Bunny Tales

Dresden Progress

Anne — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:50:42 +0000

This week has been crazy. Too much to do and not enough time. I’m working on a new fabric line and it’s taking longer than expected. A deadline is looming and I’m crossing my fingers I get it off to Moda soon. I’ll be so happy!

In the meantime everyone at Bunny Hill has been working on my Scrappy Plate quilt, helping to get it ready for the quilter. I can just hear you saying…hey that’s not fair…she has help! Let’s just say it’s a good thing. Machine applique has become my best friend and almost all of the plates have been appliqued by machine!

If you follow my method I think you’ll love machine applique. Go ahead, enlarge this photo so you can see.

…and this one showing you how to stop at a point right next to the fabric, lift the presser foot and turn.

Here’s something you may not know…there’s a machine applique tutorial on my blog! That’s right, it’s just waiting for you to try it.

Click here or scroll to the top of the page, click on the Tutorial link and the applique picture. You just might get your blocks done this weekend. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I’ve decided to add a scallop to the border. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the scallop pattern so you can have one too.

Because of all the assorted colors in my blocks I used a neutral Kimono Silk thread to applique these Dresden. Silk thread on the top and cotton in the bobbin made switching from blade color to blade color much easier. Normally I recommend DMC Machine Embroidery thread for machine applique.

Now think about this…after the girls sew on my Dresden’s they go home and sew on their own! Everyone at Bunny Hill has gone a little Dresden crazy. Just look at a few of their blocks!

Nancy is making her’s out of pink 30′s fabrics. She’s making a quilt for a baby girl!

And my assistant Kim is making her blocks out of assorted Riley Blake fabrics she picked up at market. Just look at these! She says she has more colors coming and I can’t wait to see the rest of the blocks!

It’s Dresden show and tell weekend over on Flickr. Go ahead, show off your blocks!

I’ll be back soon! Circles are up next so you can stitch away during the Super Bowl! I’ll show you how!

Hugs,

Anne

Can I interest you in a tattoo?

Anne — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:24:22 +0000

Can I interest you in a tattoo? Wait! Before you say no (or yes) take a look at these! You’ll find them in the latest issue of Mollie Makes (#10) which arrived at Bunny Hill today! Embroidered tattoos! They had me when I saw the wood hoops to display them…so cute!

And how about this not so “granny” square throw? Hurry, grab some yarn! Says it’s beginner friendly!

This issue of Mollie Makes is filled with great craft ideas and look at what they’ve included on the cover! Sweet house ribbon! House ribbon to use in a craft, or tie up a package.

Mollie, you make reading magazines so much fun!

Dang, where did I put those old spools?

Back soon,

Hugs,

Anne

Obsessions: What are yours?

Anne — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:43:59 +0000

Obsessions other than fabric…what are yours? What makes you crazy when you see it? What’s the one thing you can’t resist buying? Maybe clothes, shoes, dishes, thread, floss, scissors, books or magazines? Do you obsess about something else? I can’t be the only one with a few obsessions can I? Fess up! My secret obsession is…

Paper and Pens!

I love pretty notebooks, fine paper, special pens and I just can’t help myself. Last week my UPS man delivered the most wonderful box of paper and pens. It was like Christmas.

I wish you could feel the smoothness of the paper. It’s so yummy. And the colors, can you stand it? Shades of pink, lavender and pumpkin. Heaven help me I can’t wait to write in these. New spiral notebooks for taking notes when I’m working on a project. New spiral notebooks for my “to do” lists and new pens and pencils to write them with.

Check out the pink fountain pen! I picked a brown ink but I could have selected a multitude of colors. And see that pink pencil on the left? It’s perfect for drawing. Who knows what will happen with a pencil like that! To think that I can be inspired by a new notebook or pen! I’ll share my shopping site for pens and paper just in case you obsess about these too…JetPens.com.

And if you obsess about Dresden plate quilts…while I was busy thinking about what to write in my new notebooks I found 1 more Scrappy Plate Kit…it’s on my website.

If you have a Dresden obsession like me, just visit my Flickr group. I’m there every morning to see if any new plates have appeared. Best thing is it doesn’t cost any money and you don’t have to hide it from your husband!

Back soon!

Anne

Rainy Days are for sewing

Anne — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:54:48 +0000

Happy Monday everyone!

I’m off to teach at our local quilt shop Thimble Creek today. We’re making wool snowmen pillows in January! Unheard of you say? Just think of the start these ladies will have. Remember how fast last year flew by?

Here’s our project for today…

Snowballs is a fun, quick and best of all EASY pattern! You'll find it here on my website.

Since I'm on the subject of snowmen, I thought you might enjoy seeing this quilt!

I spoke at the Diablo Valley Quilter's Guild last week (what an incredible group of people), and this quilt (Snowbound) was made by Mary Anne the President of the guild! I love the red and the beige together and can you see the plaid border peeking out? She really had me with the polka dots. I just love them!

Then I looked a bit closer and noticed her embellishments...they were perfection. Just look at the little silver beads she stitched on the angel's wings!

Thank goodness for my iPhone. The camera in the new phone is great and it's always with me.

I have more pictures to share!

Jeaneane sent me pictures of her birthday cake made by her daughter-in-law Victoria Graham.

Are you ready?

This cake is a work of art! It's a sewing basket filled with goodies and it's C A K E!

Here's the back of the cake...

The accessories are all made of fondant. It took Victoria about 6 hours to make this cake and Jeaneane said it was delicious.

I can't even imagine cutting into this cake!

Hope you all have a great day. It's pouring rain here in California. A good day for sewing and sewing classes.

Back soon,

Hugs,

Anne

Weekend Projects

Anne — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:20:33 +0000

Do you have projects planned for this weekend? Seems like I’ve been waiting for a “free” weekend and now that it’s here I’m in heaven. I have so many projects I’ve wanted to get started on so I plan on sewing all weekend long. Speaking of sewing, it’s a great weekend to try a Scrappy Plate quilt block if you haven’t started yet. Once you make one, you’ll see how easy it is! Just go for it!

I’ve been working on the applique for my Scrappy Plate quilt, taking pictures as I go along so I can hopefully give you some tips next month. I don’t know which part I like better, the piecing or the applique. Click on over to my Flickr group if you want to get inspired!

So many of you emailed asking about kits for Scrappy Plates. Well guess what? Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop has been searching for fabrics and she’s found all the fabrics I’ve used in my quilt. She’s put together a kit for you with the same polka dot fabrics and borders. You can find it by clicking on the link above.

New wool bundles…

If you love yummy wools, I’ve just added our own special bundles of Weeks Dye Works wools to our website. After we made these bundles everyone at Bunny Hill wanted one!

Say hello to our Autumn bundle…

…and hello to our Sorbet bundle.

I’d say it’s equally as yummy as Autumn!

You’ll find these bundles here on our website.

We’re still working on getting orders shipped from our sale. We ran out of Cosmo Multiwork Floss #4300 and Dresden templates but we’ve had them both on order. The templates just arrived and the floss should be here by the middle of next week. Thank you for your patience if you’ve ordered floss…I promise we’ll ship your order as soon as it arrives!

Have a great weekend everyone! Hopefully it’s filled with happy sewing!

Hugs,

Anne

Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club

Anne — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:35:54 +0000

It’s time for my Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club! If you’ve always wanted to make a Dresden Plate quilt then you’re going to have so much fun! Every month for the next 6 months I’ll be sharing pictures, tutorials and directions to make a wonderful Dresden Plate quilt! You’ll have a completed quilt before the end of the year and have a great time along the way. It’s a chance to use your stash, meet new friends, get creative, and maybe win some prizes and treats. Are you ready?

First choose your fabrics! You’ll need 20 to 30 different fabrics for the “blades” of your plate so get over to your stash and start looking. I’m sure you’ll come up with fabrics if you think about it. Or, maybe it’s time to visit your local quilt shop and add some new fabrics. Nothing lifts the spirits like buying fabric and quilt shops will love you.

I’m personally addicted to dots so I pulled every polka dot I could find, cut them into 4″ strips and cut away with my Easy Dresden ruler! Once I got started I couldn’t stop. I’m sure I cut enough for two quilts I have so many left over but I wanted variety and variety I got! Dresden Art was created!

Each little piece became a Dresden blade like this!

See how easy it was?

Before I knew it I had Dresden blades I could stitch together!

And once they were stitched together…

I could make my first Dresden plate…

Oh my this is fun!

So join me in 2012 and make a Dresden Plate quilt! Think of the colors you can use! Try 30′s fabrics, civil war, batiks, florals…you get the idea. Just make sure you have lights, mediums and darks in your fabric assortment and you’ll be fine. You’ll find Part One of the directions on my “free” tab above. This is what you need to get you started and it includes a diagram of the finished quilt. Next month I’ll be back with Part Two so you have plenty of time to work on the first part. You can grab my little Scrappy Plate Logo for your blog if you’d like and be sure and join my Flickr Group so you can post your photos. I’m ready to stitch my first block down!

I’ll be back soon! Happy Scrappy Plates!

Anne

Finishing up 2011

Anne — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:33:37 +0000

Redwork Raining Cats & Dogs

This week we finally finished the new Redwork Raining Cats and Dogs pattern. What a great end to 2011. Say hello to redwork in 2012!

Just look at the fabulous quilting!

Have you ever wondered how to quilt a redwork quilt?

You quilt right through the embroidery! Most of the stitching will sink into the quilt and you’ll never see it.

You’ll find this pattern available now on my website but you might want to wait until January 5th if you’re thinking about buying it because…

A sale is coming!

And you get advance notice because you read my blog! Starting January 5th everything on my website, except the Pumpkin Pie quilt kits, will be on sale for 25% off if you have the coupon code. You’ll find this code in my newsletter that comes out on the 5th so make sure you’ve signed up (you’ll find the signup link under the slide show here on my website). Make a list of what you want now so you’ll be sure to get it. 25% off only happens twice a year at Bunny Hill!

Henrietta’s Getting Ready To Hibernate!

And remember to print and save the Henrietta Whiskers patterns by December 31st. Henrietta’s going into hibernation on New Year’s Day and she’ll no longer be offered as a free pattern. She’ll be back on the website soon as a full pattern for purchase.

Have a wonderful New Year everyone!

I’ll see you in 2012 :>) and I can’t wait!

Hugs,

Anne

Chelsea Writes to Santa

Anne — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:37:07 +0000

Dear Santa,

I’ve been waiting for you to come all week.

I’ve been watching out the window just in case you come a little early.

I heard them talking about me in the studio and someone said I’ve gotten “chunky”!

PLEASE don’t listen to them Santa!

Bitsy told me you carry treats in your sleigh that you leave for good dogs.

Santa, I’ve been a good dog all year!

I’ll be dreaming of ~~treats~~ you tonight Santa and hoping that you come.

Love,

Chelsea XXXOOO

“It Came Without Ribbons”

Anne — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:40:50 +0000

The Story of Bitsy

Many of you don’t know the story of Bitsy so I’d thought I’d share it with you this Christmas.

To be blessed with an old dog is like no other blessing. To be blessed with an old dog named Bitsy is a miracle in itself. She came to us by accident 5 or 6 years ago when my husband found her in the park, lost without a collar and so sick that we thought she might be dying. He brought her home and with the help of our Vet, we nursed her back to health. The days went by as we looked for her owner, she slept on our couch and watched us every minute. We carried her outside to use the bathroom and gradually she started to eat again. She shook and trembled most of the time.

We did everything we could to find her owner. We put up signs, called the shelters and vets in the area in case anyone was looking for her. With each pet of my hand on her head I knew I was falling in love with this dog and when no one called I made my husband take down the signs. I knew we would have to give her back if we found her owners but secretly I hoped they wouldn’t call.

And then one day it happened…my husband came home with this sign:

It was her! I knew I had to call the number. I called and said “I think we have your dog. She’s been very, very sick so we took her to the vet. She’s feeling better and I know you must miss her.” The lady who answered told me it was her son’s dog and that she’d have him call me.

It was so hard waiting for the son to call and I knew he’d want her back because she was so sweet. I told myself it was silly to fall in love with a dog this fast and that she belonged to someone else. But I couldn’t help wondering why it had taken so long to put up the lost dog sign.

When the son called I said to him “I’ve fallen in love with your dog and if there’s any chance you don’t want her I’d love to keep her”. That’s when the miracle happened. It turned out the son was in school and hardly home anymore. He had to keep her chained in the back yard when he was gone and apparently she’d escaped from her collar and dug her way out. He hadn’t been home for while and that’s why it took so long for the signs to go up.

The son came over, brought her “papers” and collar and said we could have her. Bitsy became our dog! According to her “papers” she’s a Toy Fox Terrier named Bitsy, born on October 7th. To me she will always be Bitsy Button Sutton. I tell her that I wish I could have seen her in her youth…she whispers the same thing back to me tee hee!

She’s a part of our family now and she just turned 16. She’s given us the best years of her life no doubt about that, and because she’s so special she’ll get a few of her favorite cookies on Christmas day…Mother’s Taffy Cookies!

She spent so much time outside with her first owners she has mast cell tumors (a kind of skin cancer) that we’ve had to have removed. Surgery after surgery she comes home and acts as if nothing happened. She bounces back, recovers and surgery after surgery our vet tells us it’s a miracle she’s alive. She has scars on her head, side and legs, she’s deaf now and the black on her face has turned gray. She’s down to a few precious teeth. But she runs, plays with toys and prances across the yard. She follows me every where and she’s such a joy!

In September we found another tumor that had to be removed and this time they didn’t get it all. Because it’s such a slow growing tumor we’ll watch it carefully and say a few prayers.

As I package up the gifts this year I can’t help but remember that Bitsy is the best present I’ve ever received any time of year. If you own an old dog or cat you know how it feels. She’s taught me what strength really is and having her in my life has made me a better person. Who knew a dog could do so much? She reminds me of the best things about Christmas. She’s the gift without ribbons!

Dr. Seuss’ Grinch Christmas Quote

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

Give your pet a Christmas hug.

Anne

Please pass the Pumpkin Pie

Anne — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:37:49 +0000

We’ve spent the last few days making Pumpkin Pie kits here at Bunny Hill. No calories in this pie even with all the yummy fabrics we’ve been cutting. Here’s a picture of our pie slice…

Doesn’t it look yummy?

We’ve got stacks and stacks of Pumpkin Pie…

…assembled and ready for baking!

If you ordered a Pumpkin Pie kit we’re starting to ship them now.

You’ll find these kits on my website, in stock and ready to ship. The good news is that if you start to make your Pumpkin Pie quilt now, by the time it comes to bake the real thing you’ll be finished and ready to enjoy it!

Did someone say Christmas is right around the corner? I’d better get some pictures posted before I miss it! Do you have shopping done and are you ready? Seems like the month of December gets shorter every year!

Hugs,

Anne