If you’ve been making 18 inch doll clothes or baby doll clothes for your child or grandchild for Christmas, today’s blog post is a reminder that I have not one, but two handmade quilts for sale in my Etsy store, which would be great as part of your doll clothes Christmas gift bundle!

My mother-in-law, Anita, makes these doll quilts, and as you can see, she uses quite a few fabrics that would be considered vintage, or at least mid-century modern.

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Anita’s latest quilt is made with tiny applique hearts, in a crosshatch pattern, forming a quilt that measures 17 inches wide and 22 inches long.

This is ideal for 18 inch dolls or large baby dolls. I don’t think it’s too big for Wellie Wisher dolls, Disney Princess toddler dolls, or other medium-sized dolls either, to be honest.

It comes with a sweet little doll-sized pillow!

The fabrics Anita uses are sometimes her own and sometimes fabrics from her mother’s collection. I’ve felt the texture of the little heart that’s been appliqued to the pillow, and it feels like it may very well have been feed sack fabric. So who knows how old that is…

The heart in the lower left corner of the image above looks like it may have been feed sack fabric too.

If you’re not aware of the history of feed sacks in sewing, let me enlighten you. Back in the early part of the 20th century, people bought their flour (for making bread) and animal feed (like grain that’s eaten by cows) in cotton bags called feed sacks.

Some genius came up with the idea to use printed cotton for these sacks to sell more flour against their competitors, as women (the members of the family who typically bought the flour) were already using feed sacks as fabric for various household sewing projects. To get a decorated fabric was a bonus!

So when you look through collections of old fabric, if the cotton has some weight to it, and if the pattern looks sort of old-fashioned, like it may have come from the early 20th century, then you may be looking at feed sack fabric.

However some of the fabrics Anita used for this quilt are from the latter half of the 20th century. The back, for example, is a pattern I remember from when I was a kid. Still, that quilt backing fabric is likely from the 1970’s or 1980’s, so it’s still old.

I never know whether or not to call fabric from the ’70’s and ’80’s “vintage” because… well, I’m from that era. I was born in 1967 and have clear memories of the 1970’s and 1980’s. So am I vintage? Maybe…

Take a moment to comment if you would… What’s your definition of “vintage?” If someone says a miniature quilt is made from vintage fabrics, what era are you expecting those fabrics to be from?

And don’t forget to pop over to my Etsy store to have a look at this applique heart quilt.

I still have the rail fence quilt for sale in my Etsy store too! Here’s what that one looks like:

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For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” classes on the C&T Publishing online learning platform. Here’s my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.

For any class on the C&T Publishing website, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.

It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So go check out my paid courses on the C&T Pub site, using this link.

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Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with any of the doll or toy companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly enjoys designing her doll clothes to fit a variety of dolls. To learn more about the doll companies mentioned in today’s post, please visit the doll or toy company’s website.