I found this cute little hand sewn block in an antique store, and I would like to make it into a doll quilt. The squares are about 3/4 of an inch, but vary a bit, and it doesn't lie quite flat. The stitches are kind of big. Maybe it was the work of a child. I plan to use a thin cotton batt and muslin on the back, but I'm stumped by the jagged edge. Or maybe it would be softer (more flexible if I just backed it with white flannel and omitted the batting? What was the traditional way of doing the edge? I don't want to cut off the points. I'll appreciate any advice! Also, can anyone identify the possible age of the fabric? Thanks!

Normaly the edges were cut off. You could take a piece of material that would set off the colors in the design, and needle turn the edged to it. Make the material big enough to give it a border. Then quilt it.

Thanks, Lynn. It does sound pretty labor intensive to preserve those little points, and if I can find a compatible border, that would be kind of nice, too, now that you mention it - especially if that's how they were typically done. I think I'll google for inspiration images.

To cut down on the labor-intensiveness, you could layer the batt and backing on the right side and machine stitch around all the points leaving an opening for turning then needle turn the opening closed and quilt.

Aha! That seems worth a try. I like the idea of preserving the original without adding different fabric on the front. Thanks for the suggestion.

Its really cute!

I bought a grandmothers flower garden off ebay and thats what I did. I turned the edges down and appliqued a border around it. Turned out nice.

What a sweet block! I'm glad you're going to finish it :)

Like the suggestions so far. Maybe this was a leftover block from a quilt project. My experience with flannel is that yes it's soft, but it doesn't have the umpf a thin batting would have. A thin batting would help give the texture of an old quilt as well. It's very sweet and love that you want to preserve it.

very pretty

I made my GS an I spy quilt with this type of edge. Admittedly the squares are bigger but I just finished with binding as per normal. It posed a bit of thinking to work out how to do reverse corners but I practiced first with a sampler.

Katesnana, I love your I spy quilt. It looks like such fun for the little one, but maybe a lot of work for you. I also made one for my GS, but mine was a rag quilt. I alternated the picture prints with various shades of recycled blue denim on both sides. I'd saved every novelty print I could find from the time my son got married until they finally had the baby 13 years later, and then bought some more on eBay. The bucking bronco on your quilt occurs in mine, too, and maybe a few others. Just looking at yours makes me hope we'll have another grandchild. Wasn't it fun to make?

Many thanks to all who have responded to my topic so far. You've given me several ideas to experiment with.

I did have fun making this but didn't use a fraction of the novelty prints I had collected over the years. I made this for him to look at and find things while my daughter feed his little sister. He hadn't started school then so it couldn't be I Spy but is now.
No it wasn't a lot of work but that wouldn't matter as he is the Sunshine of my life.