Bunny Wall Hanging

I bought this pattern at a quilt show, back in the day when I actually had time to go to quilt shows!  The pattern is "Spring Bunnies" by Harbor View Quilt Designs.  I think I finished this quilt in late 2002, but I'm not 100% positive on that. I do know I started it before September, 2001. It now hangs in my daughter's bedroom.

The size of this quilt is about 28" x 28". This was the first time I tried foundation paper piecing (for the bunny bodies). The pattern I purchased came with the foundation paper all printed and ready to go. It's kind of a difficult method to describe.  If you'd like to know what it is and how to do it, here is a link to a great tutorial on foundation paper piecing.

In addition to foundation paper piecing, I also used regular machine piecing, hand applique (the hearts), and hand quilting.

If I recall correctly, I didn't purchase any of the fabrics for the bunnies' dresses or the plaid border/binding fabric. I think I purchased the yellow background and purple sashing though. I originally made more than nine bunny blocks so that I could "test drive" them to make sure I had the right combination of colors. I ended up w/ about four bunnies leftover which I later used to make a throw pillow for my niece. I think there was also a "boy" version of this bunny pattern.

Here is a close-up of a bunny with that adorable daisy fabric dress! The face is drawn onto the fabric using a special permanent fabric marker. One of the things that really appealed to me when I first saw the pattern was the three-dimensional ears -- just LOVE that!

I used the same nine fabrics as the bunnies' dresses to make the hearts. The nine colors repeat in a pattern around the bunnies. The hearts were all sewn onto individual muslin squares by hand. Then the squares were sewn together on the machine.

At the top of this heart you can see some of my applique stitches, if you look REALLY closely. The stitches look white against the green plaid. You can also see the quilting I did around this heart.

Another heart close-up.

Here's the back -- earless bunnies! Haha!

Outline quilting of a bunny as seen from the back.

Just more quilting....still a little large and uneven...but I was getting better all the time.

The binding is sewn to the front of the quilt by machine and then rolled over to the back and stitched down by hand. I don't know if you can really see my stitches here or not, but I did sew it down by hand. And look at that perfectly mitered corner!