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Friday, September 30, 2011

A Journey in Time

Once upon a time, daughter dear was a little girl. She was about 11 when I decided I must make her the Sunbonnet Sue quilt I had seen in my local quilt shop. It was being offered as a class, and Rachel and I spent alot of time together debating fabrics I should use. Somewhere along the line, it was decided (Rachel's decision, I'm sure!) that there should be a cat in (almost) every block. So those little kitties are all our creation. A couple of the months we didn't like the pattern, so we created our own. Here's a glance at each block, in calendar order.


I happened to have this quilt at my house this month, as Rachel had asked me to sew a casing on it so she could hang it in baby's room. Interesting timing, as Susan of The History Quilter did a podcast that included history about Sunbonnet Sue quilts.

Bertha Corbett Melcher, an illustrator for the Minneapolis Journal, is credited as creator of the original Sunbonnet Sue image at the turn of the century.One of their first appearances was in children's primers. The first quilt pattern was published in 1911 in The Ladies' Home Journal. Listen to Susan's podcast to learn more about Sue's history and how she was popularized.

Here is our quilt, completed in 1995. Note that in addition to the 'monthly' blocks, the four borders reflect the changing seasons of the year. It was fun to take a little journey back in time and remember the fun Rachel and I had making this quilt together.

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6 comments:

  1. Marci GirlSeptember 30, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    How sweet, I love the history and seeing a quilt from years past! It will look just lovely in the baby's room! Ironically around the same time period, my mom and I created a similar quilt (not Sunbonnet Sue though) that each block was a month, and had characters for each month. Instead of normal applique, each piece was blanket stitched around. It hangs in my mom's guest room!

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  2. Katie BSeptember 30, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    This is a lovely quilt, and it's so sweet that it will be hanging in the baby's room!

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  3. SusanSeptember 30, 2011 at 2:31 PM

    This quilt would never make it into Barbara Brackman's Sunbonnet Sue Wrecks post as it is not only adorable but looks perfect. Google it if you have not read that post - it is so funny. So meaningful that this quilt will hang in the baby's room. :)

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  4. LeanneSeptember 30, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    What a lovely quilt and such a great memory! I love that you added a cat and made this project your own!

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  5. JessicaSeptember 30, 2011 at 10:47 PM

    I love this quilt! It is so beautiful, and fun that you and Rachel did it together! Hanging it in baby's room makes it even more special :)

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  6. SandraOctober 1, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    What a sweet quilt! I love the added kitty in each block. Isn't everything old new again?

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