Each year we seek out the most unusual rabbit quilts and trends (see our 2010
Easterly Quilts). 2011 is the
year of the rabbit, so we've rounded up bunnies from all parts of the globe: England, Sweden, Russia, Japan, and the U.S. Take a look at these sublime thread sketches by Cathy Baumgartner:
Year of the rabbit mini-quilt, 13 x 13, by
Cathy Baumgartner, at
Baumcat
Cathy Baumgartner created this mini-quilt with free-motion quilting. We love the simplicity of the contemplative bunny. Cathy's masterful thread sketches, including her
mermaid,
horse,
wildlife, and
bee, remind us of line drawings with a pen: the stitching is so precise, you can hardly tell it is thread !
Where the blue bunnies fish, 8 x 10, by
Cathy Baumgartner at
Baumcat
This entire piece is only 8" x 10" (imagine machine-quilting those tiny letters!) Click to see the detail. To see Cathy's latest rabbit quilt, visit her
Baumcat blog. Finally, don't miss her gorgeous
Prayer-Flag Quilt; each "flag" is stitched with a line from a beautiful Celtic prayer.
Rabbit fabrics
Row 1: Hand-screen-printed rabbits on white linen, 39 cm x 39 cm, by Swedish designer
Maja Bäckström on Etsy. Row 2: White Rabbit of Inaba (Japanese watercolor fabric), 100% cotton, as seen at
Superbuzzy.
Row 3: Brother rabbit (Brer rabbit) linen fabric, a William Morris design, at
Fabrics and Papers; other colorways can be found at
Historic Style.
Alice in Wonderland, by Ophelia, at
Spoonflower
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is such a classic book ! This clever border fabric brings back the vintage 1800's
Tenniel illustrations, along with the text, on a blue ombre background. The border prints and toile-style patterns come in coordinating colors.
Rabbit Fabric, 8" x 8" repeat, by
Olga Nikich, at
Spoonflower
Russian artist Olga Nikich has created the most dramatic rabbit pair we've ever seen in fabric. The black and white bunnies nestle together in a yin-yang configuration. We think the blocks would look great as a wallhanging, and we've been playing around with this arrangement:
The quilting-weight fabric is available in fat quarters and yards at
Spoonflower, where you can also see Olga Nikich's sumptuous
red queen fabric. For more of her bold, graphic designs, visit Olga's website at
www.olganikich.com.
Finally, if you visit Activity Village (UK), you will find many
Year of the Rabbit coloring pages which can be downloaded (they're free !)