Newest Alexander Henry Fabric

OK, so where have these guys been? I've been out to the construction site of our new house and I know I would have remembered them. Alexander Henry must have found them somewhere. Are they in your neighborhood?

I was at our local quilt store this morning when this fabric arrived. I think it's so funny! Perhaps if I wasn't into fabric design it wouldn't be so amusing! My next fabric line has a few birds in it and to think I was worried about cutting up the fabric and just having part of a bird!


Here's what I'm going to do. If you leave a comment on this post you are automatically entered to win the 1 yard piece of this fabric. Free! I'll ship it to you and you can use it for what ever you like. Suggestions have been an apron, book cover, pillow case...no limit for this fabric. I'll have one of my friends who doesn't know all of you randomly pick a winner and then I'll post your name in the comment section. You have to email me your address if you win because blogger won't let me respond to your comments. Check back in a few days...you could be the lucky owner of this man fabric (gives a new meaning to the word man fabric doesn't it?) (<:

Noel isn't just for Christmas!

In a few weeks, my good friend Nireko will return from Japan and she will bring with her another love in my life...a corgi named Noel. My friend Nireko assists me with many things at Bunny Hill, and Noel comes along to help. Welcome back Nireko and Noel! We can't wait to see you both!

Nite, Nite everyone!

Don't count your chicks...

Don't count your chicks before they hatch...but I can't help it. I'm counting! Our house in California just sold last week, my husband is packing and moving everything to storage, and I am here in Oregon sewing away. Most of you might think this is great...let the man pack and the woman can sit and sew. It's how life should be right? No, no, no! Never let them into your sewing room. So far all I've heard is how much "stuff" I have.

The conversation goes something like this: "do you know how much stuff you have in that room? There's more stuff in there than there is in the rest of the house combined. I have no idea how many magazines one person can have, but that closet has hundreds...and the binders. Unbelievable!" You can see where this is going. Wait until he gets to my old Martha Stewart tapes. I taped all of her old shows and they are in the closet too. It's not like I'm going to watch them anytime soon, but who can throw out Martha? Not me!

I swear if we get through this move it will be a wonder of the world. Today he put my $600 InDesign software program on top of the car while he was packing, forgot it was there and ran over it. I never said a derogatory word when he confessed to me. Not one! So in the future when he tells everyone about my sewing room, I'll just remind him of that little mistake. Little does he know, I want a studio like Heather Bailey's http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/ Poor man. How fast do you think he can paint?

My Sweet Baby "Stuff"

I've had baby stuff all around me for so long I feel like I should be hosting a baby shower! Seems like I've been working on these things forever! I finally have something to show for my time and I'm posting all the pictures at once. I mean how many posts can you read about My Sweet Baby? (:

Just wait, because Beary Boys and Girls is right around the corner. It's another baby fabric line in flannel! Featuring, you guessed it, bears! No, I don't want to be known as the baby fabric designer, so Miss Emma's Garden will be along soon. Flowers in pink and beige!

Here you go...all the My Sweet Baby things at once! Blogger may collapse from the photos.

A new pattern from Bunny Hill called "Little Lambs"! A touch of applique and easy, easy piecing. Quick and easy, my kind of baby quilt. (:

Another new pattern from Bunny Hill called "Just for Baby"! Choose your favorite color, round the corners or add rick rack in the binding. I'm so excited about the rick rack edge...a fun way to finish a baby quilt ! http://www.bunnyhilldesigns.com/

And from Vogue pattern # V8060 the talented Janis Stob has created baby clothes featuring "My Sweet Baby" fabric!

Little Pink hanger from Cindy Roberts at http://www.cutepinkstuff.com/ How cute is that? I am in love with her things!

That itty bitty symbol

That itty bitty symbol on the back of all patterns, books and other published works...a "c" with a circle around it. It stands for copyright and it's a symbol of protection for original works in any form. In the quilting industry not much is known or understood about "copyright", and until your rights are infringed on it seems rather unimportant.

I want to share the information I've gained during that past few weeks because it affects all of us, designers and consumers. It started with a phone call from someone who purchased a Bunny Hill block of the month pattern on eBay. The ebay seller has a perfect record, and the listing said it was a new pattern. The price was great, and the buyer used "buy it now" to purchase the pattern. No bidding required. Too good to be true? As it turns out it was. When the buyer got the pattern she questioned the quality and was brave enough to call me. How would you feel calling a designer and saying you were wondering about the quality of her pattern? I am so grateful for her courage!

Someone on eBay has been copying my patterns and selling them as new. The copies aren't even good copies and if anyone has purchased one of these I am sorry. I worry that they will think this is the type of work I do and not buy another Bunny Hill pattern.

eBay takes copyright infringement very seriously and has removed the questionable listings. The most important thing I can share with designers is that you must REGISTER your pattern copyright. If you haven't registered, you may think you are protected, but it's pretty much an empty protection. Go to this link, http://www.copyright.gov/ , fill out the form for each of your patterns and send it in with your check, and the pattern. I knew that there must be a reason for registering, so I did this. I am protected from this type of scam because of this. You cannot sue without registering and do not get legal fees or costs if not registered.

A completed copyright certificate showing the stamped registration number

I spoke with an attorney who is knowledgeable in copyright laws and he has promised to forward more information regarding this issue. He may even write something in the future to post on our blogs! If any designer has questions about filling out the forms, you can call the copyright office, or just send me an email. I will try to help.

To protect my customers, my new patterns will have a little sticker on the back of the bag that will tell you it is an official Bunny Hill pattern.

Auhhhhhh...how cute is that? (:

Who's on First?

Today has been one of those days. My husband is in California trying to sell our house and still processing the shipping for Bunny Hill. I'm in Oregon sewing away. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Not that we ever do, but long distance seems to make it worse.

My first business call today went something like this..."Hi, I've received 36 Flowers for Emma and I ordered 8 Pumpkin Hill". I wanted to suggest that Flowers for Emma is the perfect pattern for Valentines Day, but I didn't. After hanging up I was left wondering who received the Pumpkin Hill? This was only one of several of these phone calls.

When you ship a wrong package to someone, it creates this giant monster that just keeps growing and growing and pretty soon you have more and more people with the wrong orders. I have to tell you MY HUSBAND IS OUT OF CONTROL! There, I feel better just saying it. I never found the missing Pumpkin Hill patterns. They'll show up tomorrow, somewhere I'm sure. And of course I will blame my husband. One good thing did come from all this. Tomorrow my husband is driving to Oregon to spend a few days with me and the kitties. A much needed break for everyone! We'll go out to dinner on Friday and Saturday I'm dragging him antiquing. I find that in my business and life, when things aren't working I have to step away for a bit. This time I'm taking my husband with me (<:

Now, if I can just remember why we are doing all of this and whose idea it was. We are almost there and with every day we are a bit closer to moving into our new house. It has walls now! Walls! Who would ever think you could get excited about walls? Check out our walls...they've never looked so good.

See those windows upstairs? That's my new studio!




Stairway up to studio, it's amazing! Windows and lots of light! Must be heaven! I'm even excited about the wall plugs! I can plug in every known piece of equipment and not worry about blowing a breaker. Iron, TV, sewing machine all at the same time. It is heaven!

If you're going to place an order, please wait until next week for it to ship. Your chances of getting the right one will be greatly improved!

Be Mine Sweet Valentine!

I wanted to give you flowers for Valentine's Day. We all need those and heavens knows we all deserve them. But outside, old man winter is still hanging around. So off to My Pictures I went to find some flowers to share! Look what I came up with!

My favorite antique store, Ruthie B's is in Springfield, Oregon. I've been known to spend hours at this shop. Every single inch is filled with treasures. Open a dresser drawer and you might find stacks of vintage linens, buttons, trims and trinkets. Ruthie B's has moved to a new location and I haven't visited the new shop yet. These photos are treasures from her old shop. The backyard was a garden that was a treat for the eyes. So my sweet Valentines, enjoy the flowers. If you have an old truck around, throw some seeds in it!

Inspiration is everywhere!

Strawberry Hill in progress

It's a rainy day and I am ready for spring! What could say spring more than a quilt called Strawberry Hill? The fabrics are cheerful and I am having so much fun! I wish I could show you more, but everything just before market is a secret.

I always say that inspiration is all around us, you just have to be open to it. Strawberry Hill is the perfect example! It was inspired by a customer who came into my booth at Fall market. By the time we were done chatting, I had a new quilt idea and a new friend. Kindred Spirits we are for sure, so Strawberry Hill is for Gloria.

I design my applique blocks using the starch method of applique. I can see it coming together as I work. By the time the blocks are all "prepped" I know what the finished quilt will look like, and then it's off to be stitched. How fun is that? The stawberries are calling...gotta go!

It's raining fabric and quilts!

My Sweet Baby Receiving Blankets

It's the time of year that things get a little crazy. Spring market is just around the corner and my life has become a mass of fabric, threads, projects, paperwork and quilts. When I said I worked on one project at a time, that would be in my perfect world. Right now I am working on 7 different projects, 2 new fabric lines, and a booth for spring market. So how do I keep sane? I whine and cry to my friends. "I'm going to be more organized next time" I say, "You say that every time" they say. And so it goes, because you can never plan on all the unexpected things that come up! It takes a lot of help to accomplish what I do, and without my friends it just wouldn't happen. Thank you my dear sweet friends (you know who you are) and get ready for some applique blocks to stitch for me. (:

My Sweet Baby needed some receiving blankets and so I have the ones you see in the photo. They are backed with flannel and finished with rick rack or lace. I'm going to tell you how to make these very soon. It's another free pattern, but the instructions are still in my head. I'll get them on paper before you know it and then you can make some for your sweet baby. The little blankies in the picture were made by my friend Janis Stob. More things made by Janis coming up soon!

Not just for baby birds

Curtain tie backs

Look closely at this little bird and the curtain behind it. I'll let you in on a secret if you promise not to buy them all before I can move into my new house! We don't move until April so please leave some for me. I've been shopping at http://www.landofnod.com for curtains, rods and tie backs! Yes, Land of Nod the baby store.

It's the greatest place for simple bedroom curtains. The gingham check is a wonderful weight fabric (not the usual see-through gingham) the colors are endless and the price per panel is unbeatable! (They are sold per panel.) I have them in yellow, red and green. If you scroll down to the pictures of my cottage guest room and sewing room you'll see the red and green. They just added some bunny rods and tie backs too! Can't wait to get those. They are on my must buy list. My friend Anne just bought the red for her sewing room. Can't wait to see how they look! Now if they just had an aqua I'd be in heaven!

It's February! Oh My Gosh!

5" x 7" framed heart or...

Valentine Needle Case

I just can't believe it! February is here already. It seems like January just flew by, and I don't think I'm ready for a short month. We need to add some days to February so I can get a few more things done. Just a few more please. I even forgot to turn the calendar over.

I'm blaming Elizabeth at http://www.the-latebloomer.blogspot.com/ for all the trouble I'm in. I wasn't even thinking about Valentine's Day until I read her blog. Now I've got Valentine fever. What's a girl to do? If Elizabeth's working on an entire quilt, the least I can do is a little heart! I needed a place to keep my needles so a needle case seemed the perfect thing. It's something I can use and maybe you can too! Or, make yourself a little framed heart picture, like the one I just made. Click on this link and it will take you to my web site for the pattern. http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns I've just created a section for free patterns! Yes, I plan on having more very soon. Little projects that you can make in an evening. For free!

Happy Valentines Day (almost)!