Grandma's Hankies

Still waiting for baby... so I decided to start another project to pass the time. ;o)

Our guild challenge this month was to "do something with hankies," so I thought it was the perfect time to revisit those that were given to me several years ago, by my husband's grandma. I chose these reds, pinks and whites for my project. I could see something very "valentine-y" for the end result, and since my birthday is on Valentine's Day and Grandma's was very close, well, that seemed appropriate. Incidentally, Grandma and I shared the same first initial, too:


Next came the fun part. I found this Hanky-Panky Crazy Quilt pattern, by Cindy Brick, at the HGTV website. It seemed perfect for what I had in mind. I spent hours playing with different combinations of fabrics and embellishments that I thought might work:


The hard part was cutting into Grandma's hankies, but I finally convinced myself that I only had them as a keepsake, and a wallhanging for all to enjoy would make a much nicer keepsake than a bunch of hankies in a box in my closet. Still, the cutting was tough. On the other hand, arranging and rearranging the layout was downright addicting! Long story short, here's the end result. The size is 18" square:


A closeup of the center and embellishments. I used the pink center of the gray floral hankie behind the "H" monogram, to highlight it a bit (and not waste the pink!):


Since this was a small piece, I opted to sew corner hangers on the back, with dowels inserted, rather than a hanging sleeve. You can just hook the dowel over a nail in the wall and your hanger is invisible. The corners provide a nice place to sign the quilt, too:


Now, of course, I'm hooked. I have just a few more of Grandma's hankies left, and I'm already planning my next wall hanging. Grandma passed away a few years back and I've thought so much of her while working on this project. Hopefully seeing Grandma's Hankies on the wall will inspire fond memories for the whole family.