Thanksgiving was a busy three days. We didn't do any Black Friday shopping(too full and lazy) so instead we just laid around and did nothing but eat candy and watch Ugly Betty.
Now, I'm sure you want to hear all about my weight gain and dieting.
Oh...
But something did happen on Wednesday.
If I haven't mentioned my Grandma(whom I call Mamma), I will mention her now.
She is an amazing quilter. Besides making awesome and intricate stuff, she makes quilts for every occasion. Weddings and anniversary's and babies and and and! I could go on.
So a few years after I was born, she began making a quilt for me, one for my brother and one for my sister.
She made me a Sunbonnet Sue.
This photo hardly does it justice, but this is the backing(that, might I add, I chose out!).
As well as making the quilt, Mamma wrote a story to go along with it.
Here it is.
Katey's Quilt
"Sunbonnet Sue"
I had never liked the Sunbonnet Sue quilt pattern and never wanted to make a quilt using that pattern. I certainly did not like hand work--that is, until I went to my first quit show, here in (blank, blank), at Century II in 1999! There I saw a beautiful Sunbonnet Sue quilt that was made with Reproduction Prints. I took a picture of the quilt to show to Bob. The next day I went back and bought some fabric from the vendors at the show to start the quilt for Katey. I purchased the rest of the fabric from Gramma's Calico Cupboard quilt shop here in (blank). She has the best collection of Reproduction Prints in this area.
Bob and I traveled often to Hanover Kansas to see his mother, Kathryn F., who was living in the Assisted Living Facility there. As we sat with her and visited, I felt like I needed something to do. I took the fabrics along and basted the edges of the quilt pieces so I could applique them to the white background. But Kathryn didn't really like that. She said I was working instead of visiting. It didn't take long until she was asking "What did you get done on the quilt?" and other residents in the Long Term Care facility were stopping by her room to see the blocks that were done. The blocks soon became a source of price for her.
These quilt blocks traveled many, many miles before it was completed. It made at least two trips to Oregon and the west coast when we went to visit my brother Dean and his wife, Lila. It made a trip to the wast coast when we went to North Carolina to see lighthouses. It went to Maine where we vacationed. I can't honestly say I got much done on it when we traveled, but I always took it along just in case I wanted to work on it or had time.
With the completion of the appliqued blocks, it was time to set the blocks together. I had wanted to mix and match the prints, using them as sashing between the blocks. But that did not look good! So I matched each Sunbonnet Sue's dress with sashing and was pleased with the outcome. I didn't have enough fabric for one sashing strip, could no find any more fabric like it--and I can guarantee you, I looked and looked in every shop I could find--but there just wasn't any more fabric! I finally compromised by piecing together the leftover fabrics that I had in order to finish the sashing for that block. (*I haven't yet found that block...)
With the completion of the top I needed to get fabric for the backing. I put the quilt away until I had time to look for fabric. It was put away for a long time as I worked on other quilts. In June 2007--I told you it was a long time!-- Bob and I took Katey, Taylor Ann and Brooks with us to (blank, blank), to have a day with the grandkids and to visit the most incredible quilt shop in existence--at least as far as I was concerned.
The Buttonhole, the quilt shop, was a very large shop, with a huge number of bolts of fabric of every kind and color imaginable. Katey looked and looked at fabrics before she made her final choice, the lavender/purple flowers on white fabric that complemented the quilt top so perfectly. She also picked the fabric for the binding of the quilt. Good job Katey!
It still took a while before I got around the quilting her quilt. I shadow stitched around each Sunbonnet Sue, which is an outline stitch making them stand out. Then I used stitch in the ditch around the blocks. This quilt was about 7 years in the making from start to finish. But of course, I didn't work on it much at a time and it did a lot of sitting in the storage box until I got around to working on it.
For one who didn't like handwork, I really did enjoy doing the applique on this quilt. I found I did like the Sunbonnet Sue quilt pattern, especially when it's made in Reproduction Prints!
So, with lots of love, Katey, I give you your Sunbonnet Sue quilt.
Love ya, Mamma and Mampa,
Mampa drove many miles to quilt shops, helped me pick colors and enjoyed seeing you quilt when it was finished.
P.S The Buttonhole quilt shop closed in 2008 due to the drop in economy. That was a sad time in the life of all quilters.
When I read this, I cried. I don't know exactly why, but it just made me sad. So I curled up beneath the warm quilt, and thought about all the years to come that it would last.
I will be spending a while sleeping underneath this quilt.
This is a really cool story! The quilt is so beautiful. :)
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