Sunbonnet Sue

Sunbonnet Sue - 1928

Prolific and Creative Ella Fulkerson

This Sunbonnet Sue quilt was made in 1928 by “Ella” Fulkerson (Mary Elizabeth Richards Fulkerson) for the birth of her great-granddaughter, Doris Eberlein.

Ella lived from 1856 to 1945 and had three children.  Doris remembers her “Grandma Fulkerson” as no more than five feet tall, and thus easy for a small child to relate to.  Ella loved playing games with Doris and her siblings, even getting down on the floor to play “jacks”.  Every Christmas she knitted a pair of “waffle pattern” mittens for each of her great-grandchildren.

A creative person for six days every week, Ella tatted, crocheted, knitted and sewed clothing as well as making quilts.  A faithful Baptist, she never worked on her projects on a Sunday.  In spite of very arthritic hands, she kept up her activities all her life.  During World War II she knit a bed sock a day for wounded soldiers (except on Sundays).

1944 Newspaper Article

Aged Woman Does Her Bit In War Time

Mrs. Ella Fulkerson Finishes 500 Pairs of Knitted

Bed Socks for Allied War Relief Organization

Invasion day means a great deal to Mrs. Ella Fulkerson, who is 88 years old and lives with her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Fulkerson, at 525 Sunnyside Avenue, Webster Groves. 

For on invasion day, June 6, Mrs. Fulkerson completed the knitting of her one-thousandth bed sock for wounded soldiers.  That’s five-hundred pairs, done at the rate of one sock a day, since one year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Mrs. Fulkerson’s bed socks are 23 inches long, and are made with four knitting needles instead of the usual two or three.  Her socks go to the Allied War Relief organization.

The aged woman is never idle a waking moment.  She knits, crochets and tats all day long, for six days each week, and spends her Sundays reading.  She makes fine tatting for handkerchief edging, using size 100 thread.  She crochets table cloths, and as she says, knits for her grandchildren.  She learned to knit when she was five years old.

During the first world war, Mrs. Fulkerson made surgical dressings for the armed forces as well as knitting.  And she says she will keep on knitting as long as there’s a need for another bed sock.

 The Quilt 

Each block in this quilt contains a Sunbonnet Sue girl appliqued on a white cotton fabric.  A variety of cotton prints and solid colors were used for the design.  An embroidered double running stitch outlines each sun-bonneted girl.

The blocks have been set “on point” (in a diamond shape) and separated by sashing strips.  Originally the sashing and binding were a medium blue color, providing a strong contrast to the white blocks.  Over the years this fabric has faded to a pale blue.  The quilter used a thin cotton batting and a white cotton backing fabric.  She hand-quilted the entire quilt.

The design of a little girl with her face completely hidden by her bonnet was first introduced in the early 1900s.  It was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s, especially for baby quilts.