You say Hanky, I say Hankie, or Handkerchief or Handkerchef and on and on

A little history about how the humble hanky/hankie/handkerchief came to be so named.

(And we're only dealing with its many names in English - it gets even more complicated once other languages get in the mix !)

In French, a head scarf/band/veil was called a couvre-chef (head coverer).

This became, in English, a kerchief or kerchef - sometimes alternatively called a bandanna , bandana or even a do-rag.

If used to cover the neck, it became a neckerchief/neckerchef.

Similarly, if about the same size and of the same sort of material, but held in the hand instead of being fastened about the head or neck, it became a handkerchief or handkerchef.

This was later shortened to hanky or hankie.

Finally this word more or less disappeared in common usage in North America, replace by tissue or Kleenex - a trademarked brand name in the process of becoming a generic name for this type of material.

Off topic, but interesting indeed is the fact that this little square of cloth is one of the few means of decoration that even the most macho of men would permit for themselves - a touch of bright color around the necks of cowboys, in the shirt or suit upper pockets of business tycoons or around the heads of gang members in the 'Hoods....

Pat Long Gardner inspired 'One Hanky Quiltmaking'

Pat Long Gardner, the American quilter, first put out her pioneering book on 'one hanky quilts', titled simply (and a bit misleadingly), HANDKERCHIEF QUILTS, way back in 1993.

But I didn't discover her book (and her wonderful idea) until 1997, while browsing the stacks in my local public library.

Few quilters can keep up with all the beautiful quilting books coming out, under their own steam.

Fewer of us can afford to buy them all, in any case.

And of course it is a rare bookstore that will stock them all.

Thank goodness that librarians in public libraries keep an eye out for the quilt book that is truly different and add them to their public collection.

(Though, in this case,perhaps someone saw a review of this book in a quilting magazine and asked them to purchase it.

Most librarians are open to suggestions from knowledgeably and regular library patrons.

Pat's book was a revelation to me because hanky quilts aren't that rare but I had never seen or heard of a quilt only using one hanky.

Pat used her single hanky to become the central motif  in a traditional medallion-type quilt.

(Her one hanky quilts were about 40 by 40 inches, mine are 20 by 20 inches - seems a small difference but her quilts actually take four times as much material and quilting tome to complete !)  

I quickly notice that Pat did not cut up the hanky to make the quilt - something that usually happens whenever we quilters seize upon a beautiful piece of fabric. 

Nor did she fold up the hanky, to make another shape like a butterfly, and thus diminish the original artist's design and art.

(If you 'double click' on the image above, (#6 in my series of one hanky quilts and entitled "Whole Cloth Banadanna Quilt" , you will see that even the tiniest of wording printed out at the edge of the bandanna/hanky is still available for the viewer to read.

I think it adds greatly to the charm of this quilt that you can learn that it was "crafted with pride" in "India" out of "100% cotton" by "Emanuel Geraldo"!)

Pat did not emphasize these advantages to her technique but they inspired me to take her ideas much further along this path she had pioneered, if unwittingly.

Because, to me, here was a way to re-use , re-value and yes, recycle, two dimensional cloth heirlooms and mementos- without diminishing them in the process .

Here was a way to take them out that back closet or bottom drawer and displayed them in all their original two dimensional glory.

By the second or third 'one hanky quilt', I realized that the border around that central motif and the label on the back (and you do put a label on all your quilts, don't you?) gave me room to tell people why this hanky meant so much to me or what story that hanky seemed to want me to tell about it. 

More about Pat in a later blog post - don't forget you can see all 57 of my 'one hanky quilts' , lovingly photographed in rich full colour by Peter Barss in my book "One Handkerchief Makes a Small Quilt" ...