I love the story behind this quilt. Earlier this fall, I was contacted by the niece of a woman who wanted a quilt for her daughter. The Sunbonnet Sue blocks were appliqued by another quilter who had that end of the project for at least two years. When the niece called me she was desperate to help her aunt get this quilt finished. The aunt was worried she wouldn't see the day of its completion, now that she was in her 80's. Within two weeks of our conversation, I had the blocks and got to work.
First, I added yellow print sashing to 32 blocks, which were set diagonally, to make a full size quilt top. Each block with sashing was approximately 13" finished. I added matching muslin for the setting triangles and corners. Next came the quilting. I marked a continuous oval stencil design, typical of vintage style quilts, on freezer paper with a black felt tipped pen. I attached the design to my glass top coffee table and put a light underneath the table to illuminate the design.
Using a blue washable marker, I marked the quilt top, following the design that is visible underneath. I then pin basted the quilt top with Hobbs Heirloom Bleached batting and extra wide white tone-on-tone backing.
I used Presencia 100% cotton 50/3 thread for all the quilting in both the top and the bobbin. When I quilted the 1/2" grid (see below), I used the 60/3 thread in the top and 50/3 in the bobbin.
Following what I did, here's a suggested quilting order:
Following what I did, here's a suggested quilting order:
*Use a walking foot to stitch in the ditch all the seam lines between the blocks and the sashing. This firmly anchors the quilt.
*Next stitch the curves of the oval design, also with the walking foot.
*With a darning foot, stitch around the Sunbonnet Sue applique design, taking care to stitch just between the applique and the background fabric and not on top of the applique, except when quilting around the top of the foot, bottom of the bonnet, and around the sleeve/hand. This helps keep the design from popping out, especially after washing/drying the quilt.
*Quilt a 1" grid in the setting triangles and the corners with a walking foot.
*Quilt a 1/2" grid in the background of the Sunbonnet Sue. I used the walking foot here too, although you can use a darning foot for ease in maneuvering around the applique.
It's best to mark the grids before layering the quilt. I contemplated a couple different designs for the background, such as McTavishing and a meandering line with flowers interspersed, before settling on grids. When in doubt, quilt a grid. It highlights applique beautifully and is an authentic design choice for Sunbonnet Sue.
I'm happy to say the quilt was finished in time for the holidays. Here is Sandy, the recipient of the quilt on Christmas morning with her mom, Betty. There is such joy to see it finished!
I'm happy to say the quilt was finished in time for the holidays. Here is Sandy, the recipient of the quilt on Christmas morning with her mom, Betty. There is such joy to see it finished!
Copyright ©2010, Sharon Baggs
As I took each row apart, I kept them in a stack and labeled the first square. I sewed them together with a light gray cotton thread (Presencia 60/3) and shortened the stitch length slightly. The thread is fine yet strong and it's what I use to piece all my own cotton quilt tops.
The original quilt top has solid lavender and hot pink squares. Very random placement of these solid squares appear in two 9-patches. To get the quilt to the correct size, I'm incorporating some other solid colors of light yellow and aqua.
I used a stencil called "heart puzzle" (EL5) for the design. When I started the quilting, I drew the design onto Golden Threads quilting paper, stitched through it, then tore it away. When I resumed the quilting several months later, I used a blue washable marker to draw the design on. Finally, as I finished the quilt these past two weeks, I freehand quilted the remainder, having learned the basic line elements of the design.
I sewed on a blue binding and then added echo quilting around the outer edge where there needed a bit more quilting. I like the edges to have enough dense quilting to hold up to tugging and daily wear and tear. The thread used was Superior's Perfect Quilter, a 30/3 cotton.
Molly pieced this quilt top over the years from old jeans she had worn. She asked me to fix it and quilt it. The 'fixing' part required getting the seams as flat as possible by pressing them open and trimming away all the extra stuff on the inside of the quilt. This included zippers, white pocket linings and additional denim fabric that could be removed from inside the quilt top.
I removed the outside border and trimmed it even before reattaching it with 40 wt. white cotton thread. These seams were pressed toward the outside border.
Superior Threads King Tut (Color 976-Olde Golde), a #40/3-ply extra-long staple Egyptian-grown cotton was used for the quilting. It looks just like the thread on jeans and this meandering stitch was a good choice for an all-over design. When the quilting was complete, I had used up most of the 2,000 yd. cone of thread.
Nine yards of Sachet Flannels II by Marcus Fabrics was used for the backing fabric. Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 was used for batting and produced a nice, flat feel. There were virtually no folds or puckers on the back. Ya-hoo!!!
I regularly had to adjust the presser foot pressure gauge on my Bernina 153, turning it to a higher setting when approaching the added height at an impending seam. After going over the seam, the pressure was readjusted to a lower setting; otherwise, the needle skipped stitches.
Random strips of denim were sewn together to form the border framing the quilt. After stitching in the ditch between the quilt and the border, I quilted a wavy curled design around the perimeter (Stencil #119, 2" border with corner).