I am super excited with my latest finish! I call it Handkerchief Garden. I created this design with blocks found in my book, Petal + Stem and the Autumnal Bouquet. When I was writing the book, I came across the term, “handkerchief garden.” A handkerchief garden or pocket-handkerchief garden refers to a small garden that it typically square. I love that! I thought it would be a great quilt name. At the same time, I was considering designing a quilt inspired by a handkerchief.

I looked through my mom’s collection of handkerchiefs and really loved this one. I liked the way the flowers were organized into groups of nine. And of course, I love the scallop edges which are ubiquitous on handkerchiefs. Pretty quickly, my quilt design was born. I decided to make something that looks like a super sized, modern handkerchief inspired design.

I fell in love with the floral fabric that I used for the backing of this quilt. It’s Kismet Fleuron Sanctuary by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics. I decided to pull together a grouping of Pure Solids that I found in the backing to create the palette for this project.

I sent the quilt to Christina Lane for custom quilting. It was a truly collaborative quilting plan. We messaged back and forth for a week or so. We ended up with an amazing 1/2″ grid that gives me the feel of linen weave. I asked her to leave a 1″ border in that center square that is unquilted. It reminds me of several handkerchief designs that I have seen.

Each leaf and flower has a different quilted design, and they are all kept geometric. She did an amazing job. I worked hard at precision when I pieced the quilt and she worked equally hard had precision when quilting. As my mom said, “The quilt is as neat as a pin!”

I had to throw in this photo. It wasn’t an intentional positioning but when I saw it, I had to snap a picture because I loved the way the little corner of the quilt backing sticks out below the quilt. I’m just so thrilled with this quilt. I would have loved some flowers in my pictures but there are no flowers to be had quite yet.