Bonnie Hunter is the pioneer and leader of scrap quilting today. She has a great sense of humor and a keen eye for putting together even the ugliest of fabrics to make a beautiful masterpiece. She believes in using every piece of fabric, no matter how ugly it is, and even recycling shirts into quilts. Her rule for using ugly fabrics is "If it's still ugly, you just didn't cut it small enough!".

Bonnie has been featured in numerous magazines and was nominated for The Professional Quilter's Teacher of the Year. In the July 2009 issue of "Quilter's Home" magazine, Bonnie Hunter's website was listed as the #1 designer website that Mark Lipinski (chief editor) and his staff read regularly. He ranked Bonnie's website as #4 overall in best quilting websites everyone must check out. In addition to her magnificent website, she offers a blog with daily updates at Quiltville. To learn more about Bonnie Hunter, read this interview by Real Women Quilt. If that isn't enough, a Quiltville group has formed on Facebook as yet another resource for discussing anything Quiltville related.

I encourage you to check out her website and learn more from her artistry and knowledge of sewing quilts together fast. She has developed several techniques and methods that you will want to adopt for your own quilting enjoyment. Warning: once you enter her website, plan to spend a good hour searching through her fountain of wisdom and becoming inspired by the many free patterns she has posted. Don't forget to bookmark it so you can come back to it time and time again with ease.

Here are a few of my favorite things found on her website:

1. Free Scrap Quilt Patterns. She has 43 free patterns for you to view and print right from your computer. They are so beautiful and awe inspiring that you forget they were made from even the ugliest of fabric! Her patterns are great for using up your quilting scraps for making wonderful quilts to keep or give away.
2. Tips and Techniques. Don't ignore this section of her website because it can be the most useful. She has terrific information ranging from organizing your quilting stash to various cutting and sewing techniques. She shares all of her secrets here for making quilts lightening speed fast.

3. Mystery Quilts. Each year she creates a mystery quilt and reveals the information one piece at a time. This is a great way to use up scraps, learn how to put colors together, and develop some new techniques from a trusted quilt teacher. The last mystery quilt was featured in "Quiltmaker" magazine. Check her website for details and join the yahoo email list, Quiltvillechat@yahoogroups.com, to chat with others who are also working on the latest mystery quilt.
   

You may also want to check out her first published book, Scraps and Shirttails: Re-use, Re-purpose, Recycle! The Art of "Quilting Green". A second book is in the works, Adventures with Leaders and Enders, and will be released in 2010. Watch her website for more information.

"The best things in life are Quilted" - Bonnie Hunter

Enjoy gleaning information from this up and coming scrap quilting expert. She is now enjoying traveling all over the U.S. teaching classes and giving trunk shows.