Repairs Needed

That mystery Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I found stored in my guest room was most certainly given to me by my grandmother, although neither of us remembers anything about it. I am making conjectures from this point, just to let you know. I do think I can safely guess the following:

Grandma occasionally took in quilts to repair. She didn't advertise that she would do this, but if people knew she quilted, she was approached from time to time by people hoping to save a family heirloom or some such.

Since I am already certain that Grandma did not make this quilt, I can only guess that she was asked to fix one of the dresses on the quilt - a green one. And I have evidence that will back me up on this.

Tucked inside the bag with the quilt were these pattern pieces and the piece of green fabric. I believe that Grandma was going to fix that shredding dress. Now would she have done this? Would she have picked out all the quilting and removed both the arm and the dress? Or would she have just removed the arm and cover over the old dress? Or would she have had some other plan? With all that quilting across the arm, I think I would prefer covering the old, and just requilt that one part after replacing the arm. It's tricky. I wonder what a professional quilt restorer would recommend?

Pretty little Sues, don't you think? I find that the way each one is quilted is just a bit odd, with all that unquilted space around the bonnet and under the dress.

This little green girl is the only one showing signs of fraying. The other green dresses are made with this same fabric, but they are in good condition.

So even though I know none of the above for certain, I think I am on the right track. I've definitely got a fair number of mysteries surrounding this quilt. Who the quilt originally belonged to is anyone's guess. How long it's been in my possession is a mystery not nearly as old as who made it or who owned it. I suppose this is a screaming example of why every quilt we make needs to have a label attached to it. 

I am late getting a blog up for today. I have finished quilting Long Road Home. Yes, you read that correctly. *smile*  I have sewn the binding on, also. I plan to hand stitch it down. Just because. I will show you all that tomorrow.

Happy Quilting, Friends!