doll house quilt
 

My daughter asked me to make a quilt (or two or three) for her bed in a doll house she is making. She has not given me the size yet, but does anyone have any ideas or experience making these so I know what I am going go run into? I was thinking of a pinwheel pattern, as I can cut it down to the size I need, but any other ideas for patterns for that size of quilt will also be appreciated.

First of all you probably need to know the size of the rooms the small quilts are going to be put in and then you can judge from there what pattern you can use. Yes, pinwheel pattern is a good one as you say cause it can be cut down as much as you need. Also you could consider a 4 or 9 patch and you could use up scraps. Good luck and please keep us posted on the progress

The problem with making a tiny quilt is there is much fabric in the seams as in the top and the quilt will not lay flat. I made several tiny quilts by finding a fabric that has a design the looks like small blocks. Then I add a tiny border and quilted the whole cloth. These will fold or lay on a bed like a real quilt. If you still want to try a "real" quilt, use muslin as a batting so it's as thin as you can make it.

As Tartan said, it does depend on the bed size and whether it’s for play or suit the time period of the dollhouse.

I’ve made lots of doll quilts. Favorite size is 15x17 or roughly smaller than a fat quarter if you want just one piece of backing. I’ve done applique, coin collections, 4 patches, pinwheels, rail fences— whatever strikes my fancy. Seams havent bothered me . The scrappier the better. And it’s fun to use those decorative stitches on the doll quilts.

If you are making a quilt for a bed in a dollhouse you are probably talking about really small -- I would find a piece of cheater cloth or geometric small print that you could treat as a whole cloth and just quilt some outlines.

Exactly what I would do!

If you are thinking of 1/12 inch scale. I recommend finding a cheater cloth backing it with a fusible interfacing and "fixing" the quilt to the bed. Barbie size is much more forgiving and can be pieced and backed with flannel. Too intricate would result with a too thick material like a rug. There is also the consideration of counted cross stitching a bedspread in a quilt pattern. I have made "oriental rugs" for a 1/12 dollhouse before.

I did this once. Sort of. I didn't actually make a 'real' quilt. It was before my quilting days, back whien I only made squishie loves (stuffed critters) & garments.

I love to paint, and it was simple to draw any design I wanted on the finished size bit of muslin & scraps I had. (2 pieces of fabric-one for the front, one for the back- stitched right sides together then turned inside out for finished edges all around).

Using fabric paint made it possible to do almost any design I wanted in any color. Plain muslin could even become a 'print' without too much trouble. I stitched fake quilting lines on it to help with the illusion. It was actually a lot of fun. I did traditional geometric shaped quilts and an 'applique' quilt.

Thanks to all of you for the info. My daughter is making a 1/12 dollhouse and has given me the bed. I will take your hints to heart and show you what it looks like when done. Not sure how many she wants, but I have to start somewhere!