Sunny Sue takes you to the Austrian Alps…

So this is the lovely Sunbonnet Sue from Austria (pattern from International Sunbonnet Sue) — she’s waving around a sheaf of music.  Austria has made many contributions to the fine arts, but it’s best known for its contributions to classical music.  In fact, Austria has been the birthplace of many famous classical composers such as Johann Strauss Sr, Johann Strauss Jr, Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, Franz Schubert, and Anton Bruckner.   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, and spent the majority of his musical career in Vienna.   Ludwig Van Beethoven also spent much of his lifetime involved in the Viennese music scene.  Austria also contributed the likes of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Friedensreich Hundertwasser to the world of art.   Vienna itself harbors all kinds of treasures in the form of museums, galleries, palaces, restaurants, and cafes.

Unfortunately, the things that I enjoyed most about Austria are a little bit more, ahem, low brow.  For instance, among my best memories are the lunches or dinners with friends at an excellent steak house in Bruck, Austria.   The beer was excellent there – icy cold and tasty.   We went on more than one “wine tasting” in upper Austria, which involved in moving from winery to winery (or better, wine cave to wine cave), checking out the vintage.  We didn’t know much about wine, but we knew what we liked!   And since I’m a quilter, I did visit the Exquisity Patchwork quilt shop in Vienna several times – even though I knew it was quite expensive, I couldn’t help myself and did buy many beautiful fabrics and notions there!!   And never miss the sacher torte and Viennese coffee if you visit — truly lovely..  I also enjoy driving through the many little hamlets and villages throughout Austria during spring and summer — I admire the window boxes cheerily overflowing with many hues of geraniums.  Austria is an exquisite country – I hope I’ve inspired you to travel there.  I hope I’ve also inspired you to quilt, applique or embroider.

I leave you with this photo of a ceramic mask found hanging from a plant in the backyard of a tea house my family likes to visit on lazy Sunday afternoons.   The tea house exudes the same calm serenity as this mask, and they boast some lovely Indian teas and delicious desserts.  Enjoy life – it’s short.

Sunny Sue rides the pampas in Argentina…

If you’re like me, you love a good-looking cowboy.   Well, this Sunbonnet Sue fits the bill dressed as an Argentinean gaucho with a love for soccer (pattern from International Sunbonnet Sue book).    If you’ve been around Argentina at all, you won’t be surprised at this depiction of Sunbonnet Sue.   Gauchos were the nomads of the South American pampas or chacos — similar to North America’s great plains.   The gauchos moved with the cattle herds, just as cowboys in the American West did, and they carried with them the same reputation as honest, proud, strong, and silent characters, capable of killing a horse thief in a dry gulch while catching the eye of the prettiest girls with a tip of their hat and a wink at a hoedown.  What was the reality?  Probably lots less romantic than we want to hear about….and a lot dirtier and smellier…yikes!

Argentineans are passionate about soccer too.  Argentina’s national football team has one many world and regional titles, and soccer consumes the interest of much of the Argentinean population.  In fact, if you’re at a bar or cafe while an important game is playing,  you might as well pick a team and join in the fun!   Hey, I hope I’ve inspired you to kiss a cowboy or play a game of soccer.

I’m leaving you with this lovely fuschia geranium from my front yard to enjoy.   It’s a beauty!   Have yourself a great day!

Happy 4th of July! Sunbonnet Sue Goes to Brazil!

I’m just so excited about this blog!  I know that I need to do some more work on my blog’s appearance, but it’s a learn-as-you-go experience for me. My son is helping me, but only when I can tear him away from his own computer!    But he’s a good kid and doesn’t mind lending his expertise….

So, this posting I though I’d take Sunbonnet Sue across the ocean to Brazil.  The pattern is taken from the International Sunbonnet Sue book by Debra Kimball, MD.   My last visit to Brazil was to visit Iguazu Falls, which is located at the crossroads of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.   Iguazu Falls are magnificent with tons of water from the Iguazu River pounding down over the cliffs.  It’s well worth a visit if you’re ever in that vicinity.   The name “Iguazu” comes from the language of the Guarani natives.   Literally, it means “big water”, which is a bit of an understatement.   There is a Guarani legend that a great god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi.  But Naipi refused her godly suitor, and fled with her mortal lover, Taroba, in a small canoe down the Iguazu River.   As he raged over his loss, the god slice the river with his giant sword, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall into the rocky waters below.     Who knows, maybe this Sunbonnet Sue is hiding her face because she’s really Naipi?
This time around, Sunbonnet Sue has a colorful and exotic tropical bird on her arm and embroidery embellished flowers in her hair.   Lots of fun, bright colors!   If you’ve noticed that Sunny Sue has two pink streaks in her hair, that’s in honor of my daughter, who had her hair streaked on the day I was finishing this embroidery!    I hope you’ve been inspired to start your own project today.   Here’s a photo of flowers from my own garden – don’t you just love that deep pink color?!

Sunny Sue Applique & Quilting Starts A Blog!

Welcome to this first posting on my new blog!   I decided to create this blog in order to motivate myself to create an appliqued/embroidered quilt.  My quilt is going to be based on this book, International Sunbonnet Sue, by Debra Kimball, MD, from AQS Publishing.     I’ve been a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for more than 20 years, living in more than 9 countries and visiting more than 60 other countries during this same period.  So while Ms. Kimball’s book will be the basis of my quilt (her designs are very cute, by the way!), the quilt will be the story of  my nomadic life…well, in a Sunbonnet Sue kind of way….   In any case, it looks like I’ll have to draft many of my own Sunbonnets for the countries I’ve visited – I guess that will be the tricky part.  I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.

>Let me show you my first square, which is Sunbonnet Sue in England (see book for pattern).<

I think she turned out cute, although I used a fancy satin fabric for the spy glass and shoes, and it shredded a bit (I’ve trimmed it up a bit so it looks better).  The pattern pieces are fused and then embroidered.   I have a few of these Sunny Sue blocks already finished, so I’ll be sharing them over the coming days.  I hope you join me on this trip around the world.