Recycled Christmas Ornaments

Each year our town asks the Girl Scouts to make ornaments for the tree that is in the public park. It is always a challenge. The ornaments need to be weather-proof, cheap and easy to make.

This year I decided to use old CDs and strips of fabric. I tore the fabric into 1" wide x 22" or so strips. For each ornament it took 2 CDs, 1 strip of fabric and a little glue. I put one end of the strip between the two CDs and started wrapping it around, finishing up where I started. I tucked the end between the two CDs and put in a little glue. The CD were placed with the printed side in and the shiny side out.

The girls in the troop were pros! They made these so quickly. They look beautiful hanging in the village park.



In fact, they are pretty enough to steal! Of the 25 ornaments that the girls made, there are 8 left. It has been windy, so maybe the wind took some as well.

It was a fun project, and a great way to recyle. The ornament have held up well to the weather.

Quilt Top Finished!

Today I worked on a quilt top. I had some wonderful blocks of Aunt Martha's "Saucy Suzy" pattern. I used the Book "Turning Twenty - Around the Block" for the pattern.

So all I had to collect was the book and 9 fat quarters. As an homage to vintage 30s quilts, I picked some solids.



Each fat quarter was cut the same, so it was easy. I had to trim the embroidery blocks to 8 1/2 x 10 1/2" and that was a little trickier. I put some painters tape on my square ruler and used it as a guide to place my blocks.



The finished quilt looks great! I am happy with the way it came out. It has vintage blocks, vintage colors, but a modern feeling. I'm putting some kits together for sale on Sunbonnetsue.com!



Around the Blocks quilt - Saucy Suzy!

Old Dutch Cleanser

Sometimes I get requests from visitors to Sunbonnetsue.com about vintage quilt patterns. Here is a picture of an inquiry I got earlier this year.

"I purchased this quilt on ebay. Have you ever seen this figure on a quilt? " The inquirer also send this picture:

The quilt has an interesting layout. Since I haven't seen a published pattern of this sue, I can only guess that it is a hand-drawn pattern. Someone saw a Sunbonnet sue quilt and wanted to recreate one. Perhaps the quilter was trying to recreate the Logos from “old dutch cleanser” packages. Here is a picture:

The outstretched hand, and way the bonnet trails down the back is similar.

So what do you think? Have you seen this design?

Summer Sunbonnet Sue

Now that summer is over, it is time to finish up the Sunbonnet Sue Summer swap. I finished my second design and got the blocks in the mail to Sandy, the swap hostess. Here is my second Summer Sue.

She is a mother Sue, watching her daughter in the water. I made her as a companion to my earlier Sunbonnet sue, playing with her boat in the water.

I can't wait to get the swapped blocks back.

Stepping outside of the box by stepping into one!

I tend to quilt the same traditional things, so sometimes I like to try new things. My guild sponsored a workshop with Karen Combs, so I signed up.

Karen is known for her modern quilts of illusion. Here is her website. I enjoyed her talk on color, value, and texture. I really learned a lot.



Here she is explaining the differences in color, value and scale. We all made cubes that used a light, medium and dark to simulate shading. Here are all the cubes we made. Mine is the black and red one on the bottom.



It was fun, but I wasn't interested in creating another unfinished quilt. I decided to make a couple of pillows and finish. Here they are all done.



It is way outside of my comfort zone, and I'm glad I made them! Now back to making some Sunbonnet Sues!

Sunbonnet Sue at the Lake

One of the members of the "Sunbonnet Sue chat" group (an e-mail group on yahoo groups) is sponsoring a "Summer Fun Sunbonnet Sue" swap. I worked on my block this weekend. My Sue is playing with a boat in the water.

This is the first one I have finished. Now I just have 9 more to go! There are two groups of 10, so I need to design another block and get that going as well. I'm thinking Sue under a Palm tree.

If you'd like to read about the Sunbonnet Sue group on Yahoo groups, here's a link:

http://sunbonnetsue.com/email.html

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Kim

2nd Annual Long Island Quilt Shop Hop

Last weekend was the long Island Quilt shop hop. It is a fun time to travel around Long Island and visit all the quilt shops. My friends Colleen, Cindy and Kathy met at "Pieceful Quilting" for a day of quilt shopping. Each shop had a free pattern to give out. The patterns made a quilt that each shop had on display.

Here is Kathy in front of the quilt from "Pieceful Quilting" in Riverhead. Their color choices are patriotic and happy. Like the pieceful shop that are many different types of fabrics in their quilt.

Here is the quilt from "Patchworks". This quilt is filled with batiks, a type of fabric that shop is know for. Each shop had goodies for us to nibble on too!

Below is the quilt from "The Quilt Bug". It is bright and colorful, just like the shop it comes from.

"Sentimental Stitches" is a shop that features reproduction and traditional fabrics. It is a quaint place. Their quilt is made in reproduction fabrics and hung behind the counter. Here is what I managed to photograph.

Finally, here is the quilt from "Sew What's New". It used some beautiful mottled fabrics for the sky and sea.

Each shop had a gift basket with raffle chances. I found out this morning that I won the basket from the Quilt Bug!!! Wow. I never win anything. Of course, that shop is the furthest distance, so I'll have to venture out again and visit the shop. It is well worth it.

We are lucky that on Long Island we have great quilt shops that offer such a variety. I bought my first fabric "Jelly Roll" and I hope to have a "Many Trips.." quilt done by the end of the summer. I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy! Kim

Honorable Mention at ELIQG Show

Today was the first day of the ELIQG Show and my Sunbonnet Sue wins project runway quilt was entered. I won an Honorable Mention ribbon in the member challenge category. I've been entering the member challenge since 1997 and I've always been an "also ran", so I was thrilled to see the ribbon!

Here it is! There were some fabulous Sunbonnet Sue sightings at the show, so I'll have more to post later on.

Right now I'm doing a happy dance.

Quilt Finished!! Sunbonnet Sue on Project Runway

June 7th & 8th is the annual show for my quilt guild, Eastern Long Island Quilters. The theme of the show is New York. Every year the members are challenged to make a quilt based on the theme. So our quilts needed to celebrate New York City culture (shows, places, people). I love the NYC based show "Project Runway". It is reality TV with sewing machines (what's not to love). So I put Sunbonnet Sue on the show.

I finished the quilt top today. I hope to get it quilted during the week.



Season 5 is starting this summer, so I put Sue on the quilt as the season five winner, along with photos of all the previous winners. The sue is based on drawings done by Jean Ray Laury, who is one of my favorite quilters ever! She did a line of Sue fabric that shows an exuberant, joyful Sue. I have a little of it left in my shop, but most is gone.

The quilt was a lot of fun to make. It combines two of my favorites, photo transfer and Sunbonnet Sue!

I hope you are enjoying yourself this holiday weekend.

Paper Dolls!

I love paper dolls. In kindergarten my teacher organized a gift exchange for Christmas. We had to spend $1.00 for the gift. Luckily I pulled a girl's name out of the bowl of names, so I was buying for a girl. I didn't know who had my name.

I picked out a set of paper dolls. It was 99 cents, but it was a good set. The dolls weren't printed in a book, but they were in a box. That meant the doll was a more rigid cardboard and the dresses were thinner paper. It was much better than dolls cut out of books.

I was so disappointed when all I got for my gift was a pair of navy blue gloves. I cried on the bus on the way home, wanting the paper dolls I'd given instead.

Now some of those same patterns are available online. Here is a link to a great set of patterns of Sunbonnet Sue paper dolls... I see an appliqued paper doll quilt.

Image from http://www.treasuresforlittlechildren.com/

Lots of fun... lots of memories.

Learning to Embroider

I'm in the throws of spring cleaning, so I was happy to find this piece of embroidery. It give me an excuse to stop work and come type this entry.




I was so anxious to share it with you, I didn't even press it. Actually I'll give any excuse not to iron!

It is one of my first embroidery pieces that I did with my Grandmother, Doris Marvel. She taught my sister and me to sew back in the 1960s and early 70s. As you can see by the stitches, I had a lot to learn.

The piece is unfinished and badly stained in one corner. I'm not sure what happened to the rest of my early handwork. I was particularly fond of her hot iron transfers of dancing vegetables. I remember stitching a lot of them.

Even if the finished embroidery isn't so good, the memories of learning to stitch with Grandma are. In fact, my very last meeting with my grandmother was three days before she died. By then I had moved on to hand appliqué and wasn't doing a lot of embroidery. I went to visit her, but knew that she wouldn't be able to hold a conversation. I brought my stitching along to pass the time while I sat with her.

She didn't know who I was, but she noticed that I wasn't using a thimble. She let me have it! "A thimble is important to protect you and your work"... and so on. It was our last conversation, but I am glad we had that connection.

I also found this early picture of her. It isn't the Grandmother I remember, but she does look good. She hated to be photographed, so finding pictures of her is not easy.



Here is a picture of her from the 70s. This is how she looked when she was teaching me to sew.


If you want to embroider with your children or grandchildren, there are some great beginner kits now available. They start out with a simple running stitch, much easier than the stem stitch that I was butchering in the piece above. Click here to see some of the kits.

But most importantly, keep stitchin!

Sunbonnet Sue in 1931

When I started putting Sunbonnet Sue information online ten years ago, I didn't have a lot of information. There are not many books about the history of Sue or how the pattern has evolved. I have a unique system for research. I buy things! That way I have quilts and books to draw my research from.

When I see a unique quilt, pattern or item on ebay, I try and buy it. I search the textiles at yard sales and look in old book shops. Recently I came across this clipping.

It is from the Jun 13, 1931 issue of "Capper's Weekly". This magazine has been published for 125 years out of Topeka Kansas. According to http://www.cappers.com/information-cappers, the magazine promotes American values. What could be more American than Sunbonnet Sue?

The article shows 12 sunbonnet sues busily engaged in summer activities. At the end of the article is tells where to send away to get these images printed on fabric with different colored inks. Twelve of the blocks (9 inches square) can be ordered for 35 cents.

I own a partial set of these blocks, so I was excited to find their history. I've been calling them penny squares, but at 12 for 35 cents, they are really 3 cent squares! By finding this clipping, I can now properly date the squares. I also know who printed them.

Here is what the article says:

Sunbonnet babies, working, playing, eating, cooking, visiting as the decorate Baby's crib quilt are boon companions for the little fellow, for they teach lessons of thrift and industry and are ever interesting sources for story-making. Twelve embroidered quilt blocks, each one a different sunbonnet baby picture, each 9 inches square, make up this clever nursery quilt. The blocks are stamped in colors on fine white muslin, the color stamping serving as a guide for the placing of embroidery floss, which is worked in the simplest stitches -- outline and a French knot or two. Now that school is out and Little Sister is at a loss for something to do, start her out at her first fancy-work and her first quilt. Hers will be a double pleasure -- the pride of workmanship, the added joy of making something really nice for Baby Brother or Wee Sister. Or by joining the embroidered blocks with strips of the Little Maker's favorite color, the quilt will do nicely for the little girl's own bed. The dozen blocks stamped for embroidery cost only 35 cents and the work is so little, that I'm sure if there's a child in your home, no matter what size or sex, there'll soon be a sunbonnet baby quilt too. Order the Series R.D. from Needwork Services, Capper's Weekly, Topeka, Kan.

What a great find! I love matching up textile items I have with documentation that explains how old they are and where they were made.

Modern patterns are still being printed that use these same designs. I carry some at SunbonnetSue.com. Click here to see a list of the patterns currently in stock.

Mend on Wednesday

I was lucky enough to win a collection of "Penny Squares" on ebay. As the seller mentioned, they are in rough shape.

They are stained, dirty and poorly stitched. They are not a complete set either. I am still happy to have them and the Wednesday block intrigued me. Sunbonnet Sue is mending as she rocks a baby's cradle with her foot. She appears to be mending pantyhose, but they weren't invented until well after this block was done. They are probably some sort of leggings for the baby.



Her bonnet style is different than the bonnets drawn by Bertha Corbett. It looks like the early postcards done by Bernhardt Wall. So I went looking through some Wall postcards and found this one from 1905.



And there is the image from my penny square! She is mending a baby's romper.

So I decided to make a redwork pattern from the design. Here is a link to the PDF file.

I simplified the hands in my drawing. The original penny square had fingers. I'll have to keep looking for more days of the week.

Enjoy,

Kim

A Visit to Pieceful Quilting

I stopped in Pieceful quilting yesterday to see all the entries in the old bag challenge. I didn't win, and once I got to see the other quilts, it was clear why. Wow. The creativity meter was off the dial! Pieceful quilting put pictures of the quilts on their blog. If you look closely, you can see mine at the bottom: Click for Pieceful's Blog

While I was in the store I fell in love with a Block of the Month pattern. It is being given as a machine applique class. You go one Saturday a month and make a block. I've never been formally taught machine applique, so I signed up! Here is the quilt:

It is called "Be Attitudes", a play on one of my favorite verses in the bible. So I'm starting yet another project. I know that my sewing skills will improve!

That's all for now,

Kim

Old Bag Challenge finished

Yea! I finished the old-bag challenge with time to spare. Here is what my quilt looks like:

I used a lot of the junk that was in the bag. I even made a Sunbonnet Sue doll out of the red hat charm. It was fun. The quilt is 20" wide, so it isn't a big one.

Starting a New Challenge

I know I'm supposed to be finishing up projects this year. I am making progress on my parent's anniversary quilt. I have the 49 "Puss in the Corner" blocks finished and now I'm working on the flying geese units for the star blocks.

My local quilt store, Pieceful Quilting, is doing a challenge. I decided to make a challenge quilt. It is called the "Old Bag" challenge because you get an old bag filled with fabric to make the quilt. Well my bag had only one fat quarter of fabric and lots of trim and buttons.

Of course, I'm making a Sunbonnet Sue quilt. I using 30s reproduction fabrics in green and orange to go with the supplied fabric. I'll use their fabric as the border and as some yo-yos.

Here is a picture of what was in my bag:

I'll post pictures as I get the blocks done.

Kim

Hitting the Ground Running - 2008

It is New Year's Day and it is time to get going on a new year, a clean slate. I try to make one big resolution each year. In 2006 it was lose weight. I lost 30 pounds that year and got back into a size 8!

In 2007 I resolved to start my long desired Master's degree. I'm happy to report that I'm a student at Stony Brook University with 4 classes (12 credits) towards my degree already completed. Classes start again for me on Thursday, so this is really a two year resolution!

Unfortunately as I was studying, the pounds crept back on! I guess I have to work on losing them again! I'm back up 30 pounds. The nice slim figure I resolved to get it gone, but at least a Master's degree can't be taken away!

So my 2008 resolution is all about finishing! Finish the degree I started, finish the diet and finish some of the quilts I've started. Yesterday I made a table runner for a lady I work with. She always sets up a wonderful black history month display, so I used some of my collected African fabric to make the table runner.



It is finished! I give it to her tomorrow.

Today I worked on a quilt I started a year ago. My parent celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 1, 2006. At the party I had squares of fabric for the guests to sign. I started the quilt of 50 stars. Either the center of the star will be a square from the party or a photograph. Today I sewed for most of the day. I need to make 50 star blocks and 49 "puss in the corner" blocks for the quilt. Here is what would fit on my design board.

I'm really pleased with how it is coming out! We're Irish, so I decided to sprinkle little bits of Irish novelty fabric. Do you think it detracts? I'm wondering if I should leave out the "kiss me I'm Irish" fabric.

Anyway, I've working again...

Happy New Year.