Cotton Way

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

My Mail Box Flooded...my tears overflowing...

...I do not even know how to start or what to say to express my surprise, gratitude and love to everyone who made the effort to flood my mail box with cards and packages to show your support... It was a pretty teary day after we arrived home from the cabin later on Sunday where I had a relaxing weekend of recovery.

We stopped at the mail box to gather the mail and my husband said "Wow, what is all this?" We were both so amazed!

There are almost 100 packages and letters...

...not to mention all the e-mails and sweet comments I have received on line!

I sat in my comfy chair in my studio and sobbed as I read each and every note you wrote and opened every package you so thoughtfully mailed.

You have NO idea how much that love and support gives me the strength to do what I have been facing and what is ahead for me... My days are very overwhelming at times and all I have to do is look at the beautiful cards of encouragement and my courage comes back!

I was so overwhelmed with love and kindness and it doesn't seem nearly adequate enough to say

Thank You SOOO Much!!!!

but I don't know what else to say. I am so humbled and blessed to be among such great, wonderful and thoughtful people. I know what this time of year means to most of you who are already up into the wee hours of the night trying to get ready for Market and I know every spare minute counts.
You took the time! Thank you!

Even though some of you I don't even know and some of you I know very well, I felt the loving spirit of encouragement from each of you. I think I may have an idea who put this all together and she is one amazing girl! You know who you are and I can't thank you enough!

Your kindness, love, thoughtfulness, sincerity and prayers will get me through some tough days ahead, you have already lightened my heart so much.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

and may God bless each and every one of you,

Bonnie

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Bright Spot

Words cannot express how grateful I am for each one of you that left me such heartfelt thoughts, prayers and encouragement. Yes, it's me blogging today. I am feeling really good and have much more strength than I thought I would at this point.

I know it is because of all of you, my friends and family.

Thank you so much!

Each day seems to have some bright spots.

My happy-go-lucky charm squares arrived and
that really brightened my day.
Bright Spot.
The pre-cuts are in stores,
but in case you can't seem to find any, I have a few in my shop.

Moda Lissa sent me this Stitch magazine and this add is on the back. Another bright spot.
Camille did the beautiful photography. Bright spot.

My mom brought me these yesterday, bright spot.

This blog post would be really long if I listed all the bright spots, so I won't, but I feel so blessed!

Hope you find a bright spot in your day,
and thanks again,
Bonnie

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Quilt Therapy

I don't know about all of you quilters out there, but throughout my life when things get a little tough or crazy there are days when I need some quilt therapy. Whether its chain stitching 243 half square triangles, making a baby quilt for my new grand baby, cutting lots and lots of pieces for a new quilt, its all very helpful to get my mind calm and back in perspective again. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about.

Well, my last post was March 1st and that was the day our new Scrumptious fabric arrived! So as you can guess I have been stitching away on my new projects, which will be finished and ready to go in a couple of weeks. Wish I could show you now, but they still have to be bound and photographed. It will be soon I promise. This line is so cheerful!

But speaking of life and how things get a little tough and crazy sometimes, just when you least expect it, that's exactly what happened to me 3 weeks ago. I went in for my yearly mammogram, you know, just so I could cross it off the list of things to do before life got really, really crazy with all the Quilt Market stuff. (Market is May 17-19). Well, long story short (this 3 weeks has seemed pretty long) I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and am going in for surgery in the morning. Wow! I know, it kind of takes your breath away, I know it did mine. It took some time to wrap my mind around it, take in all the information and make decisions that will affect the rest of my life.

Yes,we have cried and laughed this past few weeks. Its been a bit of a roller coaster ride so far and its just beginning. I am a pretty private person and would not necessarily share this, but felt I should. My reason for even blogging about this is, first of all, I just want to say thanks to so many of you that have already heard and have been so thoughtful and kind. There hasn't been a day go by since, that someone hasn't called or visited or sent something. Words cannot express how grateful I am for so many friends and family that have given me the strength and courage to take this head on and that's exactly what I am going to do. I am not quitting my business, I am not putting my sewing machine away, I am still going to eat chocolate and dream up new designs. Yes, according to my doctors, I will have a year of chemotherapy, I will loose my hair, my eyelashes and eyebrows, I will be sick at times and good sometimes, but the kind I have is very curable. So, when I can, I will sew and if that's not on the energy scale that day I will just go in my sunny sewing room and sit in my comfy chair and smile because I am so blessed and grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that is so aware of my needs and things that are important to me and has given me so much.!

A beautiful life, with a wonderful husband who will stand beside me every step of the way.

Strong children with supportive and loving spouses,

sweet grandchildren that can hug my blues away...

...and thoughtful, kind, neighbors and friends who I know will do anything to

make this journey easier.

I am so humbled already. Last Friday this box of beautiful tulips arrived on my doorstep with the sweetest note from The Moda Family...

... it meant so much! I am so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group of creative people.

Thank you to all of you! The bouquet is sitting on my desk in my studio and has brightened some very difficult days.

I wanted to let you know, no I will not be at Quilt Market this year. Yes, I have new patterns, 4 of them, because some fabric angels knew I needed to get my fabric extra early this time and my quilts were almost done before I even knew, and yes, you can order them retail on my website or wholesale from United Notions, Checker and lots of other places when they are ready. Yes, my office staff (my girls, Tracy and Emily) will send out your orders while I rest. I promised them I would, but it will be super hard for me to do!!!

Yes, Camille will still be at Quilt Market, she will be showing all of our quilts and projects stitched out of Scrumptious and she will be signing copies of her new book Simply Retro. I saw her advanced copy last night on Skype and its absolutely beautiful! Great Job Camille!!!

Yes, I will be following blogs, Instagram and Facebook with all that's happening and hope all goes well for everyone. I thought about making a life size cut out of myself to put in the booth... but that sounds a little creepy and I am pretty sure that's not going to happen at this point. Just know I am there in spirit. Its been years since I have missed Spring Quilt Market, but it seems I have a different path this year.

I started a Quilt Therapy project awhile ago that I love to work on when I travel or sit at appointments and such. I think I have shown it before, but added some new pieces of Scrumptious and am planning on including pieces from all of our fabric lines so far.

These little paper pieced hexagons are so addictive. This may be huge by the time I get done with doctor appointments and chemo. I will keep you posted. I can't decide how to stitch them together yet ,so if you have any ideas, send them my way.

Well, just want to say that I may not be blogging as often, but will keep you updated here and there. My girls will post occasionally if I can't. We are planning to have a Fat Quarter Cutting Party (no, I won't be the one cutting for a while) just so I can see something happy and fun going on in my sewing room, so watch for that soon.

Thank goodness for beautiful fabric! It can be very healing...

Hope you all have some fun Quilt Therapy today and thanks again to all of you quilting friends out there!
Bonnie

Friday, March 1, 2013

Scrumptious

OK, I couldn't resist...

So Scrumptious!

And the Quilt Market sewing begins,

Bonnie

Happy March!

This and the arrival of this makes me smile today!

Bonnie

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lucky Day

Welcome back,

if you have been here and are checking to see if it is your lucky day,

and if you are new and just joining the Quilt Along, welcome to my blog, enjoy looking around.

A few weeks ago when I introduced my new patterns, a couple of them were not yet quilted and bound so now that they are, I wanted to show you how they turned out.

The fabric for both of these quilts is happy-go-lucky and will be in stores in April/May.

This Topsy Turvy quilt was so much fun to piece.

You can use charm squares,

or this is a great way to use up some of your scrap stash.

I put Snuggles on the back to make it extra cozy...

...and it makes the quilting show up so nicely.

LeAnn did such a fabulous job!

This Carousel Ride quilt has large 16" blocks so the piecing goes quickly.

I love the tiny green border between the large borders with the rick-rack stitching.

LeAnn repeated the rick-rack in the block as well.

This quilt uses 12 Fat Quarters. There are just a couple of bundles left on sale in my shop if you would like to use them in your Carousel Ride quilt.

The 2 winners of the Marmalade Layer Cake and charm squares are:

Katie in Pittsburgh who said

"I love your oven mitts pattern! They would be perfect gifts for my mom and sisters :)"

Chris who said:

"Hi Bonnie! I LOVE ALL of them for different reasons! I made Twirl into an adorable table runner...reminds me of snowflakes! Next on the list is Baskets of Marmalade...wanting to make it out of what else? Marmalade! Thanks! Such great fun! Blessings!"

And as I promised, we have two more winners of a fabric bundle and the pattern they named as their favorite.

The 2 winners for these are:

Wendy - who made the first comment

"I love ALL your patterns - but if I am forced to choose - I would pick Carousel Ride as my favorite for Happy Go Lucky :)"

and

Kirk6400 who said:

"I love the Topsy Turvy pattern the most!!"

Congratulations!

Ladies, send me an e-mail with your address and I will send them right out.

Don't forget several patterns in the shop are still on sale for $5.00 until friday.

Hope you are enjoying the Quilt Along!

Bonnie

Monday, February 18, 2013

Moda Friendship Quilt Along

Hello! And welcome to the Moda Friendship Block Quilt Along!

Today is my day, and I am so excited to tell you about it.

We are all sharing a 9" block, so each day you can collect 3 different blocks. If you are really ambitious you can stitch them as we go! By the end of the Quilt Along you could have all kinds of great projects to make with them or sash them together to make a sampler quilt.

So gather your quilting friends, your mats and cutters and get excited to collect them all!

My block is made with our new happy-go-lucky fabric line. So quick and easy to piece!

As you can see, mine is still in progress because I chose to hand stitch my block. I love to have a hand stitching project going all the time and thought it might be fun to stitch it in red to make the stitches really pop. Please don't judge my stitches, I really do hand stitch just for fun.

The pattern for stitching my block can be found here.

Some fun ideas for using the block as a Friendship gift might be to frame it...

(what a nice keepsake for your children or grandchildren - and of course you could sign it)

...make a sewing bag out of your block like these...

and make sure you fill it with some quilting goodies.

You could make it into a rice bag like this for one of your quilting friends that stitches late into the night and needs something to soothe those tight, sore shoulders...

...or you could even make it into a table trivet like this.

It's always fun to give a handmade gift. In fact, check the shop often because these patterns and others will be on sale for $5.00 scattered throughout the Friendship Quilt Along. The sale will feature items that would make great handmade gifts.

If you need some fat quarters to sprinkle into your Friendship Blocks, I have a limited amount of four different bundles in the shop as well. They are a mix of prints from some of our fabric lines.

You can also check out this video of some of the other talented Moda designers and what they did with their blocks.

And, of course, we have some fabric to give a way!

Make a comment telling me which pattern is your favorite from my new

happy-go-lucky patterns,

and you might be the winner of a Marmalade layer cake and a charm pack!

We will have 2 winners - thanks to Moda for being so generous.

There might also be a couple of other surprise give a ways for some of you, if you are extra happy and lucky... cheesy, I know, but I couldn't resist.

Be sure to stop by and visit all the Moda designers as we each share our Friendship Blocks. And we would love for you to share your finished blocks on the Moda Friendship Quilt Along flicker page, so hop on over and add them so we can see what you have created.

Happy stitching!

Your quilting friend,

Bonnie

FEB 18th

FEB 19th

FEB 20th