Saturday, October 21, 2017

SUN BONNET SUE - RETRO QUILT

FROM CONCEPT...



TO COMPLETION


From time to time, I have the pleasure of taking a customer's blocks that were made years ago, and designing and creating a quilt out of them.  

A couple of weeks ago, I received 12 hand-appliqued "Sun Bonnet Sue" blocks from a customer of Roberts Sewing Center (many thanks to Jane for the referral!) that had been sewn by the customer's wife before she died a few years ago.  After meeting with Don and discussing his desires for the twin size quilt, I designed the quilt using my quilting software, shopped for the fabric at Roberts, assembled the quilt, and quilted it on my Tin Lizzie Ansley 26 long arm quilting machine.  Attaching the binding and a custom label completed the project, and Don will be picking it up soon to present to his new great granddaughter, Maya.

Here are a few of the other photos I took during the making of this precious quilt:

Roberts has an extensive selection of 1930s prints, and I had a lot of fun choosing the coordinating prints for the quilt.



 This is the quilt top, partially assembled, on the design wall in my home studio.
 



  I learned a new technique, which was designing the sashing and inner border to include the points of the setting stars.  I love the way it turned out!



This is a closeup of the bottom right corner of the quilt top before it was quilted, to show the detail in the double border with setting stars.


Here is a short video of some of the quilting.  I used a digital quilting pattern called "Pansies" that has flowers, leaves, and little swirls.


Don chose to use premium quilting fabric for this quilt, and the final cost of the project was $395.  If a customer wants to use regular fabric rather than premium fabric, it would reduce the cost of a similar project.

Do you have a collection of blocks that were given to you by your mother, grandmother, or great grandmother that you would love seeing made into a quilt to treasure for generations?  Contact me at 815.735.0997 to discuss your ideas.  I would love to work with you!