Harsh on Handkerchiefs

In my last post I talked about the hankies bedspread suggested by Cath Kidston (whose stuff calls to me even though I am completely non-flowery normally).  A king sized bedspread, not including the sheet that the hankies were attached to, cost £200 in hankies.

The hankies she used were lovely Cath Kidston flowered hankies, and they were 50cm square, around 19 inches.  That's a bit smaller than a fat quarter, which I have recently learned is 18 inches by 22 inches and quilting places sell them expensively.  I have seen fat quarters on posh websites, Amazon and eBay for some seriously silly prices, but while they are slightly bigger they are usually less than £3 each.  In fact, fabricland.co.uk have four fat quarters, 50cm by 57 cm for £3.99 for four.

I had a quick word with my friend eBay.  At a quick glance I found a pack of a dozen handkerchiefs, striped borders, 41 cm square, for £7.87, including p&p.  I would need at least three packs, so £23.61.  However I am confident that the quality would be nowhere near the Cath Kidston hankies.  I thought I would have a further rummage.

I could get some satin hankies, designed for weddings, 99p each, inclusive of p&p.  However they are only 21cm square.  I would need around 169 of them, or £167.31.  However I did find the most amazing looking 100% cotton bandana type things, 54 cm square so I would need 25, and at £1.28 each (inclusive of p&p) it would cost £32.

I can't afford to make the Cath Kidston hankie quilt.  I'm a long way off from being able to make any quilt.  I need a lot of practice first!  It is gorgeous though, and it has opened my eyes to a different source of material.

I found this as a rummaged through Wiki Commons, and I think it is gorgeous.  I hope one day I can get this good.

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Leahrodrig and used under the Creative Commons Agreement and it is incredibly beautiful and well designed