For her 5th birthday, I made this "Sunbonnet Sue and Friends" quilt for my fourth granddaughter, Marina. Inspired by the first quilt my maternal grandmother had made me, I modernized the style of the girl. As I was putting away my fabrics from an "I Spy" quilt that I had just completed cutting, I decided to add some of the toys to this Sunbonnet Quilt. Thus, I created "Sunbonnet Sue and Friends" which can also be used as an "I Spy" quilt. The friends are Piglet; Tele Tubby; Mickey Mouse; Raggedy Andy; Barney; Care Bear; Smurfette; Rug Rat; Little Mermaid; Baby Bugs Bunny; Garfield and Baby Taz. A shade of aquamarine or turquoise can be found in the dress fabrics. This signifies her name, Marina, meaning "beside the sea."
I began this quilt in mid-March 2002 and had the top completed by Easter weekend when we traveled to Ohio. There we met my daughter, Dawn, and her four younger children and had an Easter egg hunt with some cousins after church. I showed the top to my mother-in-law who was suffering with a brain tumor knowing this would be my last project she would see and she enjoyed it. She passed away two weeks later.
Below is a photo of Marina taken in July 2001 holding another friend, a Cabbage Patch doll.
