We emptied out our little office downstairs and moved our antique iron bed and antique dresser/mirror into the "new guest bedroom." This called for Sunbonnet Sue to come out of hiding and take her rightful place on the antique bed.
My husband's great grandmother and grandmother made this quilt, probably in the 1940's I would guess. The top laid unquilted for many years. After they both passed away a family member took all of grandma's quilt tops and had them machine quilted on a longarm. That was back in 1998 and before I ever started quilting. By some miracle I ended up with the gorgeous Sunbonnet Sue quilt. Well, I decided she needed to come out and be enjoyed. I just love her. My mother-in-law says she recognizes a lot of the fabrics from clothing when she was a little girl. My mother-in-law is 83 now.
The antique dresser and mirror belonged to my hubby's other grandmother on his father's side of the family. Sunbonnet Sue came from his mother's side of the family. We inherited the dresser and mirror after my 's beloved grandmother passed away about 20 years ago.
The little porcelain boy and girl were his grandmother's as well. They are adorable. I always commented to her how precious they were. I was delighted to have them come and live with us right on grandma's dresser, too! Isn't her dresser and mirror just gorgeous. Now that they are downstairs they will be seen and appreciated by everyone.
Grandmother's Flower Garden Teddy Bear
Did you notice the teddy bear leaning on the green pillow? My sister-in-law made that out of one of grandma's very loved and worn out quilts. She said the quilt was beyond repair. I didn't see the quilt prior to it becoming teddy bears, but I am happy to have one of the teddy bears made from the very loved quilt. It appears to have been a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Oh how I would have loved to have seen it in quilt form!
Look at the little heart tag attached to the teddy. Precious gift. My sister-in-law is not a quilter, but she likes to sew. I am still working on converting her over!!!
When my grandkids stay the night with us they sleep in the old iron bed, so they are learning to appreciate antiques and also learning about their ancestors. I have seven grandkids ages from 24 to 13 - I am hoping the quilting bug will hit some of them. Since I retired in 2010 I have had the time to teach my youngest granddaughter to sew. She loves it so far and I keep my fingers crossed that she won't tire of it.
How special. I would love to have something of DH family like that. From what I understand there were many but they were destroyed over the years by people who did not appreciate hand made things of that type.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a shame when such treasured heirlooms are not taken care of or appreciated. I will probably take this off the bed when the grandkids spend the night. Don't want to take a chance of it getting ripped. Some of the fabric is already thin. Not sure if they were that way before using it on the quilt or if it just happened due to time.
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