Labels on 1936 Sunbonnet Sue Quilt

Saturday I finished putting all the labels on the back of the 1936 Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  The Sue blocks were made by relatives and friends in 1936 and given to my mother, Hester Maurine [Winings] Swiney.

It took the better part of two days to get them machine-embroidered and sewn onto the quilt.  I still need to steam them, maybe give it a little spray of sizing.  The wind was lifting the quilt there on the back deck as I was taking photos, and the sun is low, so some of the puffy areas look more puffy than they really are, and some of the labels don't look quite straight.  Optical illusion!  They're straight, they're straight.  😉

My sister Lura Kay used to play with these 18 Sunbonnet Sue blocks, when she was a little girl in the early 1940s.  She had few other toys.  She gave me the blocks four years ago.  I designed the Irish Chain spacer blocks in EQ8.  I wish I could show it to my mother!

Here are the labels:  first, the block; then the label that is sewn directly behind it on the back of the quilt.  The last label is the main quilt label.  There's a hanging sleeve at the top.  It will be hung, rather than used on a bed.  It's a keepsake!  Those Sunbonnet Sue blocks are 82 years old.

The quilt measures 87" x 87". I used #40 Omni thread on top, #60 Bottom Line in the bobbin, both in pale yellow. The batting is Poly Dream. There are 68.5 hours in the quilting alone.