Doll Quilts

My brother is a cancer patient and I have done some sewing for him along the way.  I have made hats to keep his hairless head warm in the Vermont winter.  I have made quilts to warm him and some to raffle off for the cancer cause that he supports.  I have made pot holders for him to raffle off or sell for the same cancer fundraiser.  Now, I was asked to send something for a silent auction that some family members are doing to raise money to help him out personally.

I didn't have much time, and I struggled to think of something that would be quick, easy and yet good enough.  Then it hit me...doll quilts.  They are small and you can get a bit intricate with them and still finish quickly.  So here we go...I had a jelly roll of Always and Forever by Deb Strain that I had been wanting bust out.  And I have been wanting to make some flying geese blocks forever.

This is how I cut it: one strip I cut into 4 1/2 inch strips  and another into 2 1/2 inch squares.  This will yield 8 flying geese blocks.

 I sewed the first square onto one corner and then trimmed 1/4 inch from the stitching line.

 Press them all open, toward the red corner piece like this.

 Then stitch the other square onto the opposite side of the rectangle. Again, trim 1/4 inch from the stitching line.

 When you press them open, you have the block like this.

 You can take the trimmed triangles and stitch them together to make tiny HSTs like this.

                                            Play with them a bit, like this....

                                                      ...or this

 This is how I chain pieced all the blocks together.  It goes really quickly too and you save tons of thread over the course of a project.  Need to take these to the iron? Don't clip the thread until you push one of those little HSTs under the needle to keep the chain going.

                                                   I played with the arrangement a bit.

 Then I made some more with a charm pack of Fairy Tale Friends by American Jane so I could make a second doll quilt.

 This was so fun and so easy folks.  I made these in just a few hours between laundry, helping my daughter paint furniture and dinner last night.  I finished them up this morning in about 20 minutes.  And I made little pillows to go with them.

So cute with the pillow.

The back, although the yellow is very washed out in this shot.

 I had my model, my youngest daughter's American Girl doll who lives with me in the sewing room, show off the quilts for you.  She seems rather bored to me, don't you think?

I think she really likes them though.  I hope the future owners like them too.  They were fun to make.  Now to get them in the mail. 
Have a great day.