handkerchief quilt
 

I am wanting to preserve my mother's handkerchiefs and was going to make them into a quilt. Should I iron them onto pellon/interfacing? Then batting and the backing? I can't seem to find out on the internet about the finishing aspect. Thanks for any help.

Someone on here recently had a beautiful quilt made with vintage handkerchief s. I'll try to find the link and you can contact her.

I put handkerchief in advanced search and it came up with many threads but not the one I recently saw. Look through them. Hopefully, the member who recently posted will respond. I remember her quilt was beautiful.

I remember that quilt I think I bookmarked it let me look. I didn't find it sorry.

It was the very next post in what's new. Here is the link

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t281592.html

Cindy Needham has an excellent Craftsy class that includes information about working with handkerchiefs. She backs hers with Bosal 100% cotton interfacing.

I found these resources. I hope they help.

Sew to a secondary block to keep the hankie soft:
http://www.polkadotchair.com/2010/11...es-quilt.html/
http://kayzquiltz.blogspot.com/2010/...dkerchief.html

Create an applique from the hankie: http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.co...ckTutorial.htm


Tips:

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Handkerchief...3198270/g.html

If you have a Fons and Porter video subscription :https://www.qnntv.com/courses/how-to...-handkerchiefs (although I prefer to showcase each hankie on its own)

I would think about making a wall hanging where the quilt won't be often washed.

i have seen them turned into butterflies, ladies skirts and the flower basket ..lots of options out there ...

My mother had a lot of beautiful handkerchiefs that she told me she would give me. I found a book called "Handkerchief Quilts" by Sharon L Newman. This was probably 20 years ago. I can't believe I still have that little book and could find it. There's not magic in it though. She just mounted the handkerchiefs on blocks and then sewed the block together. Then added sashing. The quilt on the cover was beautiful.

I've seen them used to make flower basket blocks and also butterfly blocks. Make a beautiful quilt. I used my mother-in-laws to make a sort of crazy quilt hanging.

The link to "victorianaquiltdesigns" is wonderful - best tutorial I have seen on using handkerchiefs for a butterfly quilt. Thank you.

You can check out this posting:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...n-t199207.html

About 20 years ago, before I started quilting, I received my grandmother's hankies--all very sheer. So I fused them onto a pale yellow King size sheet to use as a summer weight spread--which gets taken off each night. Not as fancy as other quilts I've seen made with them, but I like the results cause you can see the whole hankie and they are stablized.

Handkerchief quilt
 

My mother and my aunt made this one for their sister. They added pelion to the backs and alternated with solid blocks.

Here are 2 that I made from my grandmothers hankies and tea towels. I used a fusible interfacing on the hankies and quilted as normalhttp://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...15483878_n.jpghttp://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...64291942_n.jpg

love this idea
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.co...ckTutorial.htm

Just saw your post. I posted the basket quilt recently. I did not reinforce the hankies in any way. I also did minimal quilting on them because of their fragile nature. I first did two rows of reinforcement stitching one half inch apart from corner to corner (like making a half square triangle block from a square). I then pressed them along the stitching lines to form the "hem". (2nd line was harder to do). Then I cut between the stitching which gave me 2 halfs with 1/4 inch already turned under along the bias edge. I machine appliqued the hankie half onto the block using a narrow zig zag stitch. Only other stitching on them was minimal quilting when I quilted it. I made them (I also made two butterfly quilts earlier and used same method) as keepsakes and assume they won't be laundered much. Hope this helps. If anyone has other questions you can PM me.

Hi Evie! The link above is my quilt. I have more directions for this quilt if you are interested. For instance, I do sew my hankies to a light ivory/off white block. This keeps all blocks the same size. On the more used/delicate hankies, I ironed them to the block with "French Fuse", which is a light-weight fusible. I had a long-arm quilter quilt this with an all-over pattern and it turned out beautiful. This is the 2nd hanky quilt that I have made. For the one above, my daughter couldn't choose which hankies she wanted so we used them all. Some I purchased. The other quilt was for a twin bed and I followed the Moda directions. (My daughter-in-law made one and I made one to match for these twin beds.)

Please let me know, if I may be of further help to you. Yolanda

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Google handkerchief butterfly quilts, there are several methods, all beautiful, my sister is making one for her sister-in-law. I don't think they are lined.

Hi, Yolanda -- Yes, I know this is your quilt; I saved your original post that's why I was able to provide the correct link. I haven't yet put together my mom's hankies! :( You know, I don't think you ever posted a picture of your daughter's quilt. Did you? I believe the one showing with the pattern is from Moda's directions. If you still have a pic of your quilt, I sure would like to see it. The new twin quilts you show are great, and I love the shams!

Folded butterfly
 

I can't find the pattern buy you can fold in half, make 2 small pleats (tucked under going different directions). Add small black head where pleats are, stitch down the pleats to the corner tips and edges. this is a great method if there any with spots or damage. hope this makes sense.

Hi Evie! Thank you for your posts and your thoughtful words. The photo in the link that you shared is the quilt that I made for my daughter and I did not follow the complete Moda pattern. The two twin quilts that I posted ARE the Moda pattern. In the Moda pattern there are blocks of fabric in between the hankies. I did use French Fuse on the more worn and delicate hankies. I also sewed each hanky around its edge with coordinating fabric. This method worked well for me. Thanks again for your post and interest. FYI - I was given written permission to share the Moda Quilt Pattern from Moda as the pattern was out of print at the time of my posting.