Category: Quilting

Free Quilt Pattern – Hankie in Your Pocket

2 Comments

In this quilt, a hankie can be found in every other square of the quilt – with a ‘pocket’ made from the borders of the blocks. The alternating blocks are a twist on the traditional 9-patch quilt, sending the ‘X’ found in the 9-patch radiating outwards and drawing our attention back to each of the hankie pockets. In the drawing below, each of the hankie squares is marked with an “H” to help you with the layout. The finished quilt top will be approximately 86” x 114”.

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

Hankie Square Patch Square

Yardage Needed

  • Hankie Fabric (Enough for 18 but buy 6 extra – because you will lose approximately one hankie in each fabric row, when you fussy cut the 18 hankies you need).
  • 2 1/4 yd Yellow Strip around Hankie
  • 1 5/8 yd Vintage Blue Cornerstone Block Fabric (X) fabric
  • 1/4 yd each of three different light fabrics
  • 3/8 yd each of three different medium fabrics
  • 2/3 yd each of three different dark fabrics
  • ¾ yd of 1st Border (9 strips 2 ½” wide)
  • 2½ yds of 2nd Border and Binding (Border 10 Strips 6”) (Binding 10 Strips 2 ¼”)
  • Backing
  • Batting

Making a ‘hankie’ square:

  1. Fussy cut the hankie material to a 10½” square
  2. Cut 3 – yellow strips 10½” WOF. Sub-cut into 36 (10 1/2” X 2½”) strips (left & right borders)
  3. Cut 3 – yellow stripes 14½” WOF. Sub-cut 36 (14 1/2” x 2½”) (top & bottom borders)
  4. Stitch the left and right borders to the hankie square.
  5. Stitch top and bottom borders to the square.
  6. Repeat for a total of 18 squares.

Making the patch squares – this is for 6 squares (You will repeat 2 more times out of two different color-ways making a total of 18 squares. You will have 1 extra block.)

  1. Cut 7 – 2½” x WOF strips, Vintage Blue (X Fabric)

    2. Ruler

  2. Cut 2 – 2½” x WOF strips, Light Fabric
  3. Cut 2 – 6½” x WOF strip, Medium Fabric
  4. Cut 2 – 10½” x WOF strip, Dark Fabric
  5. Sew together one Vintage Blue strip, one Light Fabric strip, and one Vintage Blue strip. (see fig. 1), sub cut into 12 (6 ½” x 2 ½”) strips
  6. Sew together one Light Fabric strip, one Vintage Blue strip, and Light Fabric strip. (reverse of fig. 1). Sub cut into 6 (6½” x 2½”) strips.
  7. Sew 2 strips from step 1 and 1 strip from step 2 to make a nine patch block.
  8. Cut 2 medium fabric strips 6 ½” WOF
  9. Take one of the strip and sub-cut into 12 (6 ½” X 2 ½”) stripes Add to sides of 9-patch.
  10. Take the second strip and sew a 2 ½” vintage blue strip to each side WOF. Sub-cut into 12 (10 ½” X 2 ½”) (fig 2) Add to top and bottom of 9-patch
  11. Cut 2 dark fabric strips 10 ½” WOF.
  12. Take one of the strip and sub-cut into 12 (10 ½” X 2 ½”) stripes Add to sides of block.
  13. Take the second strip and sew a 2 ½” vintage blue strip to each side WOF. Sub-cut into 12 (14 ½” X 2 ½”) Add to top and bottom of block.

Finishing Quilt
When all blocks are finished (18 hankie blocks, and 17 patch blocks), sew together as shown in the diagram at the beginning of the instructions. Add two borders around the completed blocks. Bind, layer and quilt. Enjoy!

All rights reserved. A copy can be made for personal use. You can not use for commercial production without written permission.

 

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Hankie In Your Pocket

Leave a comment

Recently, Hancock Fabrics got a new group of fabrics in the store called ‘Granny’s Hankies’ (many stores have it labeled as ‘Nana’s Hankies’). The name made me think of my mother, and all the hankies I wore and used as I was growing up.

When I was growing up, it seemed we didn’t go anywhere without a hankie. Some women wore large colorful handkerchiefs to cover their heads when working in the garden, and men had an everyday variety to use when work got too hot. There were also the nicer handkerchiefs, crisp white cotton or sometimes linen. Men wore these in their suits as a sign of wealth or good breeding, women carried hankies trimmed with lace in a pocket or tiny purse, ready to touch to the lips to mask an inappropriate expression. Blue Coord

There were certain events that you absolutely had to have a hankie, or you just weren’t properly dressed – Sunday School, weddings and funerals. In the 50s and into the 60s, all the girls were wearing colorful hankies (now we would call them scarves) in their hair or tied around the neck. For my wedding, one of the very important decisions that we made concerning my outfit was my hankie. Would I carry a brand new one, or one that was borrowed? Whichever choice was made – I knew it would be a very special hankie.

Coming from a family of 10, you can imagine what it was like getting everyone ready and out the door Sunday morning for church. But I remember my mother always made sure that we had our hankies. She would tie my offering into the corner of the hankie, and as we went out the door, she would always say, “make sure your hankie is in your pocket.” I could hear my mother’s voice as I looked at the fabrics. With these memories – how could I call this quilt anything except, “Hankie in Your Pocket”?

Yellow Coord The pattern in my next entry is FREE – please print the information and create your own hankie quilt. All I ask is that you remember where it came from, and if others are interested in the pattern please direct them here.
Anyone wishing to teach this pattern may contact me for permission through this blog – just comment here and I will respond.

The coordinate fabrics would also make a very cute little girl’s dress, using one of the hankie blocks to make a hankie to go in the dress pocket.

Interested in more information about the handkerchief and it’s long history? Check out this link!
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Quilting Book Review – Crazy for Baby

1 Comment

Are there times in your life when you fill like everyone around you is expecting a baby? It seems like that’s the case for me right now. Pretty exciting! But now I need to make baby gifts.

When you love to sew and make things as gifts for people, the most natural gift for a new baby is a quilt. At a time like this, I find that I need quick baby quilts, that will still have a great look. I found a great book called “Crazy for Baby” by Me & My Sister Designs. The book features four fast and fun quilt ideas with 10 color variations.

It seems that when I’m in the fabric store, I always find lots of great juvenile theme fabrics. The only problem with these fabrics is that you won’t want to cut them into small pieces for quilt blocks – the whole look of the fabric would be lost. What I really like about this book is that you can take a juvenile fabric and use for a center panel. You than sew pieced blocks around the large picture. How easy and fast is that? You’ll probably want to make more than one project out of this book!


My granddaughter got a Care Bear for Christmas, and when I found this cute fabric at Hancock Fabrics I thought her Care Bear might need a blanket.

For the pinwheel quilt blocks, I went to the section in the store where they have the Fat Quarter single program. This is a great program, fat quarters arranged on an upright rack by color and shade. Shopping through these is always fun and inspiring. It was so simple to pick-up 5 different fat quarters to complete my color selection.

You can complete this quilt top in a day easily. Perfect for a quick gift for a new baby (or bear) in the family! My finished quilt was 45″ x 50″, yours may be different if you change the borders on the quilt.

After I finished this quilt, I looked around Hancock Fabrics for some other fabrics that would work for this type of quilt. There are so many fun theme fabrics out there! Here are just a few of the other fabrics I may have to consider some day.


And look what came with the Care Bear fabrics. . . a fabric book panel. Make this up and give to the newcomer!

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila