How to Quilt With Handkerchiefs

From plain white to boldly-patterned, handkerchiefs are ready-made quilt blocks.

For a source of ready-cut quilt blocks, try handkerchiefs. You can find handkerchiefs in every color in addition to the classic white, as well as in a variety of patterns, including paisley, sports-team colors and even Nascar-related block prints. Most handkerchiefs wash in warm or cold water, although you may have to test them for color-fastness first. Once ironed and pinned, you can stitch a row of handkerchiefs together in minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Cloth measuring tape
• 3- by 5-inch note cards
• Plastic, pocketed, 3-ring report cover
• 3-ring binder
• Cotton or linen handkerchiefs
• Steam iron
• Macrame board
• T-pins
• Straight pins
• Cotton or linen thread
• Cotton quilt batting, fleece or wool blankets
• Sewing shears
• Flat flannel sheets

Instructions

1. Measure the item the quilt will cover, to determine the length, width and drop -- the distance between the edge of the area to be covered and the floor -- using a cloth measuring tape. Write those dimensions on a note card and slip it into a plastic report cover in a 3-ring binder.

2. Wash the handkerchiefs. Use T-pins -- the type used for doing macrame, with a horizontal bar across the top -- to pin each damp handkerchief onto a macrame board so that the handkerchief is held as straight as possible in all directions until it dries. Iron the handkerchiefs to remove any remaining wrinkles.

3. Measure the length and width of three to five handkerchiefs. Add the numbers together and divide by the number of handkerchiefs you measured to get an average size for your handkerchief quilt blocks.

4. Convert the measurements of the length, width and drop to the number of whole blocks you will need in order to make your quilt, after you measure your handkerchiefs. For example, if your quilt is for a queen-size bed with a 60-inch by 80-inch mattress and has a 24-inch drop on three sides, you will need a 108-inch by 104-inch quilt. If each block is 12 inches by 12 inches, you will need nine blocks across and nine blocks down.

5. Determine which side of each handkerchief is the right side of the fabric -- the side with the strongest-colored print or smoothest texture. Use straight pins, inserted parallel to one edge of the handkerchief, to pin pairs of handkerchiefs together with their right sides facing each other.

6. Turn the pinned pairs of handkerchiefs so that the pinned side runs along the left edge. Stitch along the pinned side, 1/8-inch to the right of the line of pins.

7. Press the seam between each pair of handkerchiefs open with a steam iron on the correct setting for the type of fabric. Pair the double-handkerchief blocks with right sides facing again and pin along one side to create rows of four connected handkerchiefs. Repeat with the quadruple-block handkerchiefs to create 8-block rows of connected handkerchiefs.

8. Add a single handkerchief at the end of each row of eight connected handkerchiefs to make the 9-block rows you need for the queen-size quilt described in the example, or add single or double blocks to double or quadruple blocks to create shorter or longer rows as needed.

9. Pin two rows of blocks together with right sides facing. Stitch along the pinned side, 1/8-inch to the right of the line of pins. Press the entire seam open with a steam iron.

10. Pin double rows of blocks together with right sides facing to create quadruple rows of handkerchief blocks. Stitch them together as previously described, 1/8-inch to the right of the row of pins. Continue adding rows until your quilt top has the correct number of blocks from right to left and from top to bottom.

11. Cut cotton batting, fleece or wool blankets to fit the quilt top. Cut flannel sheets or make a second quilt top to serve as the underside of the quilt. Pin all layers together.

12. Remove your current presser foot using according to the manufacturer's directions for your sewing machine. Attach a quilting foot to your sewing machine instead, so that all the layers will pass under the presser foot without bunching or being pulled into the feed dog. Stitch along all existing seams on each row of handkerchief blocks,

13. Pin seam binding all the way around your quilt and stitch it into place to finish the edges of your quilt. Hand-quilt each handkerchief block using your favorite quilting stitch.

References

• My Luxury Mattress; Luxury Bedding -- What is a Comforter's "Drop?"; Will Robertson; April 2007
• "New Complete Guide to Sewing"; Reader's Digest; 2002
• Sewing FAQ; Pins; Tom Farrell and Paulo Ruffino; Sept. 2006