Quilting By Design

The best thing about the internet is that you can find anything . The worst thing about the internet is that you try to find everything.
I have some wonderful oriental fabrics and a large collection of vintage brocades. I thought these would make up into a wonderful Sunbonnet Sue-like blocks of Geishas. Face it, this is a natural. The Kimono and Obi lend themselves to the use of fantastic fabrics, and the face can be hidden behind a fan, umbrella or a hairdo.
I liked the figures in bonnetgirls.com, mentioned in the last blog, but they are more complex than I wanted to try.
So I thought I’d find a few pictures of Geisha in Google and get some ideas.
Phew. After 2 hours , I still had not found the image I was looking for, but I did learn more than I ever thougt I’d need to know. ImmortalGeisha, link below, has tons of information and pictures. I found sites on how to put on a Kimono, an apparently time consuming and complex process. It’s not as simple as putting on a bathrobe. There are bustle things to pad out the shoulders and the small of the back for example, and under kimono and, well, an extensive under wardrobe.
http://www.immortalgeisha.com/faq_geisha.php
Now better informed than ever , I was still far from my goal. And then this morning , on a new site, I found a lovely picture of a Japanese quilt. The blocks were horizontally set diamonds housing the front and back images of toddlers in kimonos. They looked very much like paper dolls.
Each pair had their arms held at shoulder level, displaying the sleeves. The front facing girl had bangs, the back facing one had a knot in the obi.
The whole thing was as charming as a Sunbonnet Sue from the 1930’s.the link below should get you to the image.
http://www.viq.com/gallery/01/08.html

I decided to try my hand at this. My daughter suggested the proportions should match a Chibby, a child character in Japanese comics. The head is half the body size. This seemed like exactly what I wanted.
This and the image above are my first attempts at a reinterpretation of the Sunbonnet Sue, transplanted a world away. Note the crayon colors and large ruled paper from my nephew’s last visit!

Again, please respect the copyright holders of the images and the designers of quilts that inspire us all.

Sunbonnet Sue, Geisha, patch blocks, applique blocks, oriental fabrics, japanese quilts, chibby

I was browsing thorugh the internet again and I found these wonderful patterns for appliqued ladies who have large hats. Think of these as Sunbonnet Sue’s grandmother in her youth.
There’s over 150 patterns for sale, and , judging by the photos , these are charming.
At this point I have to note that I have no personal knowledge of the designer, no interest in her business , in short no connection whatever to this entity.
There are 2 interesting aspects to this collection, other than the Currier and Ivessort of charm. One is that many of the pattern elements are interchangeable with others, so that bonnets, pets, furniture etc can be combined into unique scenes. The other is the use of reverse or shadow quilting and applique to soften the look of far away objects such as train tracks in the distance or mountains.
It’s surprisingly pleasant given that this is not really my sort of thing.
http://www.bonnetgirls.com/

Sunbonnet Sue, Currier and Ives, applique, victorian ladies, shadow applique, shadow quilting

I found some interesting items about this pattern on these sites.

http://www.sunbonnetsue.com/suehistory.html
has a bit of historical information about inspiration for the Sunbonnet Sue character.
While this article suggests that the popularity of this type of drawing faded, I think we can see the survival in the works of Joan Anglund and of the Hollie Hobbie character. These also feature sweet children dressed in old fashioned garb and large hats or hair that largely obscure the face.

This link shows pictures of Sue quilts exhibited in in Houston in 2000 . Check out the Endangered Species quilt, Sue as a toddler, as an elegant girl in Sunbonnet Sue Through The Seasons and as a young lady in Green Summer Sue.

http://www.equilters.com/library/gallery/SSue/SunBonnetSueGallery.html

There’s also a category of Bad Sue blocks and quilts . Here Sue is engaged in naughty activities. She kicks a snowman, goes skinny dipping and , oh the horror, drags her quilt throught he mud!
http://badsuequilts.com/

Finally, a selection of quilt blocks of Sue in all 50 states.
http://www.swmpratt.com/nf20/nf20.htm

Please respect the copyrights of the designers and writers of these sites.

Sunbonnet Sue

I’ve been reading up online about this pattern. The concensus is that these are based on 1920’s illustrations that were translated into patchwork designs in the 1930’s and 40’s.

I’m curious though that no one mentions what I think is a major reason for the popularity of this design, namely the opportunity to use leftover clothing fabric for the Sue’s bonnets and dress. I think these were a form of memory quilt.

To some extent that is true of all patchwork. If you sewed at all, and did patchwork, you were bound to use clothing scraps somewhere in a quilt. But the Sues let you use dress fabric as dresses, a more apt use for these scraps.
I’m curious, does anyone who has made or inherited a Sue have an opinion?