a little quilt for my fractured dolls

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my search for a set of Tim Holtz Fractured Dolls, which I wanted to buy and make quilts for.

My order came, and Sunday night I made them a little quilt.



These dolls are teeny-tiny. The larger one is only about three inches tall. I wanted a quilt with "real" pieced blocks, as small as I could make them. These nine-patches finish at 1 1/2" square. And the top only took three left over Jelly Roll strips -- one dark and two matching light prints.

Want to make your own?



From one light strip, cut four 1 x 14" strips. From one dark strip, cut five 1 x 14" strips. From the second light strip, cut twelve 2" squares. (If you're working with yardage or scraps instead of precut 2 1/2" strips, just cut it into the 1" and 2" strips that these instructions call for.)



Sew the 1" strips into the three sets shown and carefully press open. The pieced strips should measure 2" wide. Cut each strip set into thirteen 1" sections.



Assemble those sections into thirteen nine patch blocks. If your cutting and piecing are completely accurate, the unfinished blocks should measure exactly 2" square. A lot of mine didn't, but I'm making a quilt for a broken plastic doll, so I just concentrated on making my points match as best I could and it came out fine.



Lay out the blocks on a scrap of batting to keep them organized while you assemble the top.



Press the top well, then cut a piece of backing fabric the same size as your top, which should measure 8" square. I didn't want to mess with binding on something this tiny (it's a quilt for broken dolls, not a mug rug!), so I "birthed" the doll quilt.

Lay the top face up, then the backing face down, then a piece of thin white flannel. Sew around the whole sandwich 1/4" from the edge, leaving a 2-3" opening for turning. You can find more details about birthing a baby (or doll) quilt at Sunshower Quilts.



To keep the quilting from overwhelming the nine patch blocks, I quilted diagonal lines across the setting squares. Once I decide whether or not this is the quilt for my fractured dolls, I plan on attaching them to the quilt.



I wish I could find some of the real thing, but I'm too practical to spend what they're asking on ebay.... I think...

This post is linked to to Try it out Tuesday at Jo's Country Junction.