Summer is rapidly turning to fall, but I’m just not ready for the change of seasons. I'm still focused on this summer’s project, a mid-century inspired doll quilt that features a vintage embroidered strawberry. Perhaps you remember it from here.
Motifs like this are typical of the 1940s-50s when they adorned household linens such as tea towels, tablecloths, and napkins. I added calicos, polka dots, and gingham checks for vintage charm and bordered the quilt with a whimsical retro-style daisy print from American Jane.
The top itself was finished years ago but got set aside when I gave up doing handwork. What a shame, I thought, to leave something like this half-done. Apparently, my friend Ruth agreed because when I finally showed it to her (nine years later) she offered to quilt and bind it for me.
Ruth is a highly accomplished needlewoman, and the quilt couldn't have been in better hands. Just look at her beautiful stitches! Can you see how the lustrous perle cotton subtly catches the light?
As it turns out, making a doll quilt was the perfect way to preserve that vintage embroidery. Thank you to Vicki Haninger for her inspiration and to Ruth, of course, for seeing the project to fruition. I couldn't be happier with the result!
Strawberry Preserves
15” x 17”
machine pieced, hand quilted
2019
