by Enid Gjelten Weichselbaum
Little Houses
BUILD A SEASONAL VILLAGE
m
y dad always told me I should have been an architect. Maybe that is
because I love buildings. I love to quilt them, paint them, fi nd rocks
that look like them, and now make them out of fabric. Standing alone or in
groups, these little houses fi t perfectly in a shadow box, along a windowsill,
or on a desk. Once you have made a little house according to these simple
instructions, you can change the size and shape in order to make buildings of
many sizes and proportions.You likely have all the materials required for a neighborhood in your stash. For a 1" house,
I use a fabric scrap about 5" x 2" for the exterior, scraps of fusible web, and fabric for a roof,
windows, and door. The structure of the house is made up of an ultra-fi rm fusible stabilizer
such as that used in baseball cap brims.
I like to use strong colors in my tiny houses and sometimes I make them seasonal with
‘snow’ on the roofs. Since the houses are so small, I use solid colors or small prints. But I don’t
limit myself to ‘normal’ house colors or patterns. This is time to have fun.