Teeny, Tiny Quilts!

When I was a little girl, I loved "teeny, tiny things". I collected the cool prizes you used to get in Cracker Jacks and any small toys I could find. In the early 60's my parents took us on a trip to Chicago to see the sites and my favorite place was the "Colleen Moore Dollhouse" at the Museum of Science and Industry. The Christmas after we made that trip, my parents gave me a few treasured pieces of doll furniture. I covered a large shoe box with black and white floral fabric, then glued construction paper to the inside for wallpaper and added fabric for carpet. I kept my treasured collection in that box and when I grew up and got married, the box moved along with me. Then in the early 1970's our daughter was given a dollhouse from the 1940's that had belonged to her Aunt Linda. My husband replaced the floors and I began making furniture to fill the rooms. That was when I really began making miniatures in earnest. I made canopy beds and little sofa and chair sets, tiny lamps and dishes, porcelain dolls to inhabit the house and babies and tiny quilts, Christmas trees and more. I made as many things as I could think of to fill the 1" to 1' scale world of miniatures.

Since this is a month to share our quilts, I decided I just had to share my tiniest quilts. The ones you see in the photo above measure approximately 3 x 5". Each one is made by hand and then hand-quilted. Double click on the photo and you may be able to see the quilting detail. The photo below is a nursery room scene created from a box attached to the back of a picture frame.

I made almost every item in the little room except the pewter pieces on the little shelf and a couple of the plastic bunnies, etc. They little pewter pieces were a gift from my sister, Judy. The ruffled curtains frame a scene cut from a magazine. The pampers were made by gluing a cut-out from a coupon on a tiny box and then cutting up tiny pieces of real Pampers to make the diapers. The shag rug is a piece of plastic canvas that I tied yarn to and then snipped it to make it even. The white chest is just a block of balsa wood with panels and beads added to make it look like a piece of furniture. The bassinet began life as the bottom of dish soap bottle. The quilt that covers the tiny porcelain baby was made by coloring the design on white cotton using colored markers. You colored a little at a time so that the design could set and dry and then wait to do more. Little plastic trinkets became pull toys and a bead is the pot for the hanging plant. I hand-sewed the little clothes that hang on the clothes rack as well as the booties that sit on the floor by the bassinet. This is my favorite mini room box. :-) It was made sometime in the 1980's as were all the little quilts.

I made miniatures from 1972 through the late 1990's and then quilting took over. I still occasionally do a few miniature items but quilting, embroidery and almost anything you can stitch keeps me busy these days.

My first thought for a quilt to feature today was the first quilt I ever made. It's a patchwork tied quilt that I made for my daughter in 1970. However, it's still packed away - what is left of it - and so it may take some time but I will find the box that it is in and post a photo of the quilt by the end of the month. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the "teeny, tiny quilts" I have shared tonight.

Thanks to the "Pickles" for the inspiration for this post!