Friday, June 24, 2022

Human Figures on Quilts

    The Adventures of Young Children as Told Via Quilts


                                            


Betty J. Hagerman

One of the best research books on Sunbonnet Sue patterns is Betty J. Hagerman's 1979 book A Meeting of the Sunbonnet Children.





As I have written before, I didn't think I collected the Sunbonnet Sue or Overall Sam/Bill figures. But when I was asked in 2019 to put together an exhibit to help with fundraising for the restoration and maintenance of the oldest community buildings here on Lopez Island, I decided to see exactly what I did have in the way of these two patterns. 

I was quite surprised to say the least when I discovered I had far more quilts made of these two patterns than I ever dreamed I had.  I do keep a list of all my quilts but I hadn't yet explored and labeled all quilts of this particular pattern variation within my inventory.


Research is still on-going on most of these quilts three years later.  I will continue to identify the source of each pattern on this new blog as I discover the source in my files.

Meanwhile, here we are preparing to hang the quilts in 2019:

































































































I quickly realized while looking at this type of pattern within my collection that I am drawn to wonky, rather eccentric variations of it!  I have labeled this one the "Lampshade Boy".
















                                                         

 

                                                                Bowtie Boy below