Sunbonnet Sue

One of the ladies that attends my Friday Stitch and Chat group has recently had her mother enter aged care.  As a result, she is sorting through her mother’s craft items and has offered a few to me on the basis of  “I won’t be offended if you don’t want them”.

In amongst them was this little Sunbonnet Sue block that had been beautifully appliquéd onto calico.  It measures 12” x 12”.  Yes, I would love to have the little block.  There was also a small collection of fine crochet threads and a cute cherry fabric.  I had a plan.

This all took place on the day of the Bathurst 1000 car race, just a couple of days after the block was gifted to me.

Firstly, I trimmed the block down to what I considered a better size for my plan.  Then I hand basted it, ready to use the crochet cotton.  I used the cherry fabric on the back, as it is a bit too fine for patchwork and a small scrap of batting I had kicking around.

I then went and sat myself down in front of the TV for the majority of the day, watching the race and hand quilting our little lady, using the crochet cotton.  Yes, you heard that right.  H A N D   Q U I L T I N G!!!  Very much different to what I normally do.  The last time I did any hand quilting was the centre block of the very first quilt I made in a class, back in 2003.  After my recent little bit of Sashiko, I felt a bit more confident to do a little hand quilting.  My first stitches were a bit how’s your uncle, but as I progressed, they became a tad smaller and more even.  I really enjoyed the process, not that I can imagine me ever hand quilting a full sized quilt.  However, maybe I could do a little on smaller projects.

My original idea was to add a pieced border around the block, but in the end I thought it would compete too much with the appliqué, so I tried another new to me technique, by adding a two toned blue flange border.  I used this tutorial I found on Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I’m really happy with how she turned out and she will be added to my minis on the wall in my sewing room.  She will also tie in with the Holly Hobbie pieces I have dotted around the room.

When I took the finished project to stitching the following Friday my friend was delighted and took a photo so show her sister, who had thought the block should be chucked out.  I’m was just pleased that such a sweet little block could be saved and that I could also use other items from her mother’s sewing collection.