A Bitty Day

This is a bitty post. Really, I promise! Not too many words and well you’ll get the picture LOL!

I taught a Bitty Dog class in Bunny Club yesterday at Thimble Creek our local quilt store. Bitty was really nervous because it was her first appearance after market. She’s heard about the Chihuahua movie and how movie stars get treated. And to tell the truth I think Chelsea may have played it up a bit with her. But by the time class was over, she was strutting her stuffing! Bitty dogs were everywhere! All colors and each with their own special look. It was an amazing thing to see!

This bitty dog stayed home. She’s a reject that didn’t make the cut. SHHHH! Don’t tell her!

This is the original bitty. She didn’t make it to class because she’s traveling and giving autographs. Who knows where she’ll pop up!

This is the bitty that premiered at the Bunny Club yesterday.

A little brown bitty made by Nancy. It’s a gift for a special friend, but Nancy couldn’t stand it and made two of them…one for herself too!

Heidi made this beautiful white bitty dog. No pincushion base yet…she ran out of time, but I know Heidi, and the next time I see her she’ll have two more done (:

And only my friend Chickie would think of a red, very French Bitty Dog. Chickie’s well traveled and I think her bitty may be too. Just check out that necklace!

I couldn’t call it a day without a pink bitty dog. I just had to make one! She’s going to Thimble Creek to visit the shop and she’s so excited! She’ll be there by the end of the week so if you’re in the shop look for her!

No day is complete without a group photo. Look there’s a bitty in blue with the cutest brown buttons! Why, that’s a great looking little dog!

So are you hooked yet? Do you want to make your own bitty dog pincushion or any of the other Bunny Hill pincushions? Since I can’t have you all in a class, join me on my new Flickr group called Pincushions by Bunny Hill ! It’s your chance to post your own photos or just ask me questions. I’ll be checking in to answer questions and I’ll have some “how to” photos soon. Get creative and you might win a prize! And, can you name your dog? Don’t forget the bunny, bird and kitty. Hummm I wonder what is coming next?

Hugs to my pincushion friends!

Anne

I’m a Quilter

My three favorite words…I’m a quilter. The sweet sound of the sewing machine, the feel of the pins in the fabric, watching a quilt block come together as I stitch and press. Ah, this sweet passion called “Quilting”! Isn’t it wonderful? I know I will never tire of it. I hope you feel the same way!

Today was the first day in a very long time that I could finally return to it. The tedious task of pattern writing is finished for the moment, and the little block you see below represents a sigh of relief, and a feeling of contentment. It’s this thing we call “Quilting”! Who knew a little 4″ pinwheel block could mean so much? (:

And here’s the thing my husband will never understand…you don’t have to actually quilt the quilt to be called a “quilter”. Don’t you love it?

For a quilter, possessing fabric is as much fun as making those little blocks. By the time I had returned from quilt market this little package of Renee Nannenman’s new line “French Farmhouse” from Andover was waiting for me. Calling my name every so sweetly. It’s so “French” and the packaging just makes me smile. Renee is the owner of Need’l Love Designs, one of my top ten favorites.

And then a few days ago another wonderful package arrived from Renee. It’s tiny little prints called “Itsy Bits”. Tiny little basic prints every quilter can use. I hate to open this it’s so pretty, but yes, I’ll be doing so very soon.

So tomorrow I’ll make more pinwheel blocks, and happily listen to the sound of the sewing machine because American Patchwork and Quilting said it best…

Hugs to all you quilters out there!

Last of the market photos

This is it…the last of the 2008 Quilt Market photos. It was amazing in this year of hurricanes and horrible economy, to see all these people come together. Yes, it was slower than normal, but it was fun and I know that this industry will continue to grow. I for one, will make more handmade gifts this year for Christmas and friends and I encourage all of you to do the same. It’s the little things we do that say I love you and I’ll be saying that a lot!

Here I am with the President of Henry Glass Fabrics, Larry Reichenberg. So what does a President of a fabric company do? A little bit of everything. Not only does he make a LOT of decisions, he tries to keep us all happy: designers, staff and customers. He’s in charge of producing great fabric, that you’ll all want to buy, and he directs and guides the sales staff. I remember being on the phone with him once when the air conditioning went out. He’s in charge of that too!

Henry Glass has added some great designers to their list and I think you’ll be delighted to see what’s coming soon! It’s a talented group and we work great together. Obviously there’s some designers missing from my photos, so I’ll catch them at spring market. I think there will be a few more surprise names added to the list!

And the part of market I love the most are the evenings we spend with friends. Brenda, Anne and I were so excited to have dinner with our favorite little lady, Emma Jolly! She was the star of the evening and so, so cute! She has the most beautiful skin and gorgeous red hair. She’s as pretty as her mom Kimberly!

Kimberly and Emma

So, so happy!

She’s one of the happiest babies I’ve seen!

Probably because she knows how much she is loved by all of us!

And a little pink bow in her hair! And are you ready for this? She does sign language! 18 months old and so smart! She’s part of the new generation of babies that can do sign language! Amazing!

Bye Emma! We’ll see you next year!

Back at market I have to show you the Michael Miller booth. It took a second place ribbon! I never got by to see the first place booth, but this booth was like walking through fairyland . Their carpet was snow white and I felt like I should take off my shoes when I walked across it.

Fairy blue and white! The entire booth!

And every chair had fairy wings!


A fairy lamp surrounded by flowers. This booth was a wonderland!

But the front of the booth took the cake. It was a bed made from tree branches! It was just incredible and my photo doesn’t do it justice. The tree trunks on each side of the bed came up to form a canopy. It was like looking at a fairy bed in the forest! I expected a fairy to fly by any minute!

And then of course there’s wonderful Moda. Every year Moda picks a theme and this year it was “Bake Shop”! Oh the things that were cooking in this shop. Wait until you see them!

This was part of the Moda Home booth. Can you believe they even got these lights to work? How’s that for a wiring job? Genius a la Moda!

And at Moda even the men wear aprons. This is Bob a Moda sales rep. He’s exhausted from selling so much fabric and he had to rest in our booth. Bob you are so cute in that cupcake apron!

And here’s a link to a treat you might not know about yet. Lissa Alexander, the sweet, sweet marketing director for Moda has her own blog! That’s right she’s blogging now and you’ll be able to find out what’s going on at her second home…Moda! Bunny hop on over and say hi! http://modalissa.blogspot.com/ You’ll love getting to know her. We ALL love her!

We obviously couldn’t visit Galveston this year. The area was devastated from the hurricane. But I did have a customer from the area tell me that she had heard some of the older homes actually survived the massive storm. It was the new homes that were destroyed. I’m praying for that to be true.


And so I say goodbye to Houston 2008. May 2009 be a better year for this great city.

Oh, and good news! I’m almost done with my new patterns and you’ll find them under “what’s new” on the bunny hill web site! http://www.bunnyhilldesigns.com/ Finally….I promise NEVER to be this late again!

Hugs,

Anne

Market Days Continued…

Before I go any further I want you all to say after me: “It’s OK Anne, that your new patterns aren’t ready yet. We forgive you and next time we’ll all come over to help you get everything done. We promise”. Thanks everyone! I could use your help and I’m so sorry to be so late. (:

So now, while I should be working on those patterns (yes, they are coming soon) I’m blogging away…but I just can’t wait to show you how exciting Quilt Market was!

Finally, a photo not in my booth! Lynette Anderson was right down from me, because she has TWO new lines of fabric for Henry Glass. Just wait until you see them! I’ve already begged for some fat quarters…I adore all her designs. Anything she does, and I do mean anything I would make for myself (if I had time)!

The beautiful Holly from Lakehouse came by with her little doggies. Of course I had to have a picture. Holding a little dog felt so good. And they were about the size of Chelsea and Bitsy!

Mary from Mary’s Cottage Quilts. I made her take a picture with me just so I could see that smile of hers. She’s as sweet and beautiful as she looks! Now if you don’t go to ANY other blog from here you HAVE to go to hers. You will absolutely crack up! I promise! You HAVE to leave a comment! You just HAVE to!

The gorgeous scarecrow lady at the Alexander Henry Booth. She was a stunner! I’d have loved to be in the planning for her. Can you just imagine someone saying, let’s create a beautiful scarecrow? Who’s the genius that thought that one up?

A full shot of the Alexander Henry booth…

Froggie went to market dressed in his new cherry fabric…Oh Cherry Oh! Can you guess who he belongs to? Just look below and you’ll see…

Three of my favorite Moda girls, Me and My Sister and Mom. They were obviously raised like this because Mom is just as fun as they are. Oh if I only lived closer to Arizona. I would buy the house right next to them just so I could always be around them! Barb and Mary I adore you (and mom too)! They make Mom work. I saw her on the way to sample spree pushing an big shopping cart filled with frogs! Who else but mom would do that for them?
I found this ribbon company quite by accident on my way back from lunch. I couldn’t tear myself away. I went a bit nuts saying things like, “I’ll have one of those, and one of those, oh and one of those too”. The lady was writing faster than my credit card could imprint. They were reasonably priced and ADORABLE! I’ll have them on my web site within a few years (just kidding…soon I promise!).

Emirates the International airline of the United Arab Kingdom, had crew staying at the Hilton in Houston. These beautiful women with rows of matching suitcases, were all over the hotel lobby. The red and beige outfits tell the story of the new colors coming in fabric design! LOL! I wonder if they knew before we did!

If you think I’ve finished with market photos you would be wrong…one more post to come! And guess who you’ll be seeing? Her name is Emma, she has the most beautiful Auburn hair and I had dinner with her! Can’t wait to show you!

Back to work on those patterns….

Happy November 1st and hugs all around!

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