Wednesday, March 24, 2010

BONNIE HUNTER CAME TO OUR HOUSE TO PLAY

Well known author, quilter, artist Bonnie K. Hunter was in the Grand Rapids area this week. She gave two workshops and spoke last night at the West Michigan Quilter’s Guild focusing on her Scrap User’s System. Hunter says she gets so much done because her theory is you can do anything in 15 minutes. She will use those 15-minute increments to iron scraps, sort fabric, cut fabric, or sew, or whatever. She never lets herself think, “I don’t have enough time to do that.” She considers herself a scrap USER not a scrap saver. Above is her Double Delight quilt. Hunter says that she sorts her scraps into two piles: neutrals and colors. She may also sort by size. She cuts anything less than 12” long into squares or bricks.

This is called Cathedral Stars and is made using the Tri Rec rulers. It was the object of one of her workshops this week. Hunter says her strip widths are 1 ½”, 2”, 2 ½”, and 3 ½”. She does not use 3” strips. Her Bricks are 1 ½” x 2 ½”, 2” X 3 ½”, and 1 ½” X 4 ½”.

This quilt is made of recycled shirts. The pattern is on her website. She often scouts garage sales and Goodwill Stores to find used shirting.
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This quilt is called Crabapple. I’m sorry that the picture isn’t better as the lighting wasn’t the best, but I so loved this quilt and wanted to show it to you. What a great way to use up all those little pieces of fabric. Hunter says that if you think your fabric is ugly and should not be in your quilt, just cut it into smaller pieces. No one looks at those small pieces and sees the design they see only the color. When making a quilt, she uses her smallest pieces first. Hunter said that the most important thing about quilting is the relationship with other quilters. "Quilting is not a hobby it is a life style." You can visit Hunter at her website Quiltville where you can also find instructions on her scrap saver system and lots of free patterns.
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Looking for a cute Easter decoration: Check out the Nobel Wife. You are going to love it!

Until next time,
Caroll

9 comments:

Allie said...

I saw on her blog that she was going to be in Michigan, and I wondered where - aren't you the lucky one! Those quilts are amazing!

Kimberly Mason said...

What is the name of the Kaleidoscope string quilt? SOOOO beautiful! And you know how I love a good kaleidoscope...

Micki said...

These are really lovely quilts. You must have all had a wonderful time!
Micki

Anonymous said...

Bonnie is a sweetheart too...don't you just love how down to earth she is?!

Mary Lou Weidman said...

Fabulous and wonderful scrappy quilts! What can be better than using lots of wonderful fabrics?
Thank you so much for your nice note about the alphabet fabrics-I appreciate YOU and your time and your talents! Great blog.

Vicky F said...

Hi Caroll,
Nice seeing you at Guild last night. Wasn't Bonnie's lecture the best??

And you don't need to apologize for your photos; I think you captured the flavor of the quilts quite well.

Vicky F

Nanette Merrill said...

You are lucky. Those are just fantastic quilts.

Nancy Page said...

Oh, I wish I could have been there. I have Bonnie's books and love what she does with scraps. The quilts are really fantastic and uniques. Thank you for sharing.

Have a great day.

Stephanie in Michigan said...

I saw that Bonnie was coming to Western Michigan in her posts on her Facebook page. I wish I could have gotten off work to join in the fun. I missed it. :-( I adore Bonnie's blog, books, website, etc. Hope it was fun!

lkjlkj

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