Bonnie is a self-proclaimed quiltaholic and owner of the popular quilting blog, Quiltville’s Quips & Snips. She was nominated as a top blogger in National Quilters Circle’s 2015 Blogger Awards competition, and won in the categories of Best Quilting Patterns Blog and Best Overall Quilting Blog. Bonnie has also now won the same two categories in the National Quilters Circle 2018 competition. We wanted to get to know Bonnie a bit more and learn what fuels her quilting passion. Read on!
- National Quilters Circle: Is there a story behind the name of your blog?
- Bonnie Hunter: Not really a story. Quiltville has been the name of my quilting business since around 1997.
- NQC: How long have you been blogging?
- BH: I have blogged at Quiltville’s Quips & Snips for 10 years now! It amazes me how much life has happened in between writing these posts. Ten years is a long time. I blog about my life, not just about quilting, so there are many precious and funny life happenings in my archives.
- NQC: What do you do when you’re not quilting or blogging?
- BH: I travel and teach quilting full time. I have published six titles with Kansas City Star books, and they have just been acquired by C&T Publishing, so I will continue quilting, writing, lecturing, and teaching as a C&T author.
- NQC: When did you start quilting, and who taught you how to quilt?
- BH: I made my first quilt block in 1980 in a high school Home Ec class and was hooked. My husband’s grandmother taught me another quilt block pattern when I was a young bride and fostered my love of piecing.
- NQC: What was your first ever quilt project?
- BH: The first really finished quilt was a baby quilt for my sister. A churn dash. We are 20 years apart and I made it for her while still a brand new quilter. So new I didn’t know that I didn’t need to double my thread when hand quilting, and I didn’t know to bury my knots – they are still visible on the back of the quilt.
- NQC: What are you currently working on?
- BH: This morning I am putting the binding on our Lozenges Leader & Ender Challenge. Each year on the blog we issue a new challenge for units to be sewn in between the rows of other projects instead of just using a folded over thread covered pieces of throw-away fabric… build more quilts in between the lines. This was last year’s project. This year’s challenge has actually just been announced on the blog!
- NQC: What’s your sewing room like?
- BH: Often messy! Here’s what it looks like currently.
- NQC: What quilt project have you been most proud of?
- BH: My Pineapple Crazy is probably the one I am most proud of. The 5” pineapple blocks each have 45 pieces and there are over 12,000 pieces in the quilt. The pattern is found in my book String Fling.
- NQC: What kind of sewing machine(s) do you have?
- BH: I sew on vintage machines nearly exclusively. I have many treadles and vintage machines about, and I use them for my quilting.
- NQC: Describe your dream sewing room/quilting space.
- BH: I love to simply sit on the porch at my cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and just treadle away. That’s my dream spot.
- NQC: What’s your best or favorite tip for quilters?
- BH: Flip & Sew corners. You know, for flying geese, snowballs, etc. Don’t sew the diagonal right on the diagonal. That is your FOLD LINE, not your stitching line. Stitch right next to the diagonal just into the seam allowance. This allows the diagonal to end up on top of your thread and your units will reach where they are supposed to.
- NQC: What would you say to someone who’s just getting started in quilting?
- BH: Don’t give up! Build your stash slowly, and always be on the lookout for patterns that will use what you have.
- NQC: Do you have a favorite fabric designer?
- BH: I don’t actually sew with fabric lines, or one specific designer. I mix it all up. 1980s calicoes, 1990s prints, batiks, solids, civil war, 1930s reproductions, novelties… Oh, and throw in a bunch of fabrics from recycled clothing. I love scrap quilts. I need more than one line.
- NQC: Do you have a favorite quilting shop or website?
- BH: I am addicted to Pinterest for ideas! Most of my ideas and dream quilts are inspired by antiques so I am always looking at antiques. That is where my heart is.
- NQC: Whose quilting are you in love with right now?
- BH: MINE! When I can get to it!
Want to hear more from Bonnie? Make sure to check out Quiltville’s Quips & Snips to stay up to date with her quilting adventures.
Happy quilting!
Get in touch! Leave a comment or email editor@nationalquilterscircle.com.
2018 National Quilters Circle Blogger Awards sponsored by:
I just discovered Bonnie Hunter about a year ago. I LOVE her and I am currently making one of her scrappy quilt patterns. I also believe in using what you have and it just happens that I love the look as well as the idea of scrappy quilts - they seem to be cozier!
Quilts , bags , pillows & more things Thank you Sharon
would you please accept paypal orders?
So very glad to see Bonnie in the spotlight!!! I started quilting about 5 years ago and found Bonnie's website, she has not only inspired me but taught me so very many things as a new quilter. Best of all I got to use some of the fabrics left over from my days of making the kids clothes and some fabric left to me from my grandmother an avid patchwork quilter.
Love your quilts
I have been following Bonnie for about 2 years now. She is a very inspirational person. She not only gives her all to quilting but also shares with others both personal (her wonderful quotes and personal stories) along with her quilting patterns. I feel that not only have I grown as a quilter I have also grown as a person. Thank you Bonnie Hunter for all you do, I'm very appreciative!
I enjoy the scrap quilts.Bonnie shows lost of techniques to use up my stash and bits and pieces of fabrics. I have lots of small scrap flannel pieces (2 to 4 inch blocks and rectangles) How would this mix with cotton fabric? or should I just let it go. A saying of mine "Waste not, want not",
So awesome! Very inspiring. Thank you
I've been lurking the Quiltville website for a while, so I am really pleased to see this interview. I want her to come sew with me and my buddies for a week. Bonnie has changed how I think about my fabrics.
So great to see Bonnie spotlighted! She is one of my quilting heroes that has taught me to enjoy the process and to mix it up! I absolutely love scrappy quilts!