Goodbye Sue

One gal in our local sewing group, Sue, was planning a move from our area, and among her many tasks was destashing a LOT of stuff she's saved for YEARS!  She brought numerous bags and boxes of free loot to our sewing group, and we swarmed over it like vultures.  I grabbed a bag suitable for strings, and Lois grabbed that center embroidery, Garden Sue.  I wonder if friend Sue knew where that particular piece came from??? Garden Sue had a dirty dress, and the muslin was quite yellow.  Someone said, "Hey, let's use this stash and make her a memento gift" and off we went, all in secret.  Carol made a new dress for Garden Sue, another chose "30" pieces for strings, a number of gals learned how to make string blocks, and someone else quilted it.  The rick-rack around the embroidery was used to help transition the yellowed muslin to the white string blocks.  Simple outline quilting around Garden Sue, and a sun in the upper corner was all that embroidery block needed and the rest of the quilt was done in viney swirls and hearts in a variegated pastel thread.  It's large enough for an grandbaby girl if one shows up (!), but mostly, it's a gift to our friend Sue, who lived here many years.  She will be missed. 

We all really LOVED using HER scraps to make this small gift.  She probably figured she'd never see those scraps again!  WRONG!!!   We decided to send it to her NEW home in order to avoid the complexities of packing in the OLD home.    I will mail it and then post this a few days later.

Above is a close up of the vintage Garden Sue embroidery, and below is an over-the-top label made by Nancy on her embroidery machine.  I put a white facing under the label to keep the bright turquoise backing from showing through.