Googling the phrase "One Hanky Quilt"

Small quilts that use one hanky as the central motif of a medallion style quilt are being made ,all the time, all around the world.

However.

They are usually done as one-offs, not as part of an extended series, so the quilter who made them can't really stretch out to show some of the fun you can have with whatever hankies you have on hand.

Whenever I Google the phrase 'one hanky quilt' I usually only get my site or blog.

"One Hanky quilts' are definitely being made but not usually being described with such a succinct term.

But I recently came across a blog post from a fellow quilter who mentioned she couldn't go to bed because she was working on a 'one hanky quilt'.

Made my day !

Heirlooms or Collectibles too Precious or too Nice to Cut up

Quilters generally take a beautiful piece of cloth.... AND CUT IT UP !

Their intention is too make something even more beautiful out of it, of course.

 TWO DIMENSIONAL CLOTH COLLECTIBLES

But what if your beautiful cloth item is already perfect as is ?

Or because it belonged to your mother who treasured it as it was, is too precious to cut up?

I don't mean a shirt or a skirt, etc obviously - those don't lie flat enough for quilting until cut up.

But there are lots of  other two dimensional cloth heirlooms or collectibles.

Hankies come to mind (naturally !) but we can add lots of others that are 'designed' to be beautiful as they are, but are thin enough and small enough to be the start of a wonderful quilt.

A place mat may be small and beautiful but is too thick to use in a quilt.

But tea tray cloths, doilies, kerchiefs,neckerchiefs, bandanas, scarves, luncheon napkins, tea towels, table top 

runners - they all fit the bill.

You can think of others.

My daughter-in-law Rebecca mentions those cloth wall hangings we all buy on vacation, perhaps made out of Belfast linen and decorated with some images of Northern Ireland , bought on a trip to the Emerald Isle.

They all can be the centerpiece of a medallion quilt - around them you can create a border that complements them 

and perhaps even tells a story of what that item meant to you or your mother.

When I say I love my children - I mean my animal children as well - many have gone before me , but live on in my quilts ! Here is an example of what I mean....

Hankies become Butterflies become Quilts

A quilter who goes by the name of StudioBeth loves to fold hankies till they are shaped like butterflies and then she appliques them to her quilt design.

She reports it is all rather like making paper origami and gives some hints on design considerations.

She has a wonderful example made by a woman named Pauline G, who won a prize for it at her county fair in 2003.

Pauline didn't get her hankies from her sainted old grandmother, as the quilting cliche usually goes - she had to go out and buy brand new ones, but it still looks wonderful !