Wednesday, May 10, 2017

An evening with Bonnie Hunter

Beaming with Bonnie

On Monday, I attended a lecture and trunk show by Bonnie Hunter.  To be able to fully understand my fascination for Bonnie we have to go back to Homeful.

Homeful

I made Homeful in 2015 and shared the link to the blogpost on my Facebook page. That is when a magical thing happened. Bonnie Hunter saw my Homeful quilt. She loved it and shared the link on her Quiltville FB page.

But I had NO IDEA!!!

My friends on Missouri Star Quilting Forum noticed it and started a thread.
https://forum.missouriquiltco.com/showthread.php?t=55348&page=2&highlight=homeful

After I absorbed (somewhat) the euphoria, I sent an email to Bonnie, thanking her for the recognition, for the kind words and giving me a free advertisement.
Bonnie wrote back to me. I was an Cloud Nine.

Bonnie and me

If you are a quilter, you know Bonnie Hunter. How do I explain this phenomenon to a non-quilter?
Well, Bonnie is so famous that her calendar is fully booked for two straight years.  Folks want to book her for further out but she refuses to do so, because that would be insane. She has several patterns to her name and has written several books. She has a signature style.

Autographed!!!

It is like if I was a minor theater actor or an understudy and then I receive commendation for my acting from Meryl Streep.  You get the picture. But here is what is really important - the way she treated me speaks volumes about her.

Bonnie signed this to me!!!

So when I learned (by stalking her calendar) that she would be in Manassas (45 minutes away) for a lecture and trunk show, I made it a point to be there.

Talking Turkey


My friend Jennifer (also a Bonnie Hunter fan) was only too happy to drive with me.

Blue Skies

I walked into the room and walked up to Bonnie, as she was sitting behind the table with her books, notions etc. She looked up. I smiled and began to speak. She squealed with delight as she recognized me. Next thing we are hugging (like old friends). Bonnie recognized ME!!!!

Bonnie in action

I enjoyed every minute of her presentation. Loved each and every quilt and drooled over the scrappy goodness. She has amazing energy and such an easygoing manner.  I am so thankful to the Stone House Quilters Guild for hosting Bonnie Hunter.

Autographed!!!

I had to buy Bonnie's book - String Fling. It includes patterns for both Talking Turkey, Blue Skies and  nine others.  She was kind enough to sign it for me :-)

No, it is not too small :-)

On our drive back, while I was still giddy with excitement, Jennifer remarked - explaining the stature of Bonnie Hunter to a non-quilter is hard.  Jennifer had told her friend earlier - Think of this as attending a Lady Gaga concert.
Yes, I said, except Lady Gaga picked me out from the crowd and hugged me :-D
Hope you can forgive my self-absorption for just this one time.

28 comments:

  1. No wonder you are excited! what a wonderful meeting!! thanks for sharing your joy...hugs, Julierose

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like it was a great time Preeti! Glad you had a blast!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I understand! what a great time for you! mary in Az

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is awesome!!!! I'm so glad you got to actually meet Bonnie in person and how absolutely cool that she recognized you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Preeti, how wonderful for you! You deserve to be recognized! Bonnie is such a sweet person in addition to being an awesome quilter. I'm glad you got to meet her, and what a wonderful picture of the two of you together. You lucky duck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. How very exciting! I have goosebumps all the way down to my toes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. How Exciting and Amazing.I'm so happy for you and this will be one of those moments in life that you will never, ever forget.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a thrill to meet someone you look up to. You went out of your way to stalk her, but I understand how one would! I would love to meet her also, but alas I no longer travel. I am home-bound now and must search out and (internet stalk) my favorites; like YOU girl. I love your work and your blog is so fun and interesting. I love hearing about your life adventures and especially your fun convo's with Paul. Keep me smiling!!! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh I totally get your euphoria; I was on that same 9th cloud when I got to attend Angela Walters' presentation as well as take a class from her in person! And then she put my placemats on her Pinterest page! Lady Gaga is a great analogy to what we feel when we meet one of our icons. So happy for you! So lovely to see Homeful again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sew excited for you. I'd be floating for months! Can I say I "know" somone on the internet who met Bonnie Hunter?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can feel your excitement! How lovely that you got to meet your idol in person.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, Preeti, I wish I had known YOU were going to be there! I had wanted to go, even thought about going, but decided I just couldn't . . . But had I known you would be there, too, I sure would have tried harder!! You are also a star, and you shine brightly. Thank you for your blog. (lynnstck[at]yahoo.com)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I can just feel your excitement, how fantastic to meet someone you have long since admired, joy oh joy. Lovely pics, especially 'Bonnie and me', love it. AND she recognised you too, it couldn't get any better than that!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think I saw you floating on the cloud above my house today!! What fun you must have had, super awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Preeti,
    I can just feel the excitement in your post, and am enjoying it very much. How wonderful! ~smile~
    Roseanne

    ReplyDelete
  16. So glad you were able to connect with her. I can't tell you how envious I am. Living out West, it's hard to get to see "stars" like Bonnie!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh I really get your thrill at meeting Bonnie. I made a Wonky House quilt like her pattern and in my ignorance emailed her - she emailed back!! I was thrilled at that (I'm in Western Australia so not likely to get to any workshops in the US). Look forward to seeing what quilts you come up with from her book. Lovely to see your photo with her.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Omgosh, Preeti!!! What an incredibly happy "life experience"!!!! So excited for you and that you had Jennifer to gush and share with....and us, of course😘

    ReplyDelete
  19. How exciting for you to see Bonnie in person! Have fun making more quilts from the book you picked up! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! I hope someday I can attend a bonniehunter workshop! You are one lucky girl! Eileen ekmvalencia@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lucky You! Glad you had that experience.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, this sounds like the most exciting day ever! Glad you enjoyed meeting your idol this much.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Okay, so when I'm a famous quilter, I fully expect you to stalk me Enough of my silliness! I'm thrilled for you. It's such fun to get to meet and speak to people of influence in our world. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go stalk BH to see if her calendar will bring her within 150-200 miles of me.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a sweet story! I love down to earth famous ladies. I also love Bonnie Hunter.

    ReplyDelete