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Thursday, August 04, 2016

Nearly Kitted Out!

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Kit-making is still in progress at Quilt Villa!

I am slowly watching the piles of pieces go down as each one is picked up in order and assembled for each cruiser.

Two kits each! 

And I better plan on a big kit of miscellaneous parts incase anyone loses a needle, a pin, a leaf piece or their thread!

As I’m bundling all of this stuff up I am beginning to think of the weight of my own luggage and the restrictions that go with it. I think I’ll be leaving that 3rd pair of shoes at home.  And plan on wearing everything in my small packed wardrobe twice – I don’t think folks will care if I don’t have much to wear as long as the class stuff makes it intact!

Do we have everything?


  • 4 background squares.  Check.
  • 1 1/2 lengths of green stem strips. Check.
  • 12 flower head squares. Check.
  • 4 basket triangles. Check.
  • 28 green diamonds for leaves and bud ends. Check.  (That’s 1, 400 diamonds but I’m not thinking about it that way!)
  • 1 center cornerstone square. Check.
  • Heavy basting thread. Check. (I spent part of my weekend winding 50 bobbins!)
  • Individual masking tape rolled around hotel room keys. Check. (Thanks to Irene for these!)
  • 50 red felt squares loaded with pins and two sizes of needles. Check.


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Team Work Rocks!

We brain stormed these up when Irene was here for 4th of July.  She had felt at home and said she could cut them with her Accuquilt.  I sent pins home with her.  They came back to me with the masking tape wrapped room keys (for pinning patterns to windows and tracing!) and I sat last night while watching Limitless on Netflix adding the #7 embroidery needle for basting and the #10 applique sharp for hand stitching to the felt squares.

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Spanish Rose Kit

See the tape on the card? 

Perfect student amount and no one has to fight for the roll of tape going around!  And for good measure, a Quiltville Seam Guide for when they get home.

Thank you Irene, for wrapping tape on 50 half room-card keys!


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A Little Bit Hexie Kit!

  • Background square? Check!
  • Hexie Starter Pack with instructions courtesy of Paperpieces.com? Check!  And thank you very much!
  • 12 more hexie papers, and 12 more squares to go with starter pack?  Check!
  • Needle threader? Check!
  • Bobbin of bottomline thread for nearly invisible stitching?  Check!
  • Felt square with pins & needles?  CHECK!

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Ground Zero!

I put the table up on bed risers so I can stand at counter height and assemble while mostly listening to whatever I want to watch.

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And this happened over the weekend!


Much Clock Happiness! And the flannel backed table cloth design wall is back up!

This is the clock I got last Christmas!  And I’ve missed having my flannel wall to place blocks on as I work.  It was helpful to have them there while doing my 2017 Addicted to Scraps blocks.  Denver! on Monday!  Can’t wait!


My Soggy Thursday!

And I’ll take it!  It’s been so hot and so humid.  Even though I wanted a long mountain hike this morning, this gives me the perfect excuse just to finish the last of the kits, and then hit the sewing machine!

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It’s going to be a string piecing day!

Oh, and yesterday the folks at Craft U asked if I would add a binding tutorial to my workshop we are recording.  “SURE!  But is it okay if I bind something OTHER than a Wanderlust sample? I don’t have time to make another Wanderlust table runner to demo binding on…..but I DO have a wall hanging that needs binding!”  This was met with an ecstatic YES! 

So..now the plan is…to get Spanish Rose quilted on Saturday, so I can do a trimming and binding demo on camera on Tuesday/Wednesday during my recording.  I guess I will be doing the hand stitching on the binding of Spanish Rose on my way HOME from Denver on Thursday.  And then there is only a few days before we leave for Barcelona.

**Bonus Announcement!**  Craft U is changing their format!  Instead of offering classes on set dates, college style, they are soon to be going to all streaming, anytime you want to start you can start, and you can watch as many times as you want!  I am so excited!  

So on September 1st, if you haven't taken my already running Scrap Quilts with Bonnie Hunter workshop, you will be able to purchase it and start it right away and watch it as many times as you want. It will live in your account forever.  HOORAY! (This is what I have wanted, and those who take classes on Craftsy or Iquilt know of the format.)

My new workshop will start in November, also in the streaming whenever you want it upon purchasing format.  TERRIFIC.  Thank you, Craft U!

The time home in between Denver and Barceclona will be spent writing the PATTERN for Spanish Rose, making copies and finding a way to fit all of that paper-weight into our luggage.

And through it all, I have to once again send HUGE KUDOS to my friend Irene who is at this minute working on the power point presentation on the back-basting applique so the students can all see it from where they sit.  We can leave the power point up on the screen as they work each step.

And remember Mary Ellen who was our guide in Peru?  She is also coming on the Mediterranean cruise and will be assisting me in the classroom to make sure that all 50 students get hands on help with their projects.  It takes a village!


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Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage Hummingbird or Periwinkle Star quilt shared by a student in our Montana workshops in July.

As an instructor I watch so many students struggle over things not being absolutely 100% perfect.

This ridiculous reach for perfection can steal the joy out of so much of our daily lives including our quilting. Don't go there! Don't do this!

Life is perfectly beautiful because it is not perfect!  

Have a lovely Thursday, everyone!


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15 comments:

  1. I can't imagine that your kits, etc. weigh more than those sewing machines you were going to have onboard. I'm thinking they might be willing to waive weight limits or an extra bag charge to compensate. Maybe worth a phone call or email to get that cleared in advance. You're making spectacular progress, kudos to your helpers, too.

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  2. I wish I was going with you on this trip! I love the wall hanging. I will definitely be getting the pattern when it's available for purchase. Thank you, Bonnie for your excellence in all you do for your quilting fans.

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  3. You have been a busy bee! Irene is a great helper. Have a great time in Golden. Good news about the Craft U streaming anytime. I look forward to watching.

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  4. @robby H You are misunderstanding my point. I have luggage weight limits when I fly to Barcelona, the same way anyone does who is flying with their clothes, etc. The airline isn't going to make allowances for me simply because I am teaching on a cruise. Over weight limit luggage costs $$$ and extra suitcase costs more $$$. :)

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  5. Around here we say "done is better than perfect!" I love your quilt-backed sayings. Great job on the kits. I've been on quilt cruises, both with multiple teachers, and very few of those gave complete kits or gave you minimum fabric amounts to bring. Having hexie kits in Italy last year wonderful, as was the "bring only this amount of fabrc" instruction for Mackinac. Wish i was coming on this cruise, but the timing didn't work for me. It's a blustery, overcast day here in Alaska which means sewing time! I need only a few more color blocks to finish Razzle Dazzle so that's what's under my needle!

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  6. If we have already purchased your first workshop, will it be available in the new
    format? That can be watched over and over...
    Wow, I am tired just reading everything you are doing lol. You are one awesome lady!!

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  7. WOW Bonnie ... great ideas in your kits. You are so organized! A lot of work for you behind the scenes...Someday I will take a class or a cruise with you! I loved the online scraps class I took in the fall. so many good lessons. Thanks Bonnie.

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  8. Bonnie---we have the same clock !!!! I've had mine for a couple of years now, found it in a "boutique" type store in Prosser WA that has all sorts of arty stuff

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  9. Bonnie, you are amazing! Making kits are a time drain for you from your projects but you shift gears and jumped right in to make the cruise as "Bonnie" fun as possible. You are a wonderful, sharing quilter! Thank you!

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  10. Bonnie, you are amazing! Making kits are a time drain for you from your projects but you shift gears and jumped right in to make the cruise as "Bonnie" fun as possible. You are a wonderful, sharing quilter! Thank you!

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  11. So very guilty of the need for perfection. I have realised the error of my ways and if I kept on unpicking then I would never finish anything - let alone wear so many holes from redoing it all that the fabric just falls apart! Maybe I'll just leave the perfection to the hand sewing . . . .

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  12. I love you, Bonnie! You get me motivated but I would never be able to keep up with you. I let trying to be perfect get in my way...and it never is. LOL!
    Sandy in Rowland

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  13. Those kits are amazing. You and Irene has done a great job making lemonade from lemons. Yay for the new format - the limited time is what prevented me from buying the course first time around. I can never predict my schedule. I'll be buying it this time around.

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  14. I am so in awe of all you do! To be so organised when so much is going on in your life is amazing. It's wonderful too to have friends like Irene. Any help is always appreciated in my book when deadlines have to be met. You're a dream role model but I would never be able to keep up with your hectic schedule.

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  15. I hope you have time in Barcelona to visit Park Guell. When I saw it I did think of you and all the ideas you could get for your quilts...maybe even the next mystery quilt.

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