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-   -   Vintage hankies (https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1/vintage-hankies-t143607.html)

nightengale 08-08-2011 09:59 AM

Hi out there quilting ladies.

Is anyone into vintage hankies? Have any good sites or patterns to share?

Is there any one interested in starting something for vintage hankies trading?

:) :)

LINANN 08-08-2011 11:22 AM

I have a bunch of vintage hankies. I want to make the butterfly quilt I found here on the board.

dd 08-08-2011 12:12 PM

What else is there to do with them?

Farm Quilter 08-08-2011 12:35 PM

I love my vintage hankies. I cut them in half or quarters and use them as labels for my quilts. Naughty of me, I know, but I really like the way they look!

whispers38 08-08-2011 01:12 PM

A word of caution when using vintage hankies. I made my son a quilt when he was a baby (now 32) and it was well loved. I notice though that over the years that where the hankies were printed with different prints the fabric is starting to deteriorate. In some places the fabric is gone. I had hoped to pass it on to a grandchild one day but not anymore. Like I said just a word of caution.

TanyaL 08-08-2011 02:49 PM

For those of you who are too young to remember older rules of ettiquete, here are some memories of the hankerchief "rules".I remember that when a lady bought hankies she bought either ones for every day or ones for dressy occasions. Usually this meant that the everyday ones were made from printed fabric and the better ones were made from solid colored fabric and hand embroidered. Some of these were also edged with lace. There were black ones for funerals, and sometimes you could color-coordinate the hankie with your dress, but you seldom had one color of fabric and another color of lace. That was usually considered to be gaudy and not lady like. Frequently the hankies had your initial embroidered on one corner.
You did not use an everyday hankerchief in a dressy situation such as going to church on Sunday morning, and you did not put a white, lace edged hankerchief in your purse when you went to the grocery store. The rules of dress were as strict about the use of hankies as they were about your girdle and getting the seams of your hose straight in the back of your legs. Some things ladies did not do if they were proper ladies. These things were taught by mothers to their daughters and they were very important at the time. Not knowing these type of things could mark a young girl as cheap, and "from the wrong side of the tracks." Not someone a fellow took home to meet the family. It was a different time.

hobbykat1955 08-08-2011 04:13 PM

Shirts or dresses for Umbrella ladies...

Barb44 08-08-2011 05:35 PM

I have some hankies that I have saved over the years that I would trade. I was going to make a butterfly quilt years ago when I saw it in a magazine (I think I still have the magazine.) But my priorities have changed. Hankies are hard to find nowadays. The ones I have came from a thrift store. You almost have to hunt antique shops and flea markets to find them and then they are expensive.

TanyaL, thanks for that info. My mom used hankies but they were only the bright prints. Guess she didn't know the rules, LOL. My grandma had fancier ones, but used old cut up shirts for every day. She was very frugal.

luvnquilt 08-08-2011 06:25 PM

I have my Grandmother's hankies and my mother's dressy white gloves with the pearl buttons at the wrist, I thought I might make a special "crazy" square that I could frame with all of that incorporated. I've had the hankies since 1988 and just didn't know what to do with them. The history of proper use was great to read. thanks for that TanyaL.

MIJul 08-08-2011 06:38 PM

I usually buy mine at flea markets.

OneMoreQuilt 08-08-2011 06:52 PM


Originally Posted by TanyaL
For those of you who are too young to remember older rules of ettiquete, here are some memories of the hankerchief "rules".I remember that when a lady bought hankies she bought either ones for every day or ones for dressy occasions. Usually this meant that the everyday ones were made from printed fabric and the better ones were made from solid colored fabric and hand embroidered. Some of these were also edged with lace. There were black ones for funerals, and sometimes you could color-coordinate the hankie with your dress, but you seldom had one color of fabric and another color of lace. That was usually considered to be gaudy and not lady like. Frequently the hankies had your initial embroidered on one corner.
You did not use an everyday hankerchief in a dressy situation such as going to church on Sunday morning, and you did not put a white, lace edged hankerchief in your purse when you went to the grocery store. The rules of dress were as strict about the use of hankies as they were about your girdle and getting the seams of your hose straight in the back of your legs. Some things ladies did not do if they were proper ladies. These things were taught by mothers to their daughters and they were very important at the time. Not knowing these type of things could mark a young girl as cheap, and "from the wrong side of the tracks." Not someone a fellow took home to meet the family. It was a different time.

Ahhhhh....those were the days! I miss them. People hardly even "dress up" anymore.

simplyme 08-08-2011 07:40 PM

I too have my Grandmothers handkerchiefs and would love to find some kind of project to use then in.

aorlflood 08-08-2011 08:00 PM

2 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by Barb44
I have some hankies that I have saved over the years that I would trade. I was going to make a butterfly quilt years ago when I saw it in a magazine (I think I still have the magazine.) But my priorities have changed. Hankies are hard to find nowadays. The ones I have came from a thrift store. You almost have to hunt antique shops and flea markets to find them and then they are expensive.

TanyaL, thanks for that info. My mom used hankies but they were only the bright prints. Guess she didn't know the rules, LOL. My grandma had fancier ones, but used old cut up shirts for every day. She was very frugal.

I have been collecting hankies to make a quilt like the one in the picture that I found on the internet some time ago. I saved the picture so that I can replicate it...

hanky quilt
[ATTACH=CONFIG]238775[/ATTACH]

another hanky quilt
[ATTACH=CONFIG]238776[/ATTACH]

TanyaL 08-08-2011 08:03 PM

Those are really beautiful hanky quilts!

LINANN 08-09-2011 05:21 AM

I love the first one. (the 2nd one did not show up). I like this one better than the butterfly hankie quilt. Is there a pattern for this somewhere? I would love to have it.
Linda

gspsplease 08-09-2011 05:38 AM

I love the idea of using nice hankies for quilt labels. I have bought small doileys at charity shops for the same purpose, but the best ones are getting too expensive ($4-5) and often the only ones available now are made in China machine embroidered.

TanyaL 08-09-2011 05:49 AM

In my area they are cheaper if you go to the antique stores and look for dresser scarves. You can cut these into a nice size for a label. Hem 3 sides and the 4th side has hand embroidered decoration on it. Machine embroider your information on it before you cut it out.

TanyaL 08-09-2011 05:49 AM

In my area they are cheaper if you go to the antique stores and look for dresser scarves. You can cut these into a nice size for a label. Hem 3 sides and the 4th side has hand embroidered decoration on it. Machine embroider your information on it before you cut it out.

aorlflood 08-09-2011 06:26 AM


Originally Posted by LINANN
I love the first one. (the 2nd one did not show up). I like this one better than the butterfly hankie quilt. Is there a pattern for this somewhere? I would love to have it.
Linda

Try looking at the post again and see if the second quilt shows up now.

There is no pattern that I know of, but the second quilt looks just like the hankies were stitched/appliqued to a large piece of white cotton, then everything was hand quilted.

LINANN 08-09-2011 06:32 AM

It still did not show up. I will send it to my home computer and see if it will show up there.
Thank you.

Jeanniejo 08-09-2011 06:37 AM

I saw a quilt that used the hankies for dresses for Southern women. It was beautiful but now I can't find the pattern. If anyone knows where to look for it I would love to get it.

BuzzinBumble 08-09-2011 06:55 AM

My dear neighbor got me started on that kind of hanky panky. she gave me a few of her old dressy handkerchiefs with roses embroidered on them. So I added a few more to my collection from eBay and plan to use those for decorative pillows in our rose themed bedroom. Tanya, I got a kick out of reading your ettiquette for handkerchiefs. My how times change... in many ways the bygone days were more genteel.


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