Year(s) of the Rabbit(s)

Most of you already know the story. I was smitten with Bunny Hill's Rabbits Prefer Chocolate BOM (as it seems most of the quilting world was) and I signed up for the monthly class at my local quilt shop. That first month, I made the first block. The next month, on the second block, I tweeked the pattern a little bit--that was the big chicken with the bunny on its back, and I wanted it to look like it was running faster. By the third block--well, I tweeked that one even more. And the fourth block? That's when I got sidetracked and put it away for awhile.

Over the years, I pulled it out now and then and worked on it a little bit and then put it away again. Finally this year, I got a little more serious about it. After all, by this time, I had quite a few blocks made and only needed to make a couple more.

Well, maybe more than a couple. But it wasn't too far from finished, so I kept on. And now the quilt top is done.

A couple of you asked about a pattern. No, I can't market my version because it's really Anne Sutton's pattern--admittedly with a few tweeks and variations, but it was originally her idea. But I'd like to encourage you to try something similar if you like a pattern but you have a few ideas of your own. Really, it's not as hard as you might think.

For mine, I looked at how Anne drew her bunnies and chicks, and I drew similar shapes onto freezer paper with a pencil. If a line wasn't right, I erased and redrew it. The shapes were relatively simple. I'm not an artist--for instance, I'd be hard pressed to draw a design like McKenna Ryan's applique patterns--but these simple designs are achievable, particularly if you have a good pattern to begin with.

I looked at the copyright date on Rabbits Prefer Chocolate--2005. I suspect the class I took began in 2006, so I've spent six years on this project! You know what? I took another BOM class at the same time with similar results--I think I finished the first block for that one. Maybe it's time I got it out again.