Thursday, August 9, 2007

Small Quilt Display



A reader named Libby has been following my posts about doll quilts and asked, “Do you have a display of all your doll quilts? I'd love to see how you show/use them.”


Plaid Posies
19" x 22" 
hand appliqued, hand quilted
© Diane Burdin,1991

I’ve never had much luck displaying my doll quilts. Those charming groupings and tablescapes you see in magazines and online are inspirational, but as soon as I try to create one, my quilt becomes a magnet for clutter. Jim moves them off the coffee table so he can put his feet up, and guests mistake them for coasters. I get tired of the tug of war we play, shuffling them from one surface to another, so I don’t bother putting small quilts out anymore.

There is one spot in the house where I hang little quilts -- a room where I spend enough time to appreciate how much they brighten the surroundings -- the laundry room. 



This tulip is a Gwen Marston design. The pattern used to come in a package of Fairfield batting, although, as Gwen herself admits, who needs a pattern? Just cut one from folded paper. I used Roberta Horton woven plaids and stripes, added a saw tooth border and quilted it with my favorite folky fan pattern.


Many of my yard sale finds have ended up in the laundry room too: an old grater, butter paddles, wooden chopping board, and cookie press...

a clothesline winder, cabbage grater and a towel hook made by my friend Laurie from a silver fork and spoon.


Now, if I could only be that clever with quilt displays!

4 comments:

  1. What a lovely collection you've gathered for your laundry corner. Kitchen and laundry items are my favorite antique pieces - the things used in daily life. Your latest doll quilt is wonderful . . . I always say that I've never met a plaid I didn't like and it continues to hold true *s*

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  2. Thank you for stopping by my site. I will certainly put your name in for the drawing.

    I went through all your posts... read some and otherwise just looked at the pictures. Your work is lovely and you have so many completed quilts. WOW! I love the doll quilts too. Actually, I just had my old doll out recently... and bought her a new wig and scrubbed her. She looks like she did on the birthday I opened the box.
    Must go as I'm packing for the weekend,
    Joni (of YUMMERS)

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  3. I saw a picture on someone's blog (???) and they had all of their doll quilts on a wall together, and I like crazy so I thought that it looked so neat. I love the curled tines on that fork, thanks for sharing!

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  4. Oh what fun decorating! And I love plaid posies!

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