And the winner is...

In a pink basket (of course) with all your names!

Thank you, thank you to everyone who entered my drawing! It was so much fun to read all your comments and I wish I could give a fat pack to all of you! My assistant Anne and I (can you believe I would have an assistant with my first name? LOL) copied all of your names, cut them up and put them all a basket. I held the basket and she selected the winning name. So from Anne and Anne here you go...Darlynn you are the winner! You left your comment on March 25th and that was your lucky Sunday! Just send me an email with your name and address and we'll get it off in the mail to you right away. Congratulations from Bunny Hill! Have fun with this beautiful fabric.

For the rest of you wonderful readers...I promise to do this again, and I know of several designers who plan on doing the same thing! Just wait, we have surprises coming soon. Thank you to everyone! (:

Desperate Times

Off to the Quilter! A new table runner pattern!

These are desperate times and if you've noticed pattern designers are stretching out the time in-between blogs. Everything is coming and going with UPS right now. Fabric comes in, quilt tops go out for quilting, come back and then go out again for photos and back again. It's a bit of a nut house around here to say the least. There is even the possibility that something might get lost...not by UPS but by me! Today my friend Elizabeth Hewlett brought me the table runner and quilt she's been making for me. Oh Elizabeth I can't wait to see it quited! What a great job you did! That Sanctuary fabric is so pretty!

I have to admit the thought has crossed my mind several times to let the fabric raffle run another week so I could sneak in some more work before the drawing. Like I said these are desperate times. But no dear readers, I could never do that to you. So on Friday....drum roll, we are going to put all the names into a box and draw one and I'll announce the winner. Just for the record I have 3 people who have emailed me and asked to be put in the drawing. Theresa Gorman, Jane Barber, Carol Lewis so add their names to the list of comments. Blogger doesn't make it easy to leave a comment and we don't want anyone left out!

I have to tell you all about 2 new designers that are going to market for the very first time. They both have cute patterns so be sure to check them out. My friend Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek doesn't have a blog yet but she has promised to join in after market. You can see her patterns at http://www.bloomcreek.com/ and my friend Cindi Walker from Stitch Studios http://www.stitchstudios.com/news/index.html just started a blog and it's darling. You'll see a lot coming from her very soon, she is even working on a book!

You have until Friday to enter your name. I'll be busy writing them down so pray I don't get writer's cramp. LOL!

Anne (:

A Treat for my blog readers!

Antique Rose, Mrs. March's Collection by Lecien

If you're reading this blog, I want to say thank you! I myself go from blog to blog, and I'm amazed at how many creative and fun people there are! I feel so blessed to be where I am in the quilting world and I believe in "paying it forward". I want to share this beautiful fabric with one of you! My hope is that you'll make a quilt to share with someone in your life.

So, here's what I'm going to do. Leave a comment on this post if you'd like to have this fabric. I'll let my assistant choose a name at random, and I'll post the name in a future blog next week. If you are the winner you email me your name and address and I'll send you this fat pack for free! (:

It's gorgeous fabric and needs to be in a quilt. Sitting on my shelf does it no good. It's fun to share, and I hope you agree!

Happy Quilting!

Anne

Quilting brings us the best friends ever!

I love the quilting world! LOVE IT! I have made the best friends ever because of quilting. It's a magical circle, and the more you stitch the more friends you will make! I promise you this: if you go to a quilt class with a smile on your face, before you leave you'll have a new friend. Keep going and you'll have a list longer than you ever imagined.

Quilt designers are amazing too! Support, encouragement, fun, laughter and a shoulder to cry on is the reward for having friends in the design business. I met Brenda Riddle of http://www.acornquiltandgiftcompany.com/ almost 2 years ago at market and now we are the best of friends.

Yesterday the FedEx man rang the doorbell and delivered the most beautiful spring tulips and little bunny just for me. From Brenda! A thank you for being a friend. Now where else but the quilting world would you find friends like this?

Look at what Brenda sent me!

Today more surprises arrived at the door. Pam Kitty Morning look what my friend Anne brought me this morning when she arrived to help me sew! How on earth are you going to top Starbucks?

Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate and a Cinnamon Roll from Anne Bryson.

Anne and I (yes it's Anne and Anne and we both answer to Anne) spent the day working on pillows and we had to quit because we were almost asleep on the samples! It's market madness right now and I need all the help I can get. Anne comes over with her iron and starch in hand and we spend the day covered in fabrics and freezer paper. Now, if I could just get Starbucks to deliver! Hey, there's a great little business idea!

A Little Idea and Some Scribbles

They call this a quilt?

It's a little embarrassing to show you my scribbles (don't know what else to call them). Promise you won't laugh! I wanted to show you how an applique quilt is designed. I'm finishing up quilts for Spring Market and I came across the original graph paper with my Rabbits Prefer Chocolate design. I smiled as I looked at it, because the original scribble (very child-like don't you think?) is not as the quilt ended up.

If the truth be told, not a single applique quilt that I have designed has ever ended up as it started. As I work along, the quilts take on a life of their own. Sometimes I get stuck and sometimes they just falls into place. I never know what to expect.

To design applique you must have patience, patience, patience. I am put to the test many times over and often think I will not be able to finish! You have to be willing to redraw, move blocks around and then redraw the designs again. I work on a design over a relatively short period of time and I live almost every minute with it. When something isn't working it's my husband who makes me quit and take a break. He tells me to stop, get some rest and start again in the morning. I hate it when he's right, but every designer needs someone to tell them when to STOP! It's key to success.

I start with an idea, a basic layout, some drawings and a fabric line I've selected that I think will work with my design. For example, I needed a lot of browns for the bunnies and I choose the Wuthering Heights line because of the many assorted browns. Then I pull in fabrics from other lines, because it adds contrast and that "spark" that is critical to a quilt. I also makes it much more fun for me!

My original graph paper layouts always look like children's drawings. I quickly sketch in the drawing that I think will work and then I move onto the next part of the quilt. If you look at the drawing on the left side of the photo you can see that I originally started with tulips and flowers all over...well off they came as I went along. As Martha would say, "it a good thing" (: More bunnies were added and Rabbits Prefer Chocolate was born! You promised you wouldn't laugh!

A New Sewing Box

Sewing boxes for Alyssa and Michaela

I know that life will return to normal sometime soon in the future and I'm taking advantage of it now with these 2 little red boxes. I am having so much fun! I'm filling them with all the little sewing treats I can find. Each one will have it's own special charm packs, big girl scissors, pin cushions, thread, a pull out tape measure, ruler, needle threader and yes a real needles.

Alyssa and Michaela are my grand-daughters, ages 5 and 6. I've promised sewing lessons to each and when I saw these little boxes I knew they would be perfect. I'll find the perfect spot in my studio and let them keep their goodies there. Then under careful supervision, a new generation of quilters might begin!

This is the younger generation we should be focusing on in order to keep quilting alive! I wonder if "Quilter's Home" magazine has thought of that? (:

And, if you want to know where I got these little boxes, http://www.landofnod.com! Thanks for reminding me Gloria!

Getting Ready For Market

My "market brain" is in full force and getting worse by the day! My friend Anne Bryson came over yesterday to help me with my quilt I'm calling "All Things Christmas". Anne's helped me from the very start of Bunny Hill. The stories she could tell! She calls me Oprah and I call her Gail...that's how our relationship works. It's really hysterical to watch. When she arrived I had the table all set for her! If truth be known, she's really the boss.

Lunch is served

I'm working with a combination of fabrics for this quilt. When I opened the Roman Holiday package this piece of fabric jumped out at me. Let's see if you can figure out how I've used it. If you were making a Christmas quilt what would you use this for? Come on, use your imagination! It's a major part of an applique block.

At the same time I'm working on patterns, I'm thinking about the booth for Spring Market. It's a huge undertaking and many designers go "all out". The drapes have to be made, then fireproofed with this horrid spray. Decorations, floor coverings, quilt layouts and a theme are just a few of the considerations. Everyone tells us not to worry about our booths, that the customers are coming to see the quilts. When you walk into market and see the booths going up you know that can't be true! It's always amazing!

I was going through my photos from last year and I thought you might enjoy seeing a bit of the process of setting up. We arrive at market as early as we can, dressed in work clothes and comfortable shoes. Then we get busy to turn the steel poles into a booth.

We grab a rented ladder, put the tallest person on it and try to figure out what we're doing. I stand in the background, take photos and give directions (just kidding!)

If you get there early enough you can usually grab a few tables to lay things out on. They don't provide "work" tables so you use what you can find. Water bottles are critical at this point because you start to get really tired and dehydrated.

And finally after 2 days of work it's all ready to go!

Hurry up it's almost here!

Six weeks and counting before things have to be shipped to International Quilt Market. Everyone in the quilt industry is busy, busy, busy and has what I call "Market Brain". It's a weird thing that happens to all of us going to market. We loose control over our lives, become obsessed with getting just one more pattern completed, work like there is no tomorrow and drive everyone around us crazy. Be glad you don't live with a designer. It's impossible and we drag our family and friends right along with us to the funny farm.

I'm working as fast as I can to "prep" all the blocks for another applique quilt and today I can see an end to this design. It's taken lots of cookies and popcorn to get me through, but maybe today, or at least by tomorrow I can send the blocks to my friends to be stitched in place. Another Bunny Hill Block of the Month will be on it's way.

To add a little more chaos to my life we are moving in the middle of all this. I really think I must be nuts. Or, maybe it's the opposite and I'm a genius! I've somehow managed to sew away while everything in my life is being put into boxes and moved. Without our little get away home in Oregon I could not have pulled this off! We have 3 weeks in-between houses and at least we have a place to stay.

So for me it's hurry up and for my husband it's please slow down! Before we leave our cottage house I have to share some photos of the beautiful roses growing all around that little house. Don't worry, I'm bringing lots of roses that I have growing in pots to my new house. My very favorite is called the Audrey Hepburn rose. I couldn't leave Audrey behind.

The new people moving into our cottage are the perfect people! They will treasure it and take care of the roses. I have no doubt about that! So let's not forget to enjoy the roses while we can. They are ready to boom and show off to a new family!

And the winner is...

Drum roll ladies...we have a winner for the fabric! Cheryl from MA, you are the winner and your daughter will have that pillow case you are going to make very soon! Just click on the email link and send me your information. The men will arrive before you know it! Just want you all to know before I give this fabric away that the name of the line is Heavy Equipment.

The strike-off"s for my new baby line "Beary Boys and Girls" came yesterday. A strike-off is a preview of what the fabric will look like when printed. It hasn't gone through the large roller at the mill so it's unfinished, but strike-off's allow the fabric company and the designer to make any final changes. Once approved the fabric goes to print! I can tell you this...these strike-off's are printed on the softest flannel and feel just luscious. The finished product should be even softer! I can't show it to you yet, but one of the flannels is a flower that will make the cutest pajamas ever! Yes, for all of us babies! Soft, soft, soft and pink too!

I just added a few hand made treasures to my web site from Cathy Pendleton. http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/store/products/?category=27 She is a talented folk artist that makes the cutest little characters. Her things are collectible and very unique. All profits from the sale of Cathy's things are donated by Bunny Hill to a fund for helping cats in need. It's called the Topsy Turvy Fund and it is named after my own two little black rescue kitties. So treat yourself to something made by Cathy and help an animal too!

Bunny Pincushion

The Easter Bunny comes to visit and brings his own basket!

Topsy and Turvy relaxing just before a photo shoot. These are happy rescue kitties!

The mail arrived with a treat for myself! From Cindy at http://www.cutepinkstuff.com I bought this little pink bunny to hold my watch and ring. Cindy lists new things as she makes them and many times she only has one. You have to be quick if you want something!

Have to get back to the applique. New patterns are just around the corner! (: