My Bonnie Saved A Seat for Me!

Hey everyone - it's taken me a few days to write this up and get it ready to publish... if anyone remembers 3rd Thursday = Quilt Guild Night for me, and this month was the WHOLE REASON I joined!!! b/c the guest speaker/teacher for August was Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

And just like in months past, all day and even the day before I prayed and prayed that nothing would happen at the plant for David to deal with to keep me from going... after all hubby is the babysitter b/c grandparents are 16 hours away. He arrived home in time and just as I scooped up my keys and CHARGED camera WITH the memory card... I decided last minute I'd help him out and stick the Pizza into the preheated oven.... while STILL holding keys and camera... we have one of those pampered chef stones with the metal rack handles...

what was I thinking? or not thinking? Yep, umhum, as you can already see coming... I practically THREW my camera into the oven! Yep my 2nd heart stopping moment this month... (the other involves ME tripping over a cord and knocking over a lighted fountain resting under neath of a 5 foot tall cake held up my 4 sets of stair steps... but that is another story for another time)

Thankfully I was able to fish it out using some tongs that were nearby in my basket of kitchen utensils - it was wedged in under the heating element sitting there in the oven floor... AAK! The only damage was that my scotch tape holding the camera together was all melted and also a 1.5" diagonal burn mark on the screen where you see the photos... but I quickly turned it on and WHEW it still works!!

I guess I was too shook up to remember to take any "before leaving photos" and share here with all of you... but the GOOD NEWS is - that I DO have a few photos from the guild night to share ;)

as soon as I arrived and opened the door and saw the sign in sheet - it dawned on me that I FORGOT my name badge..... but forget being eligable for the door prizes - b/c THE Bonnie found me within moments and came up from behind me and greeted me with a huge hug! Looks like I didn't need a name badge after all :P

and for the fist time ever, I had VIP seating.. we chatted very briefly before the meeting but told me that she has saved ME a seat up on the front row RIGHT beside HER! :P how cool was that!? Good thing too b/c it was the largest night meeting crowd we've had since I joined in April... so I didn't have to look over anyone's heads to see the quilts... they were RIGHT THERE in front of me! :) Woo hooo!

Of course after the welcome and President's recap of the morning meeting - the first thing up is Show-N-Tell and last night there were more SNT's than any other month I've been to! :) I roughly counted just over 30-35 women at the meeting... and they reported there were 25 guests at the morning meeting pluss the 100+ members that regularly attend. ;)

One lady I sat beside had traveled 2 hours to come as a visitor and see OUR Bonnie ;) Wish I could remember her name...

This guild member brought 2 quilts to share. The first one was for her grandson with a Noah's Ark theme. Those large red star points were made from fabric that had a tone on tone print of patchwork stars -very cool! ;)

This one's made from using circles that she cut out and sewed together and then machine appliqued down the cruved flaps. It had a neat square patchwork back side b/c it was quilt as you go but I didn't missed getting a snapshot of the back sorry :/ Don't cha just love red & white quilts! ;)

And the next Show-N-Tell was by Miss Ann. She has been a guild member for 15 years and never before last night had ever brought anything for show-n-tell!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? I'm so glad that she did b/c her quilt had such a great and funny story behind it.... even involving calling her local POLICE STATION to ask what the number was for being drunk! LOL :P So her quilt name is .08 cabin something... I'm sorry I don't remember exactly - but I do know she didn't want to call it drunkin log cabins... LOL But she did back it with a very pretty fabric with wine glasses :) no photo of that one either. :/

I met Ann at my LQS earlier this year, April I think it was.... I'm not sure how "new" she is to working there - as I've not been in there but less than a handful of times the past year or two - ever since the twins started walking there is no way I can manage them in a fabric store - so not only are they great birth control but they're also helpin manage the budget at our home! LOL

Anyway, Ann was "new to me" and she and I hit it off talking and that day I got to share with her my Crayola Challenge Quilt and also my Quilt for Kids Quilts that I happened to have with me before I took them into the Mailbox place next to the LQS to mail them off. (David was in the car with the kids that morning, I'm sure) But I'm so glad Ann and I got to visit and meet one another that day - I got to share with her www.quiltville.com and she wrote it down and went home and fell in love with Bonnie Hunter :)

Here's Denise Green above - she was the trunk show guest the fist month I attended in April, so it was Great to see her again. The moment I saw her there I just knew she was gonna be in for a treat to see Bonnie Hunter's quilts b/c Denise also is a scrap lover!

Even Mona had a Show-N-Tell... her "Bricks & Stepping Stones" made with shirtings. This one is in my future too! FREE Pattern for above quilt here --> Quiltville's Bricks & Stepping Stones

and if this BA wasn't beautiful enough - the hand quilting on it was Gorgeous with a capital G!

sorry I don't have names for all the show-n-tell ... but I was so pleased to see so many members at the night meeting and several who brought something to share tonight!

Our Guild President, Diane's Show-N-Tel. This was from the June workshop when Kim Diehl was here. Also Diane had her monthly banner to show us - the Ball canning jar looked so cool!

Sorry I don't have a better photo, she was far away from me... oh and her bag- HER BAG! The MOTHER of all workshop bags... she kept pulling and pulling her stuff out of it... all that she made to coordinate. So functional and pretty!

I guess I didn't get a shot of the front side but let me tell ya - it held e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g... tube mailer for fuseable stuff, cutting mat, rulers - OH the rulers even a long pocket on the bottom for her 24x6... she also had a bag for her iron with separate place for the cord to go over so it wouldn't get hot... and she made a matching lunch bag... and this very cool flip over and stand up Block Design Board... again sorry I didn't get better photos...

Mona in the black had made one too...

So pretty and it got a lot of Oooughs and Aaaah's ;)

and then...

Then, it was OUR Bonnie's turn! :) Ever since discovering her blog back in 2005, I've always imagined what it would be like to be a fly on the wall during one of her class/workshops or turnk shows... and TONIGHT I had a FRONT Row Seat! (one that she saved for me!)

and here she is in front of her famous "Fabric Food Chain" quilt.... no telling how many sky miles this one has racked up b/c it gets to go to every show ;) Also Bonnie had her tote bag which I'm sure she uses in all her talks... pulling out scraps of fabric and talking about them... but take a look at something she brought along extra that she just happened to stumble upon before coming to Texas.... something from her magazine stash...

Ta-Da! An article write up with photo of OUR GUILD from some 30 years ago!!

Not sure if you can click to make it larger and read it - but take a look!!! Just before packing for her trip to Texas she was going thru some old magazines... and flipped thru one and this caught her eye! Talk about PERFECT timing!

This was written about OUR Guild years ago and so what a neat moment when she pulled it out of her bag and read parts of it to us! ;) The last paragraph was especially neat about Round Robins. Bonnie said that earlier in the morning meeting she asked the group if any of the ladies who were in the photo were there today? and that several ladies in the front row all raised their hands :P How cool is that!?

The first one she started out with was Perkiomen Daydreams, I think b/c it may have been the heaviest with all the seams 10,000 pieces wow. My photo of it turned out terrible ( I hadn't played with the settings for the light in there (same light fixtures as a school gym, which doesn't always play nice with my camera) So when I can I'll share a link...

Next up was...Aaaah - the Double Delight in person! I've seen many photos from the yahoo group when they worked on this one when it was a Mystery - and ooough la, la it was so much prettier in person! This photo does not do it justice!! I know that one day I will have to make this one!! Goodness knows I already have over 800 mini 9 patches... just need to choose what color and then plan the rest. one day, one day..

Above is the quilt for the Saturday Workshop = My Blue Heaven - pattern available FREE on her website. What is so awesome about this pattern is that it taught how to use BOTH the EZ Angle and... the Companion Rulers! :).. Yeaaa! Learning these will change the way we piece simple HST QST and flying geese units all using strips from our Scrap BINS!!

The "My Blue Heaven" quilt above was made using entirely 2.5" strips of lights and various shades of blues. Yep you read that right 2.5" was the only size needed! ;)

Next one was Pineapple Blossom where she uses the sew and flip method and all of those HST's in the border are the bonus units from resewing again before cutting off the sew&flips! Again, it's another FREE pattern on her website and also another one on my bucket list!

and I have to add ... that as I sat there and watched each quilt unfold it was like I was getting to meet someone special for the first time... like an internet friend that you've known on line for a while... but never met in person before... I know they are not people but quilts, but I sooo remember Bonnie writing about them as she made them years ago on her blog - way before she knew they'd one day be in a book.. I knew most all of them by name before she announced them :)

Example of the memories flashing back to me before my very eyes...Cathedral Windows. I remember when she wrote about it here how it reminded her of the windows of the church where the choir she sang with rehearsed in Columbia, SC. Did you realize this pattern all came about b/c a reader wrote to her and asked, "what else can you do with 4-patches if she kept making them." Fast forward to today and you can easily find a dozen Bonnie Hunter patterns that call for the scrappy 4-patch units ... or more if you count the ones in her books!

The Cathedral Stars Pattern is FREE on her website and Bonnie teaches how to use both the EZ Ruler and the Tri Recs Rulers. It's also a popular workshop class that some guilds choose.

And above is one that made a lot of members' hearts go *pitter patter* - These TINY log cabin blocks finish at THREE INCHES!!!!!!!! After the show I laid my keys down on it folded up and took a photo so you could see just HOW small they really are!

aaah... she even passed around a few of the class samples for us to each look at, pet and drool over :P This is not the "Maverick Star" but very close to the one like her Maverick Quilters Web Ring logo. Love it! I'm not in the Friday workshop but these are things they will be learning and playing with. Crums, free form letters, maverick stars...

Wow those tiny sawtooth stars in the border on the right are SUPER SPECTACULAR! la,la,loved those! Can not believe it was back in Dec 2005 that I first saw and read about this one.

Here are a few more quilts from her first book Scraps and Shirttails. Did you know that one of her very "first" patterns she shared for FREE on her web page was the one called Star Struck. And the one that the link takes you too shows one made up using shirts but b/c she didn't wnat to have to remove it from her patterns on her website, she revised it a little (with the sashing) and changed the name and then was allowed to include it in her book. ;)

I currently have a Star Struck in the making ...in her origional colors the green and white with red accents. After seeing this border on the one in the trunk show I know I will want to do the same with mine. Loved it!

Virginia Bound on the LEFT and Carolina Crossroads on the RIGHT (again sorry for my poor lighting and camera settings) Click on the words left and right above to take you to her photos of them to see proper colorings. ;) Did you know that Carolina Crossroads was Bonnie's first online Mystery Quilt that she hosted on her yahoo group? At that time in her life she was moving b/c of her hubby's job change from SC up to NC..... and instead of packing she decided, "... hey, let's start a mystery! :P haha I think the name "Carolina Crossroads" is perfect don't you?

Above is "Cactus Patch" where she used up string blocks set with solid HSTs... and check out the half row on the right... :) inspired by antique quilts..... and take a look at the back side ;) They're even fun to look at. What a great way to use up more stash!

"Bow-Dacious!" and "Four Patch Revisited" have something in common... can you tell? all the 4 patches used in both quilts are color cordinated. as in 4 blues, or 4 reds... Bonnie told of having so many of these left over from Bow-Dacious that she had enough to make the 2nd quilt and use them up... and take a look at the top of the quilt on the RIGHT an extra row to change the would be square quilt into a rectangular one ;)

"Crabapples" I knew was gonna be stunning as I remembered when she first started this as her own leader/ender project a few years back and just recently saw Subee's own quilt on her blog with Bonnie holding it up... and just love these trees set on point. If I ever get around to this one, I'll do like Sue did and try to best replicate Bonnie's colors. Those poison green setting triangles and red framing borders are so rich! love them!

"Nine in the Middle" had a wonderful ole time appeal to it... at least it did for me. The cners of each 9 patch had a red fabric... something I've heard my mom talk about "Momma Newt" doing in her quilt making. ;) Don't you just love that pieced border... and take a look at those random blocks used in the backing! Love it!

And although I've purchased both Bonnie's Books - I didn't exactly remember this one "Hopscotch, Butterscotch" perhaps b/c for the past 4 months my books have been on loan to a friend... but as I sat looking at it I thought BINGO... this would be a great way to use some of the 200+ 4-patch blocks that I recently received in my latest swap... making those dark/light rail combos for each block would be easy peasy... All the hard work of making 4 patches is already DONE baby! ;)

Bonnie ended with "Classic Strippy" and then announced that she would be over at the table selling the FEW books that she had of Adventures with Leaders & Enders and signing them and that she only had ONE copy left of Scraps & Shirttails left from the morning group...

So I quickly ventured over to her table and got a quick pic taken with an outstretched arm and upside down camera :) and she signed my books! Thankfully I had already wrote to her a couple nights before and told her to save me a copy of each - this makes my 3rd time buying myself a copy of Scraps & Shirttails... I seem to keep gifting them away! and would be my 2nd copy of Adventures with Leaders & Enders... This time both of these are for my 2 eyes only! I'm not sharing or showing them to nobody! :P

And after most everyone had gone home she was taking down her Fabric Food Chain Quilt to hang up the ones for the next day's workshop and suggested us hanging my Christmas Lights and getting a photo of the two of us in front of it. I felt so flattered. THANKS BONNIE! :)

Oh and remember how I use to show a photo of me at the Chick-fil-A drive thru after guild nights? Well take a look at my NEW monthly indulgence after guild meetings before driving back home... no more chicken for me... LOL

Love from Texas!