Tiny Scrap Quilt

This little quilt appears misshapen because it is being held in place by a vine stub and a prong on the wrought iron arch and is poked out of shape.

When life throws you scraps, make a quilt.  ~Author Unknown

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—I LOVE Liberty of London Tanna Lawn. I buy it greedily, use it sparingly and save every teeny tiny scrap of the precious fabric.

This diminuative single Irish chain quilt, a mere 8 1/4″ x 11 1/2″, is made from ivory Swiss lawn and a bag of Liberty scraps, each measuring 1″ x 3/4″. How you might wonder did I come into possession of such insignificant scraps?

Many years ago, my dear friend Mildred Turner and I held doll schools around the country. Each of the 40 student received an undressed specially made porcelain doll and for 3 or 4 days we sewed the doll’s wardrobe.

One of the garments was a novelty bishop dress (see post Liberty Goat Dress) made of Liberty of London, the kits for which I cut. We used at least 10 different prints.

Did you know that there are 8 armhole curves cut out for each bishop dress? For the 20″ doll we were using, that left me with 320 tiny scraps of Liberty. There were at least 10 different Liberty prints. I tried to throw them away, but retrieved them from the sewing room waste baskets twice before I knew I simply could not do it. So from each of the 5 doll schools we hosted, a zip lock bag lay in the drawer with alllllll those tiny bits of Liberty. Then it came to me—-miniature quilts!!!!! Hurrah!

With the precision allowed by the miracle of rotary rulers and cutters, the Liberty bits were trimmed to 3/4″ squares. Ivory Swiss lawn, equal in weight and quality, made it possible to use a 1/8″ seam allowance. Each square measures 1/2″, each 9 patch block measures 1 1/2″.

I so enjoyed making this little quilt. But it did remind me of a story I once heard about a woman who sorted through her mother’s sewing room after Mom was moved to a nursing home. The fabric was all boxed up according to size–fat quarters, ½ -1 ¾ yd. pieces, etc. Included in this stash was a large box marked, “scraps too small to use.”