What do you think of these? I was inspired to make them when I saw the flyer for the upcoming exhibit from the Folk Art Museum, Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts. I’ll post more about this later, but will just say now that I am inordinately excited to go and see this in March. I imagined a quilt with little rows of tidy houses, but thought I’d start with a few blocks, just to see how they looked. My husband, who is usually very complimentary of my crafts, said, “Um.” Not good. It turns out that he finds the houses not charming but creepy. Why? There’s no door, for one, and even worse in multiples they look like sinister barracks. (They are also very fiddly to make, so another strike against them.) But, I’d still like another opinion. Charming or not so much?
Tag Archives: Quilt
Doll’s bed
My daughter got a new American Girl doll for Christmas, so a new bed was needed for the dormitory. A free weekend, a sturdy box, and some left over fabric, and Eve soon had a cozy bed of her own. We started with box from a new pair of boots, and added some foam-core board to the top to make it the right length. (Bonus: the bed opens up to store dolls’ shoes, socks, accessories, and a few musical instruments.)
My daughter chose the fabrics she wanted to use from my scrap box. To make the bed skirt, I attached three panels of red cotton/linen to a rectangle of muslin in a simple box shape. I made a mattress out of plain white cotton with cotton batting. Same for the pillow, but I tore up the batting to make it more fluffy. Then, my daughter, who was given an embroidery kit from my granny, embroidered the pillow case–all by herself!
Finally, the quilt was really quick to make. My daughter wanted one fabric for the top, so I pieced together a few scraps to make a rectangle, and then used white for the backing. Rather than binding the quilt, I sewed regular seams and just turned it inside out. I also tried quilter’s knots to quilt the layers together, for the first time. All around, we’re pretty pleased with how this turned out–without spending a penny!
Have you made anything for American Girls? We’d love to hear about your excuses to play with your kids’ toys!
Quilted table mat
My dining room table is weirdly sensitive to water. One droplet and the surface blanches like it’s seen a ghost. So for Thanksgiving, I needed something to keep my table happy. A quilted table mat was the perfect opportunity to try out a cross pattern, a simple nine-square. Easy, peasy–at least in theory. The fabrics are an irregular stripe from Leisl Gibson’s lovely City Weekend collection, and a tiny dot. I really love how these patterns work together.
Less happily, the stumpy crosses on the end were not intentional. I used my presser foot as a guide to sew my 3/8″ seams, which, it turns out, left them all a smidge too narrow. That smidge, compounded over several seams, left my center panel longer than the top and bottom sashes. Rather than ripping out the seams and adjusting (which actually wouldn’t have been that hard), I lopped off the long ends. Hence, it’s just a little wonky. On the bright side, I learned where to place the fabric for a perfect 3/8″ seam in the future, just peeking out from the presser foot on my machine.
And, I have something cheerful for my table. I made these place mats and napkins this summer, during a red and blue period. Not a very autumnal palette for my Thanksgiving table, but patriotic! And, in the spirit of being nontraditional, I am serving chocolate cake for dessert–yum!
homemadecity.com 
