Playing with Pansies

I do love to 'play' in the sewing room. I used another linen from my great bargain bash, added embroidered pansies cut from something, and culled out some pansy handkerchiefs to make this wall quilt hanging.

The pansy embroidery was centered in a lace edged doily which was centered on a handkerchief with an embroidered pansy.

 Everything is applied to a fat quarter of a yellow floral print.

 I cut the handkerchief corners and layered them from the quilt edge with points towards the center.

 I like to use sheer cotton or nylon handkerchiefs in this manner. I like how the underlying fabric shows through for added texture and interest.

I have a lot pulled out for future play!

Two New Handkerchiefs

First,  a mint with label Tammis Keefe hanky of Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI

And the third in the series by SwissAir I have found

Here are the others:

Latest Handkerchiefs!

I have been on eBay again and bought two great hankys for my collection. I love Pat Prictard's designs and was glad to add this one.

I also collect little known Erin O'Dell. We tease she is a relative as my mother-in-law was born an O'Dell! I could not pass up a hanky that looked like an album quilt.

I was given an Amazon gift card and bought this book on handkerchiefs. This collector offers completely different examples than are in the other books that have been published. Most I had never seen before. 

Great Blog for Handkerchief Lovers and My Latest Find

 I bought a SwissAir hanky off eBay today and did a Goggle search to learn more about it. I Goggled SwissAir handkerchiefs and discovered a great blog on handkerchiefs, Handkerchief Heroes at  http://handkerchiefheroes.com. The blog has wonderful photos, thematic articles with links and even songs and quotations.

Here is the handkerchief I bought.  It is part of  series. The series is shown at the "Air Travel" post at http://handkerchiefheroes.com/air-travel/. Now I want them all! There is a cubist feel to the design. Each hanky features a different country with two people with instruments.

Many years ago I found this Swissair hanky for about a quarter at a flea market.

 



Souvenir handkerchiefs abounded. Designers like Tammis Keefe did series for major cities. Here are some other hankies in my collection originally purchased to remember a special trip or place.

The Eagle in John Wanamaker's flagship store stood in the atrium and was a meeting spot for Philadephians.

Tammis Keefe from her Philadelphia Series

Nostalgic Images on Mid-Century Handkerchiefs

Burmel Gay 90s Hanky

The Twentieth Century nostalgia for Early America and the Gay 90s was manifested in handkerchief design in the 50s and 60s.  Technology and social changes were happening so quickly that people's thoughts hearkened back to perceived 'simpler times.' 

Some of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes have persons longing for the olden days, like "A Stop At Willoughby" in which a "Mad Man" ad man feels such stress he fantasizes about a train stop to an 1888 town.



My family all decorated in the Colonial Revival style, not the Modern which is in revival today. A great article on the Americana revival in the 70 s can be found  here:
http://retrorenovation.com/2014/07/07/bicentennial-chic/

Here are some examples from my collection.

Pat Prichard used Early American signs in these hanky designs.

In another series Prichard used turn-of-the century kitchen images, like the cast iron stove in the hanky below.

 Old clocks and time pieces are also found on handkerchiefs of this time period.

Jeanne Miller

We were nostalgic for old forms of transportation. 

Pat Prichard

Pat Prichard

Pat Prichard

Quaint baby buggies from yesteryear by Pat Prichard.

Tammis Keefe was a prolific designer in the 1960s. 

Tammis Keefe

Tammis Keefe

Erin O'Dell's design with antique furniture was not far different from what Tammis Keefe was doing ten years earlier.

 High button boots and an old time cash register on another Pat Prichard hanky.

Old fashioned keys were another motif found in several designs like this one by Faith Austen.

 I love this nostalgic kitchen scene series.

 I made a wall hanging with a hanky from this series.

Farm and small town life was another favorite theme.

Betty Anderson

Tammis Keefe's wooden Indians salute a ship's masthead woman.

I love this Tammis Keefe hanky with sailors in the rigging of an old sailing ship.

And here the sailors are dancing the Hornpipe.

Learn more about Tammis Keefe here.