Doll Quilts to Treasure - Two Book Reviews

Doll Quilts to Treasure:

A Review of Two New Books

by Patricia L. Cummings

If you enjoy making or even just seeing doll quilts, there are two new book titles you will have to place on your wish list: Childhood Treasures - Doll Quilts By and For Children by Merikay Waldvogel; and Prairie Children and Their Quilts: 14 Little Projects That Honor the Pioneer Spirit by Kathleen Tracy.

Childhood Treasures by Merikay Waldvogel has wonderful vintage photos that sometimes feature children. No less than 80 antique doll quilts from Mary Ghormley's collection are featured. The author includes delicious tidbits of quilt history information and textile dating documentation, at every turn. Many of the sources for the designs have been located and shared. There are many reasons to own this book that was published by Good Books, not the least of which is its "eye candy." For more information, visit: www.GoodBooks.com If you have not heard Mary Ghormley's talk about doll quilts, please visit the International Quilt Study Center's lecture series and hear her taped lecture.

In Prairie Children and Their Quilts, Kathleen Tracy captures both the joys and the hardships that were found on the American pioneer trail west. Previously, the author wrote a bestselling book titled, American Doll Quilts. Her fourteen little quilts are a tribute to the life endured by the early settlers of the frontier. The quilts offer a nice mix of designs, many with a "scrappy" look. Here is a chance to use some of your stash of fabrics that look antique: those reds, double pinks, Cadet blues, browns, and indigos. Step-by-step instructions are provided. This book features some wonderful photos of a one room house, Indians, a wagon train, and other vintage photos. Published by That Patchwork Place, this is another must-have for those who love little quilts.

For some reason, miniatures of all kinds are very appealing, and doll bed quilts are particularly fun to make. For pioneer mothers, making a little quilt for a daughter must have been an enjoyable task. Sometimes, it was a way to teach quilting, no doubt, as the pieces of the quilt would be smaller and easier to little hands to handle. Doll quilts today appeal to all ages. If you have not visited the pages on this website with miniature quilts and quilts for doll beds, please view them. I think you will agree that small quilts can be fun for all ages!