Babushka Sisters

My matryoshka wallhanging quilt is done! And it only took me a year....... ;-)
I am planning to attach the "story" of the quilt, what I was thinking of when I made it to the back of the quilt, after I write it down on a piece of cloth with permanent ink.
I wish more quilts had this "backstory". Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear what the quilter thought about her quilt. Are the fabrics scraps from another project, maybe children's clothes, or other work? Was it made for a special purpose, or person?

I just went through some of my grandmother's memorabilia the other day. In a description of her wedding for the newspaper it mentioned an heirloom bridal veil. I have never heard of this veil, let alone seen it. I wish I had asked about the old lace-covered clothing and scrap bag fabrics that were passed down from my grandmother.

One little blue silk dress has a note pinned to the bottom. The note, handwritten by my great-grandmother, says the dress belonged to my grandmother when she was a girl. Sentimental old me just loves this kind of stuff. :-)

The original idea for this quilt came from my love of the matryoshka, babushka form and a storybook of Em's "The Littlest Matryoshka" about matryoshka sisters. I have two sisters, so it seemed natural to work with three dolls, all lined up.

Some of the fabrics are from my "old" scrap bag. The large polka dot fabric used for the "shelf" that the dolls sit on, is from some fabric toadstool seats that I made for my older daughter out of milk crates and plywood when she was 2. The tan fabric of the sister's faces scraps from a stuffed rabbit.

So, here are the sisters, similar to each other in lots of ways, yet each with their own pattern, their own tilt of the head, their own smile.