Wash Day quilt

Mondays are often wash days in my home. I work on laundry over the weekend but often have an overflow to Monday. I decided while I was waiting for my dryer to shut off that I would start a long awaited new project on wash days. Normally I stitch while I wait but decided I would do my patchwork thus dubbing my new project the Wash Day quilt.


This photo is of an antique Dutch crib quilt dating to around 1815. I have seen quilts like this in museum collections and long wanted to reproduce this quilt in a small doll size.


First to choose a size to work with...I am making 2 inch blocks. The quilt consists of a center star block, hourglass blocks, 4 patch blocks and applique circle corner blocks. My quilt will end up 23 inches wide by 27 inches long. Starting the 4-patch blocks was very easy since I have a draw of cut scraps some of which were 1-1/2 inch squares. All I had to do was match some fabrics for an old look and start sewing. I then cut some half square triangles to start some of my hourglass blocks. The quilt is starting to take shape.


I will work on this project each time I work on my laundry. This will be fun to do this in the coming months. I like the idea that a job in our home will be marked by a pretty new, old quilt.

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.”

~ E B White