Summer is quickly 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 who excels at everything from embroidery and knitting to sewing and quilt making. Just look at her beautiful stitches! Can you see how the perle cotton subtly catches the light?
She included me in the process every step of the way, not so much because the quilt, but she saw how much I enjoyed "talking quilts" again!
As it turned out, making this quilt was a perfect way to preserve that vintage strawberry. 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
