Patchwork Princess!

Just lately I've been getting ready for the summer round of craft fairs and have been browsing the internet to gain inspiration for new ideas. I've been particularly taken with some of the wonderful quilting sites and, although I'm by no means an expert quilter I began to wonder if there was some way I could take inspiration from this craft.

I'm also a great fan of vintage children's books and after a while an idea began to form in my head - was there any way of combining vintage illustration and patchwork/quilting. And yes ... there is. I've been scanning some of the wonderful copyright-expired (or public domain) books I own, restoring faded or torn pictures and turning them into great printable patches for children's country style quilts. The image below is from a book illustrated by Fern Bisel Peat ..

And here you can see the pieced top of the quilt. I say quilt - I'm using the term very loosely here as I simply back the top with recycled vintage blanket then machine quilt along the patchwork square edges. Nothing more complicated than that I'm afraid! But these quilts are sooo effective and the people who have seen them so far have adored them. In fact I've made five and sold three already before even reaching the first craft fair. The one below is already sold and it's not even finished yet!

I love the Fern Bisel Peat animals so much I've put all six images onto a pdf file ready to print onto transfer paper if you'd like to have a go at making one of these quilts. (That's the two above and four below) They'll be going out to newsletter subscribers as a freebie, but if you don't want to subscribe then please just click on the button below to purchase them through Paypal.

They are just $5 for all six images and they could be used for all sorts of items - great when you don't know what to take to a baby shower or gift for a new baby. I'll send you the pdf as soon as I receive payment - but please do allow for a short delay as I may be in a different time zone to you!

Going back to my Patchwork Animals quilt - the big green and blue circles are from an old 1970s pillowcase, whilst the large red polkadot fabric was in an inherited stash from the 1980s. I print the images onto pure cotton so the whole will wash well together. It's great being able to repurpose old fabrics .. and makes these quilts truly unique.


This image is adapted from another old children's book - it's great to see that times haven't changed and the driver had to watch out for speeding even in the early days. You can see a quilt featuring these patches on the left hand side of the picture at the top of this post. The rest of the pictures in this series feature vintage cars and vans - great for a little boy.

And finally - for the knitters - take a look at this great vintage pattern for a lovely English cottage tea cosy. I've never got around to making it, but I'd love to see pictures if anybody does!

Click here for free download of teacosy pattern