My Sunbonnet Sue

My mother taught me to sew when I was about 10. She lost her mother when she was 5, and was raised by her dad and older brothers on their small farm.  Her dad taught in a little one-room school, but all in all, they lived in typical depression era not-quite-poverty.  I saw the farmhouse when I was little and I found it shockingly plain and small.  Mom's three or four dresses had fit on a few nails in the wall.  Her kindly stepmother had been raised in poverty and had nothing to teach about the niceties of housekeeping.

So after high school, Mom went to live with a beloved aunt in St. Louis.  The family lived in a big brick house in a nice neighborhood.  They ran a funeral home out of the house, not unusual in those days, so the aunt was a veritable Martha Stewart.  They often served refreshments (to the living) and the aunt taught Mom all the household arts, including sewing. Later, Mom taught me and my sister how to sew clothes and make quilts from the scraps.  

I think she became a whole new person in her years in St. Louis.  Her real name was Anna Eliza, usually called Annie.  After she moved, she only used the name Ann Elizabeth.  She thought her real name was old fashioned so she told people the Eliza on her birth certificate was an abbreviation for Elizabeth.

This is an early quilt, designed and sewn by me and quilted by my mom. I used to embroider linens as gifts for her and they were badly worn.  I added a few pieces from flea markets to make my version of the old Sunbonnet Sue. The whole thing was done by hand, including the quilting done by my mother.

I don’t know why the quilts I make often get so big!  This one is