles in the triangle pieces. I am using my 10″ Edmunds half hoop, which makes hand quilting edges so much easier (Edmunds also makes a larger version for big quilts).

Every other project had to be put on hold so I could start my doll quilt for Lori’s annual swap, which is something I look forward to every year. I copied the “Old Italian Block” pattern from an antique quilt sold on ebay last year, and I have since realized this is a pretty popular pattern, with lots of examples and instructions online for various methods of construction.

For my miniature version, I used the more old-fashioned technique of drawing my design on grid paper, making plastic templates, then tracing and cutting the pieces with scissors. Quilt making with templates doesn’t seem to be popular anymore, but I find that rotary cutting and strip piecing techniques just don’t work that well when you’re using small pieces from a scrap bag, which is how I usually make my quilts. On this little quilt, I had a lot of fun using my clear templates to fussy cut some of the pieces.

The top is 16″ x 19″ right now, and I’m thinking of just leaving it like this without a border. Now I just have to work out a design for the hand quilting. You’ll want to check out Lori’s blog when all the doll quilts are displayed — they are amazing!
Click image to enlarge.

If you happened to read the update on my last post, you know that I ran into a problem on the Shoofly doll quilt for Lori’s swap. I was about 3/4 done with the quilting when I encountered a block with weak fabric. It’s not unusual to run across unstable fabric when you’re purchasing antique tops and blocks, so I try to be very careful when I’m selecting fabrics for a quilt. This time one slipped right by me. At some point in the future, I’ll probably take out all the quilting and replace the damaged block, but for now I just had to put it away and think about making a replacement quilt for the swap.

While I was pondering a design for the new quilt, I walked by my remade 1886 antique quilt which hangs in the living room. I remembered that I had a leftover strip of the sashing fabric, and thought I could make a small version of the Album quilt using reproduction Civil War fabrics. The Album block is simplified for the little quilt, but the diagonal set is just the same, and I plan to use a similar quilting pattern. The top should end up about 19″ square once it’s quilted.

I have to say that it was a nice experience working with new fabric for a change — there are so many prints to choose from, and the fabric is much easier to work with. I still love the authentic stuff, but from now on I’m going to be a lot more rigorous about testing the strength of the fabric before I include it in a quilt.