Sunbonnet Sue vs. Holly Hobbie

My mom bought me this Sunbonnet Sue book of patterns for probably a dime last year.

It's full of nothing but Sunbonnet Sue ideas - 126 to be precise.  I looked through it and loved some of the patterns.  I had a Holly Hobbie quilt when I was young, and I don't know why one's called Holly Hobbie and one's called Sunbonnet Sue - they are both pretty much the same.

Anyway, my Grandma Coocoo made me the quilt, and I just loved it.  It was pink and girlie and really beautifully put together... I had it on my bed for years.

Oh, and a side note on my Grandma's nickname (her real name was Sotela)... When my oldest cousin was a little tyke he wanted a cookie, and tried and tried to ask my Grandma for one - only he couldn't say cookie, he could only say coocoo.  He kept looking at my Grandma saying "coocoo, coocoo" and I guess it was so adorable that it just stuck.  When my Dad first met my Grandma he thought it was rude that everyone called her Coocoo.  He decided to call her Caca instead.  "Caca" is Spanish for poop.  My Grandma's native language was Spanish.  Amen.

So, the point of my post (besides never, ever call someone Caca) is this Sunbonnet Sue pattern.  I was a child in the 80's so the Calico print/prarie style was kinda en vogue.  It most certainly is not today, so I was really surprised when I showed Veronica this book this weekend and she fell in love too.  I am now making her her own Sunbonnet Sue quilt & wanted to show you Square 1 of 20 (yes, 20 -- yikes!). 

I've never appliqued on this scale before - meaning number of blocks, not the size of the applique itself - and I am a little nervous.  My hand stitching never seems to last, and this is all hand stitching.

Still, I'm really excited.  I'm not much of a quilter (I'm just a little too slap-dash for it, having nowhere near as much precision as I need to have) but I've promised and promised Veronica a quilt for years and now I have the pattern and definitely enough scraps hanging around to get it done.

Plus, I'll finally get to use all of the trim remnants that I have hanging around!!


P.S. - Are you working out?  No?!?!?  OK, well if you don't have time to get to the gym, give this amazing 20 minute workout a shot.  I tried it last night and was really surprised at how good it was.  If you don't have weights, don't worry - just use a can of soup!

xoxo,