Merry Christmas December block finished...now for the quilt!

Oh Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs, I am so happy to have found you back in March, 2009! I really feel sad to see this wonderful project come to an end and am almost in tears as I view your December block. With tears of sadness, yet of excitement, I wish to extend my sincere thank you, Anne for your fun designs provided to us so faithfully and generously this past year. As I expressed before, my participation in stitching these blocks forced me to discover the wonderful experience of hand applique! I have enjoyed your designs immensely, rewarding both mentally and therapeutically. I especially enjoyed sharing my last nine months with all the other talented and friendly members in your Flickr group... Flickr now seems to be just part of my daily survival mode as making these blocks has been the highlight of 2009 for me. Meeting all these wonderful and talented members who share their comments and ideas has introduced friendships which I hope will last my lifetime. Words seem inadequate to express my sincere appreciation for all the time and effort you have faithfully devoted to this project. Thank you for providing such a life enriching experience for me and I am sure I must represent many others also. I will now cherish my completed quilt for many years and forever, I hope. You are a very talented designer and I eventually hope that I will continue to stitch many more of your designs from your website when my financial situation improves.

May you and your family be blessed with the most wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year.

ANYONE INTERESTED IN A TEAPOT RELATED QUILT ALONG

Would anyone be interested in doing a quilt along? Another member, Jeanne in the Flickr "A Tisket A Tasket" Block of the Month was asking me if I would be interested as we both found we love teapots! As an invitation to other members who may be interested in joining the Flickr "All About Applique" group, Jeanne provides more details HERE:

I have some ideas to design my own teapots and there are some wonderful teapot (or coffee pot) patterns available online. Some great links to teapot pattern sites are here:

LINKS TO TEA RELATED APPLIQUE PATTERNS:

1. Bunny Hill - Cream and Sugar

Nine blocks of tea cups and sweet things.

2. Kay Mackenzie's Pattern site is: http://www.quiltpuppy.com/bookshop.html

A photo of Kay's teapot patterns is at the top of this post. If you want to ORDER, please click the photos.

Please join in the fun. I can't wait and may even design my own 'cup of tea' block while I am waiting...stay tuned.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

A nice cuppa to warm away the winter blues.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, MEN...some things are just better RICH.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A tea bag is just like a woman....the longer you keep them in hot water, the stronger they get.

BLock 10 - October's Bunny Hill "A Tisket a Tasket" Block of the Month

L@@KS like the spider has hypnotised Ms Kitty or is it the other way around?

All pieces are needle-turned hand applique (except for the teeny weeny spider that crept down behind her...).

I wanted to add an owl...but after stitching those teeny weeny paws, I 'PAWS-itively' had enough..what a HOOT to do!

Thanks Anne.
Colors are dark 'rust', but looks more reddish here...sorry

"SWEET" BLOCK Design for August's " A Tisket a Tasket

The weather has been been rainy and I have been trying to work on some quilting WIP's. Then Anne Sutton from Bunny Hill Designs posted her design for August and I excitedly started sewing my block and I couldn't stop. Now what am I going to do until next month's design is released?

I could work on my mystery cross stitch as I only have a couple of sections to do, but this is more of a winter activity.

Here is the block I made for August. And if you love cupcakes, take a peek at Zalita's "dee-luscious" site:

ENJOY.

April's Block

After twelve days with the dreaded flu bug, I finally started the April block. It took me a long time to start as my fabrics were all from my age-old stash and I had only this one 'wittle' piece of brown for the chocolate bunny, but he is finished. I vowed I was not going out to purchase more fabric for this project. I loved doing this one.

Block 2 - January Bunny Hill's "A Tisket a Tasket" Block completed...waiting for April's release

....I completed the embroidery stitches this morning and anxiously wait for the April pattern to be released on the Bunny Hill website...please see my posts and link below if you are interested in sewing these FUN blocks.

After seeing all the other member's blocks on Flickr site, I decided to enter this project late. My sewing machine is too old to feature the blanket stitch, however I really loved hand stitching these blocks. This was my first project using hand applique.

I was happy to use several of my fabric 'scraps' for these blocks as the pattern pieces were very small and did not require purchasing 'new' fabrics. The blue celestial and snowflake fabrics above are actually from celestial themed fabrics I had collected on my travels for my Millenium Quilt which is still a WIP. I have assembled three or four blocks for my Millenium project using machine piecing technique, however have misplaced these blocks in my stash in the basement. I am now hoping to relocate these blocks and perhaps finish that WIP in 2009-2010!

And the weather outside is 'frightful', with fresh snow from last week, so I didn't feel guilty about consuming my time rather than the dreaded H word...and this is supposed to be spring!

Block 2 - A Tisket A Tasket Block of the Month

Here is Block 2 of the " A Tisket A Tasket Block of the Month" series. I can hardly wait to stitch Block 1 before the new design for April is released. If interested in these adorable 'free' quilting patterns (for personal use only), these patterns are available online here:

http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns

I had so much fun making this block and my applique stitching is getting faster and easier with practice. Of course I am also doing Part 2 of the Mystery Garden Stitch Along. I have accumulated many Victorian theme fabrics and am trying to use my 'scraps' for these BOM blocks. When I saw the bird pattern, I immediately wanted blue birds as they remind me so much of cottage times at the lake.

I may even 'complete' a project soon, however I admire some bloggers who post all projects finished in one month.

Block 3 BUNNY HILL BLOCK OF THE MONTH

FREE PATTERN FOR THIS BLOCK HERE:

http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns

I completed sewing this March block on St Patrick's Day!

This is my FIRST attempt to 'hand' applique and it was so much fun! I had found several tutorials on Google and used the freezer paper 'on top' method. I noticed most members are machine stitching their blocks however I have an old sewing machine. And I enjoy hand stitching.

I am now working on Block 2, a basket with two birds, then will proceed to attempt the January block of a snowman holding stars. Of course I have the Garden Mystery Stitch Along in progress, but decided to make these blocks as all these designs are too adorable!

I have learned lots about applique and am looking forward to more applique. I ripped out the bottom shamrock three times because green did not show well against the green basket as a background!

I would highly recommend making these blocks...so much fun. Please read my post below for more information if you are interested in these free patterns.

And better LATE than never is an IRISH FRIENDSHIP WISH:

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
Good Luck!!

Adorable FREE Quilt Pattern at Bunny Hill Designs

I could hardly wait this morning to check my internet site for the new block designed for March. And to my delight the design is of a bunny rabbit jumping over Shamrocks in a basket. And pattern is free on the Bunny Hill Blog Site. She writes:
I love a free pattern and I hope you do too! Please remember that these are "free" and at no time may they be sold or distibuted commercially. Have fun and enjoy!
Anne Sutton

A Tisket, A Tasket
Twelve Months of Baskets!

Yes, a Free Mystery Block of the Month from Bunny Hill Designs!

Now I have another 'just-gotta-do' project...is there such a thing as having too many projects on the go? I am enjoying my Garden Fantasy Stitch Along so very much and vowed to myself that I HAVE to complete one project before commencing a new one. Surfing these blog sites is so much fun...however can be a distraction for housewives.

Then I marvelled at the collection of blocks entered at Flikr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/969252@N20/

Enjoy the site.

...and here is a cute little song you can sing while you are all sttiching. My mom used to sing this to us girls when we were young:

A-tisket a-tasket

A green and yellow basket

I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it

I dropped it, I dropped it

Yes, on the way I dropped it

A little girlie picked it up

And took it to the market

She was truckin' on down the avenue

Without a single thing to do

She was peck, peck, peckin' all around

When she spied it on the ground

A-tisket a-tasket

She took my yellow basket

And if she doesn't bring it back

I think that I shall die

A-tisket a-tasket

A green and yellow basket

I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it

I dropped it, I dropped it

Yes, on the way I dropped it

A little girlie picked it up

And took it to the market

(Was it red?) No, no, no, no

(Was it brown?) No, no, no, no

(Was it blue?) No, no, no, no

Just a little yellow basket.