Chatterbox Quilts Chitchat: Guilty Secret Part 2

Hi everyone:

In my last blogpost, I let you in on a guilty secret: I love to shop at estate sales and purchase way too many vintage linens. Since I'm running out of storage space for them, I should probably do something with them. But what?

Here are some of my ideas:

A few of my recent estate sale treasures

Hankies - More of a fashion accessory than a practical item, you can still find vintage embroidered hankies still in their original slim boxes. These can be used as a centrepiece in a quilt with embroidery added to them or they can provide colour and design inspiration. They also make lovely focal points on pillows, large or small.

Hankie detail - gorgeous colours and sweet design

Interesting basket shape for appliqué design

Damask napkins and tablecloths - These can be dyed to the desired colour and used for their original purpose. Or... they can be made into a wholecloth quilt by sandwiching them with batting and backing and quilting them. Napkins are a good size to start with if you've never done a wholecloth project before.

Damask napkins are often bundled in groups of 4 or 6 - or 5!

Love the pretty pink colour on these damask napkins

Doilies and crocheted tablecloths - These are my favourite finds. They can be dyed as desired and then added to various projects. I cut them apart into smaller sizes to add to stuffies or as decorative embellishments to quilts. Hand stitch a doily to an appliquéd wool flower, add a button and frame. Done.

5 doilies all ready to be added to a project

A nice assortment of doilies

Just because there may be staining or damage to vintage linens doesn't mean that they can't be repurposed. Heavier linens that are damaged can be cut apart to make stuffies. Add hand embroidery, lace, buttons and other embellishments as desired. Lighter weight linens can be cut into squares or rectangles and then pieced together to create a pillow, table runner or even a full quilt.