Postage Stamp Basket Doll Quilt
This little quilt was made for my sister, Sally, in 2004. The basket design is based on a USPS 13ยข stamp series issued on March 8, 1978. I think I remember that the 4 stamps were connected with all of the handles toward the middle, which is the set you usually see for this block. I noticed that when my 4-block units were connected, the white areas formed a design that I think is distracting. When I drafted the block, I changed the design just a bit because the base triangles seemed too big and the handle too thick which I thought made the basket look sort of squatty. The reduction of the base triangles enlarged the white pieces and resulted in the rectangular areas you see in the completed quilt. I’m a little conflicted about this — I like my basket better, but I like the white areas better in the original basket design.
The fabric for this little quilt is from some vintage bow tie blocks purchased on ebay. There were wonderful 30’s dress prints in the ties and coordinating solids in the 2 background pieces. I took them apart to make an appliqued butterfly quilt, and there was enough fabric left to cut 2 tiny baskets from each print (the second basket is going into a larger quilt). The border triangles are cut from vintage scraps using the same template as the small basket triangles. The finished block size is 3″ and the quilt was all hand stitched — the baskets are pieced with an appliqued handle.
Postage Stamp Basket Doll Quilt
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2004
hand pieced & appliqued, hand quilted
20″ x 20″
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jan wrote,
This quilt is darling!
I subscribe to your posts in Google Reader and when I look at the photos in Reader, they are very large (gigantic, really – only three baskets on the screen without scrolling to the side) I love being able to look at the details close up! The fabric and the work is so wonderful!
I prefer the white areas in your quilt better than the example. I think the original squares and diamonds distract from the baskets but the diamond and rectangle combo sets them off.
Link | September 13th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Ann wrote,
This is SO pretty! Those tiny, tiny pieces absolutely AMAZE me! I like your configuration better also and don’t find the rectangles distracting. Quilts are like optical illusions, your eye can pick up two or three different patterns – that’s part of their appeal to me. As always I LOVE the colors and fabrics you used!
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Ann Champion wrote,
What a darling quilt! I really like your reworked version better than the original, and your fabrics are yummy! Yikes! Those outside triangle squares are less than an inch!
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 7:54 am
barbara wrote,
I love everything about this – the basket design, the colors, the fabrics. What a labor of love!
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Becky wrote,
I subscribe the same as Jan. Then I go to your site and see the overall effect. Funny thing about the old timey fabric…I see my mother’s, or Aunt Ruth’s, or Aunt Hazel’s dresses in some of the pieces.
Link | September 15th, 2009 at 6:58 am
pratima wrote,
So adorable! Love the addition of triangle border. The details you add to each quilt are amazing!
Link | September 16th, 2009 at 8:15 am
...dotty... wrote,
Your little quilts are wonderful. I have the stamps somewhere that were printed in this pattern. I made one square from the pattern and never did another. I really love the looks of it made up.
Link | September 19th, 2009 at 5:54 pm