Hello to everyone popping in from Willard (or wherever you’re popping in from)! MUSICA (sorry that the Musica doesn’t work unless you can open two screens at a time on your device. If you can, click on the link, then come back to this page while it plays) . . . Welcome to my pink kitchen!
Well, it’s not really pink. But there’s yesterday’s sunrise . . . see what it did to my kitchen . . .
You can see the reflection of the sunrise from the windows directly across from these . . . turning daffodils, walls, and Beatrix Potter People sunrise pink!
The stove was splotched in pink too . . .
Morning sun sent rays across my dishes cupboard . . . had to grab the camera! Such a nice way to start the day! 
Later on, a breeze came up from the harbor and under blue springtime skies, out went our sheets for . . .
. . . a little flight in the cool salt air . . .
And that reminded me, of a really good idea I had, of the perfect 30th Anniversary Giveaway for some lucky person . . . I thought perhaps a vintage quilt would be just the thing! The Grand Prize I mentioned in WILLARD. . .
I actually decided to do this way last summer . . . you can tell by the leaves on the trees and the green . . . to give away this quilt, the one closest to us in the picture, white with the patches of color . . . I’m not sure where I got it, I’ve had it for so long. Be sure to sign up for it at the end of this blog. I do this A. because I have lots of quilts and it’s fun to share the wealth. B. It’s the 30th Anniversary of Heart of the Home and that would never have happened without YOU ♥. And C. In honor of my dad who told me to 
Here I am in 1999, thrilled because I had just gotten my first collection of fabrics with Springs Industries. They put me on the cover of Giftware Business (which I don’t think exists anymore), wondering, in the headline, “Who the heck is this person?” So this was an unexpected thrill. I never imagined my cookbooks could lead to designing fabric (I couldn’t even imagine cookbooks!). We won a prize for our booth at the 
International Quilt Show in Houston that year.♥ My corner of their huge showroom was set up as a bedroom, furnished in white wicker, a bed (the headboard), chairs, desk, even a hope chest, and the Springs people had made everything in it from my fabric, pillow cases, duvet covers, throw pillows, dolls, dresser scarves, cushions, quilts, book covers, wall hangings, lamp shades, table toppers, you name it. At a time when so many quilting fabrics were tea stained, we stuck out, not like a sore thumb, more like a rainbow on a sunny day. I’ve always loved sewing and quilts and embroidery and every kind of needlework so designing fabric with my watercolors just seemed like a natural to me, and now they were actually letting me do it! How could it be anything but fun?!
And it was fun! After Springs Industries, I was lucky again to be approached by RJR and I designed fabrics and quilts for them for several years. The only thing about fabric designing I didn’t like was that they would print the fabric only once and after it was sold out, that was it, they didn’t make any more. You’d blink and it would be gone. Like everything you see above, all gone. So it wasn’t all roses in that respect. And it was hard to get the fabric stores to know you existed, because consistency was impossible.
See those cute little teapots? I was heartbroken when they sold out and no more were made. “Why?” I wailed . . . But, it was fun while it lasted and I did love having fabric, I loved designing.
I had so much fun piecing together quilt design ideas with paper on my living room floor.
I’ve loved quilts ever since my grandma gave me one that her mom made. That was it, I was hooked, and since then I have looked for old quilts wherever I go, antique stores, flea markets, anywhere and everywhere.
I used to quilt a little bit myself, but then I learned that I could paint quilts faster than I could sew them. So when the time came, I was thrilled to design my own fabric. I just wished it could be around longer.
But no, I was not in charge, it was all gone, no cupcakes, no blue flowers, no hearts with teacups in them, no flipping tea balls. Months of work, on the parts of so many people, only six months on the market, it was all gone.😳
The licensing business has gone topsy turvy in the last 15 years, along with many manufacturers and many fabric houses. Huge wonderful Springs Industries, for all practical purposes, doesn’t exist anymore. So I have waited, still getting letters all the time from you asking for fabric, wishing and hoping and thinking, maybe someone will find me again someday.
Gone↓
But so far I’m still waiting. And while they were not finding me, wonderful things were happening on the Internet. New ways of doing things were being invented. Even our small studio could give you free bookmarks and stationery to 
print out. We could send you patterns, via email. A new world was opening. And somewhere else, genius people were learning how to print fabric on demand. ON demand!!! Which meant a designer could put a fabric design onto their website, a customer could find it there, and get just what she needed, a quarter of a yard, 10 yards, whatever. The customer had a choice of designs that were available in no other place. And those print-on-demand sites have just been getting better and better.
And now, in case you haven’t heard of them, I’d like to introduce you to Spoonflower.com. Because all by myself, with no contract to sign and nothing standing between me and you, I can upload any fabric designs I want to this site, and you can get them there, in a magnificent almost unbelievable choice of 20 (twenty!) different fabrics. And you know what else? Not only can I do this, YOU can do it too! You can design your own fabric, and they will make it! Anyone can! Your child’s drawing could be fabric! They will send you one of their little swatch books for $1 (like the one above and below) so you can see all the different fabrics, check the quality, touch it and feel it. Too good to be true.
Not only can you provide your own designs, but you can shop Independent Designers from all over the world. And they have twill, they have organic cotton, they have silk Crepe de Chine, they have poplin, they have stretchy! You choose the fabric you like, and then you choose what weight you would like it in. You can cover chairs in their fabric! You can line picnic baskets! And you know what else? Let’s say you like a fabric so much you wish it was wallpaper. Guess what? You can have any of the fabric designs in wallpaper! AND in wrapping paper!!!! I am beside myself.
So I asked them to send me a fat quarter sample of my Martha’s Vineyard Toile in “Linen-cotton canvas” so I could check the quality, and this is what they sent. I wish you could feel it. It’s gorgeous. Digitally printed, eco friendly. You could make a bag out of it, or heavy drapes, or thick pillow covers. But you can also get this design in quilt fabric, you could make poplin jammie bottoms, it could be curtains, it could be wrapping paper. It could be wallpaper. And you can do this with any fabric on their site. All of it designer, all of it one of a kind.
My samples came fast too. Took maybe a week.
I asked for samples of my birthday fabric designs . . . and here’s what they sent. I thought it was wonderful. And this is a new design for me, it was never made! So we’ve decided to go ahead and let this fabric make its debut on Spoonflower! I see napkins, I see pillow cases, I see an apron. I see wrapping paper! I even see wallpaper used as drawer paper, polka dot drawer paper!
I’m a pros and cons person, so I really thought about it ~ the pros for doing fabric this way far outweighed the cons: Spoonflower fabric is made in America! No one can discontinue my fabric but me. I could wallpaper, make drapes, cover a chair, and make a duvet all in the same pattern. It ships internationally so my Australian and German and Japanese Girlfriends can get some if they want!♥
(Does anyone recognize those shoes on the window sill in my sewing room! Agnes!)
The other thing is that Spoonflower isn’t my business. They will sell my designs, but Spoonflower is responsible for the business side, not me. They take care of the customers, answer questions and are responsible for quality control. Once I upload the designs, they take over. And they carry so many choices of fabrics, they even have patterns you can buy that come with the pieces all cut out for sewing. And believe it or not, there is no minimum order! The Pros go on all day. I think they offer an amazing service. And they started their business the same way I started mine, at their dining room table. So I get to support a small business.
My wheels keep turning . . . I can have a line of Baby fabric again! My Teds! Lamb wallpaper! Lamb wrapping paper! Lamb curtains!
There is only one con that I can see, better known as a drawback . . . but even that has a pro side. It’s the price. Print on demand and “made in America” doesn’t come cheap. And their fabric isn’t available anywhere else! But prices aren’t really as bad as you might think, especially for the heavier weight fabrics ~ compared to other designer prices, it’s 
affordable. And the bright side of this “con” is that Spoonflower does not compete with all the wonderful little quilt stores that we love and want to stay around forever, because for all of this amazing service, they really can’t compete with quilt-store prices. The good side of that is that the shops don’t carry Spoonflower fabrics, and Spoonflower doesn’t carry the shop’s fabrics. They are the same yet entirely different.♥
And you can make a lot of pretty things with just a little bit of fabric. You can edge pillowcases, and make tiny quilt squares . . .
You can have sweet little appliquéd dish towels with way less than a quarter of a yard.
You can appliqué cupcakes for almost nothing. You can line a bread basket or make a window valance, or a scarf (because they also have 100% silk). You can cover boxes or line your shelves in the peel and stick wallpaper. You can use the wrapping paper as scrapbook paper. And I’m sure, with your kind of creativity, you can think of a jillion other things to do with it.
A little fabric goes a long way . . . someday I’ll design an I Love England collection. I’ve been playing with paper ever since I learned about this. I love the birds, that will be next.
Gone, but not forgotten. ↓
Just so you know, this is not paid advertising, or even unpaid . . . I have never spoken to anyone at Spoonflower, we’re not connected in any way. They don’t know me from Adam. I just like them and knew that if you didn’t already know about them, you would want to. You can follow them on Twitter, along with their 33,000 other followers, of which I am one, at @spoonflower. So NOW:
As of today, we’ve put up three collections, 15 designs, HERE. And we’re just beginning . . . The first is called “They Say It’s Your Birthday” ~ the second is the “Martha’s Vineyard Watercolor Collection” ~ and, lastly, just in time for the think-
ahead people, our “Christmas Watercolor Collection.” And we will just keep adding on . . . we’d love to hear what you want, you want the big Santa face that looks like Joe? No problem! We will always do our best. Slowly, over time, when we are not crazy with new books or on the road traveling the country, we will add more collections and build up a nice little store where the fabric designs stay up forever and ever and ever. Ahhh, the Internet, how I love thee, let me count the ways.
And here are a few more reasons to love the Internet ↑ Giveaways! And we can connect in a way we never could before. This back and forth we have together is just amazing.♥ When I was in my twenties, I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled, and they gave me some sort of knock-out drug. While they were waiting for it to go into full effect, I started talking to my mom in a drugged-up-loony-bin-way about how someday, la-la-la . . . I wanted to have a knitting store, la-la-la, Mommy, where all my girlfriends could come and we could sit around and knit and embroider and drink tea from a tea pot and watch soap operas and teach each other things. The idyllic world. And guess what? If you count Downton Abbey as a soap opera, which I do, I got my dream! Pretty darn close, anyway!
So Girlfriends, Happy my Anniversary! Please be sure to leave a comment at the end of this blog. Just any little comment will enter you in the drawing . . . there will be three winners, three names drawn in a week or so, each getting a set of books (the trilogy) PLUS a well-used paintbrush, a pencil stub, a blotter bookmark, and a seed package from my own driveway . . . And then, ONE MORE name will be drawn, for the Grand Prize . . .
This gorgeous old quilt ~ and of course, a package of wisteria seeds. Because I know you. ♥ Happy Almost Mother’s Day! ♥ See you at the bookstores! ♥ Lots to look forward to in 2016!
Dig and be dug Girlfriends! Wob you!
OooOoo, I just got THE Willard. I have to read it and get back to you later. It has Fab…ric, which is Fab…ulous!!!
Don’t let me loose in a fabric store!!!
Margot
Spoonflower is Amazing! I’m so happy we’re girlfriends so you can tell me about such wonderful things! Goodness — there is so much that can be done with technology. I am steadfastly trying to SLOWLY savor “Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams”. It is SO wonderful! Thank you one more time for such a lovely gift of a book.
Spoonflower, who knew? Can’t wait to look around on their site. Thank you for telling us. Always enjoy opening Susan Branch. This little internet is something!
As a new quilter, my heart melts that your heart is so full of generosity to pass along one of your beloved quilts to a girlfriend! Entering my name, with fingers and toes crossed!! Happy day. P.S. Love the sunrise pictures. I keep trying to capture shots like you have but I can’t quite get my camera to pick up the images so well. Thanks for sharing yours!
A little quilt shop, which has since gone out of business, had fat quarters of your little lambs and your ducks. I bought every one they had as well as yardage of Tea Party, which I have hoarded in my stash. How delightful to know more of your fabric will be available!
It’s almost overwhelming news…fabric and giveaways and the blog and a Willard. How you do spoil us Susan!
Oh Susan, your Mind your beautiful, wonderful mind!!!!!!!!! You must sleep well for the short time that you do just to keep up with yourself. Thank God you have Joe!!!!! You need someone to keep up with you and look after you, so you can spread your HAPPINESS every where. The most well spent life on earth you, Susan Branch, wonderful you! So glad I know you but now I have to rest after reading all this happiness for everyone and I haven’t gotten your Willard yet, oh my. Darling, I am so HAPPY for you and all your girlfriends. Have a blessed trip, and we are all with you in spirit and oh the lucky ones that get to meet you, well they are in for a sweet treat! oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo Wendy-Louise😊❤️
I can’t wait to see you at the bookstore! I am excited about the fabric!
The quilt is extra lovely, Susan!
Now for a cuppa. Thank you, friend!
How wonderful! Your pictures of all that gorgeous fabric takes me back to the late 1980’s, when my grandmother…a MASTER quilter, and I would fawn over the fabrics at Laura Ashley stores. Thank you Sweet Susan, for continuing to spread seeds of magic!
See you in Danville, Ca!❤️
❌⭕️❌⭕️,
Tawni Urrutia in Lodi, Ca
Hi Susan!!! Wow! I certainly enjoyed the quilt pictures, fabric and amazing news about Spoonflower! Thank you for such a cheerful blog! I love it! And thank you for sharing your pretty treasures! 🙂
Fabric!! Yes! I love the pillow case idea! I can see everyone in my small family getting new spring and summer pillowcases. And fall. And winter. Oh my linen closet is going to be full. Haha! I want to be a seamstress but so often sewing teaches me more cussing than seaming. My sewing friends tell me it’s my machine. I’m willing to believe them. 😉 And the grand prize? Oh my lands, I would just love that. I have a quilt my great-grandmother made but I have been warned in strong words from elder relatives against using it because of its age. It’s a battle I’ve fought since I discovered it when I was nine (I’m now 37). So sad!! It’s simply beautiful work but who would know or enjoy as its buried beauty is hiding in a cedar chest at the foot of my bed. I would love a quilt I have permission to use and wrap my family in. Or books! One needs books that want to hug you and tell you it will all work out.
What a wonderful surprise this morning to receive Willard in my email. April is my birthday month and it was a big one 50! I have been a fan Susan since the very first book. I would love to win a set of your three new books. How kind and generous of you to offer such wonderful give aways. I hope to see you in Hudson, Ohio. Safe travels!!
I am so excited about Spoonflower and being able to shop for your fabric anytime I want! Can’t wait to see more, but right now I see some cupcake fabric in my future 🙂 best diet ever!
Susan, dear Susan,
You have brought me so much joy over the 30+ years I have ‘known’ you through your books, little love cards, fabrics, quotes, calendars, etc. Your love of all things Gladys Taber have brought us closer in ‘heart’, as well. I wish you God speed on your journey to all the eager folks who want to see you in person. They must also feel the joy you share. There will be great rejoicing by the kitty herd when you return to them!
Love,
Mame🐾
It was so nice to read your blog this morning Susan! I’m very excited to visit the Spoonflower website! With my grandchildren’s artwork, I’m sure they can create some fabulous fabrics for me! Just checked my copy of Heart of the Home (copyright1986)- hope you’ll be in Illinois on your book tour-would love to have it signed by you. Thanks for all the joy you put out into our world!
A belated Happy Birthday! My mom and I are looking forward to your signing at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, OH. So excited to read Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams. See you soon!
Fun post!!! And Happy Anniversary!!! 🙂
Good morning! Thank you for the lovely surprise 🙂 I don’t sew but I was pretty excited to see there is wrapping paper in those designs. Its amazing what they can do these days!
Dear Susan, I finished Isle of Dreams with tears in my eyes. What wonderful writing. I was right there with Diana pleading with you not to go to Vermont with Cliff! Then I remembered, “I know the outcome of all of this!” Well not really but knowing your life went on with Joe. Whewwww too close! You’ve touched so many lives and I sure everyone feels like I do, that we truly are girlfriends! You’ve made it so. The tears were like those at the end of Downton Abbey……this can’t be it! So please along with everything else you do, WRITE BOOKS FOREVER! Of course I won’t mind if you take a vacation and go to the beach and stuff like that. I’ll just be patient and wait. So long for now, but I’ll be back! Love your spirit!
I just can’t believe this blog. I’ve been quilting and reading your book and thinking how I would love to find your fabric designs somewhere in a second hand store hidden behind boxes of stuff. Spoonflower is a delightful gift. You simply made my day!
Happy Anniversary! Still cannot believe it has been 30 years!!! I am glad you are reissuing Heart of the Home–my original is well loved, stained and worn out–love so many of the recipes in that book. Thrilled to bits about the fabrics. I made a baby quilt using your baby fabric for a shower gift years ago and it was adorable. Both my grandmothers made quilts and I have a special love for all quilts. BTW, I love your new book. I am reading it for a second time now. Very inspiring read and so much fun to go back to the 1980s.
I have recently discovered your wonderful books. Where have you been all my life? Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks, Susan! Always fun to read a new blog post, especially since I finished your delightful book and feeling the “Christmas is over blues”. Hope to see you in Cedar Rapids!!
So much news today! My Willard hasn’t dropped into my mailbox yet, but I love having something to look forward to. Lovely fabrics and such a great idea. I like the suggestion about lining drawers with the wall paper. Hmmm, or kitchen shelves?? The only quilts I’ve made were fabric crayon decorated quilts with my students and I gave most of those away. The kids decorated fabric squares and I sewed them together. Nothing fancy like your lovely give-away! Enjoy your day shopping and watching the pins drop! We’re all out here watching for them, too! (P.S. I saw Agnes’s shoes the minute I saw that picture. ;-D)
Just thought about using the paper on the kitchen shelves again. We need something kitchenie in your next design for Spoonflower! And for aprons and for cute little ruffled curtains…. You have inspired me! <3
Okay, be thinking about colors!
Good morning Susan! I just love the baby shoes, I remembered that you had mentioned them on the blog before but that their secret would be revealed in your new book. I couldn’t wait to find out & I squealed when I read about them! What a treasure. Your fabric is gorgeous, I can’t wait to buy some! Thank you for all of your generosity & spreading your light in the world, reading your blog definitely makes a Red Letter Day! 🙂
I love these fabrics, so beautiful. I love taking out your cookbooks and sitting down with a pot of tea ,deciding what I’ll cook and enjoying your wonderful illustrations. Now when I have a bridal shower to go to, the bride always gets one of your cookbooks.
Wonderful blog as always. You are a creative dynamo! You never cease to amaze and inspire. Continue to be an elf. Your Dad was right.
What a fun, interesting post! Love that the fabric is available – Spoonflower just sounds like pure fun to me. I love the Christmas fabric already, hope to order some very soon! I’m half-way through your “Isle of Dreams” book – and I do not want it to end – but I know I can read it again, and I will, probably many times over! Thanks for all of your posts – they are always packed with happy pictures and thoughts!
So many things to look forward to–a Willard and new fabric! Here in southern California, my wisteria is all done blooming; I will enjoy watching yours.
So hard to believe all these years have gone by and I’ve been loving all your books since the beginning. I still remember getting my Willards via snail mail. Getting the first one with a note from you welcoming me and bookmark (still have them) Hope to see you at long last on one of your bookstore stops.
I finished your new book.It was great -Seeing all that fabric makes me want to learn to sew.Have a great day from Kentucky.Looking forward to seeing you in Ohio. Judy from KY
I love quilts and quilt fabric. They remind me of my mother and both grandmothers.
Good morning!
What a wonderful start to the day with a new Willard. Years ago when your fabric line came out, I made a cover for my quilt group’s cookbook from them. Still have it. Looking forward to seeing what you have on Spoonflower. Love your birds.
See you in Austin at Book People.
Darlene
This is almost too much to take in Susan! First a Willard in my e-mail and then I Pop over here to the blog and there is almost more deliciousness than my poor old body can stand! FABRIC! I love, LOVE fabric, almost as much as I love paper! Your patterns are all so dear. I am in love with the bluebird one to be. Can’t wait til that one is available! I am totally in love with bluebirds. My dear friend who just moved back to American gave me a darling little set of bluebird salt and pepper shakers before she left as a remembrance. Now they sit on my windowsil and every time I look at them I am reminded of her and a lovely day we had shopping in Chester. BEFORE I forget it, Happy Belated Birthday Wishes! I meant to get on to do it yesterday, but alas my time got away from me. I know you know what that is like. Anyways, it looks as if you had a splendid day. I am savoring your book, part of me wants to be greedy and rush through it to the end, and the sensible part of me is rationing it to a little bit each day so it lasts longer. It is the last thing I read before I turn off my lamp at night and it sends me off with visions of Martha’s Vineyard dancing in my head. I am totally loving it, never wanting it to end. But the good thing about books is that they can become your best friends and you get to visit them time and time again as often as you wish, never wearing out your welcome with them. I am hoping that I will be able to make it to your venue here in the UK in the autumn. That would be a dream come true for sure. In the meantime I shall just dream about it. I wish you both safe journies across America as you travel over these next couple of months. You are going to have a brilliant time I know. Thank you so much for taking us with you! Love and hugs! xoxo
PS – I cried when you lost Pooh. 🙁
Thank you dear. I cried too. Hope I get to see you in England!
Good morning, Susan.
Thanks for the new Willard post. I love to read them! I still have some of your quilt fabric from the past. I am hoarding it! So exciting that you have more available and it is made in the USA! Great!
Enjoy your book tour!
Congratulations on getting your wonderful fabrics back out into the world. They are wonderful! I dog-eared my copy of A Fine Romance last summer before we headed to England for our first ever visit. We took your advice and rented a car to drive through Yorkshire Dales National Park and as you had written, it was exquisitely beautiful and well worth the white knuckle ride on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, on the narrowest roads imaginable! We were somewhat prepared for those roads through your description, but it was still terrifying! LOL! At one point my husband remarked that it was so unfair that I got to enjoy the scenery while he had to watch the road. I assured him that I was watching the road as well!! 🙂
Dear Susan, I first discovered you 24 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child and was up in the middle of the night with contractions. I was completely charmed by your Christmas book and could not put it down. In some way or another, I think you have enriched my life every day since then. So glad to have you in my life!
P.S. Love the fabric, especially the Vineyard toile!
Ok this wasn’t the WILLARD. However, I like the MV fabric and the England series of robin w/ forget-me-nots and the print that looks like my tea cup. I just love the blue with white flowers stoneware. I found a toast server the other day, however I don’t eat so much toast.
Margot! Sister Bay, WI? I live in Green Bay! Susan Branch girlfriends are everywhere! 🙂
When I was still in Virginia Beach, I had asked you where in WI you live so we could get Susan to WI. You must not have seen my question. I grew up in WI near Milwaukee, but for the last 16 years I lived on the East Coast. 5 years in NH and 11 years in VA. We just moved home in December!
Go Pack Go!!!
PS Between 1987 and 1999, I lived in the Fox Cities, and then Casco for the last couple of those years.
A man from Casco Bay, Maine founded Casco, WI.
DOUBLE BONUS!!! Waking up to Willard AND a new blog made my morning extra special especially because I finished “Isle of Dreams” last night and thought I would be in Susan Branch withdrawal today…I savored every word, every quote, every little squiggle, but end it did…I decided to begin re~reading “Fairy Tale Girl” today…and fabric! I don’t see, but my sweet grandchildren and I do craft and craft we did while they were here on their spring break. We chose four different fabrics in their favorite colors, cut the fabric in strips and tied the strips on a wreath form in a pattern of their choice and voila! Darling wreaths for their doors and a special memory for all of us. Sending sunny thank you thoughts for all you do for us your way…xoxo
HaPpY 30th Anniversary dear Susan!! Although I had Home Ec in High School, it was really the Heart of the Home cookbook that taught me how to cook. So many wonderful recipes~I made the herb roasted chicken just a few days ago! SO good! Such happy news about the Spoonflower fabric too! Just finished MV Isle of Dreams and LOVED it! 🙂
I’m a quilter…. so this is right down my alley. I’ve already have your fabric from Springs Industries and the quilt is on a guest bed… I did the little hats also. Can hardly wait for this new fabric.
The Isle of Dreams is your best – absolutely love it. Loved Ellie and Marvin – how lucky you were. You’ve had a wonderful journey! And, it’s not over yet!
Spring rain in Little Rock, AR today. Kind of dreary, but I love it – everything is so GREEN it hurts your eyes!!! LOVE this time of year. The rain is helping everything stay greener longer, and that’s a good thing. Your blog and Willard have certainly brightened my day! Hate that you are leaving home and the kitties for so long, but looking forward to seeing you in Memphis, TN on June 22.
What a find, Susan!! I’ve thought about your fabric designs of the past and wonder about the possibilities…!? Technology is always creating many new possibilities every day. It has been awhile since my last reply because of all the unexpected life happening for me. We lost a truly joy-filled family member after a brief battle with cancer. We are surrounding my sister with the love and support she needs to start a new life alone after 40+ years of being a couple. My job has been in a turmoil of uncertainty for several months and doesn’t look to be coming into stability soon. Your blog has been my place to retreat to in those moments when I need a creative, sane, safe and welcoming place of abundant friendship. You help all of the Girlfriends as much as we help you, Susan. Best Wishes for your Book Tour Travels and all the new endeavors ahead!!
While waiting on my Williard, I will go to Spoonflower and dream of quilt projects and sewing to do. Thank you so much. Safe travels on your book tour journey. Wish you were coming close to my part of the world.
This is just wonderful!!! I love to read and just discovered your 3 books! Owning them would be a dream come true!!! Congratulations!!!
What an exciting post, Sue! You inspire me to dream beyond my wildest dreams (and I’ve had some pretty wild dreams:) I find the older I get the more the more adventurous I become (if not NOW, then WHEN?). So much to be done and not enough years left, but it WILL continue with our daughters, our granddaughters – I believe our creative gene LIVES ON, thank goodness!
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your many talents.
You make the world a happier place!
Oh, do count me in, please! I’ve been having a Susan Branch week…your book came (via a nice little man who received it in error), some cute little doggie bookends from your shop are on their way, and now this post and all the fun news it contains! My cup runneth over.
Oh, I LOVE the fabric! I’m not much of a quilter, but I can find wonderful things to do with these delicious designs! Yay!!!
another wonderful day !
thank you for this latest note (my word for blog entry)
i inhaled ‘isle of dreams’…..laughed and wept all the way through.
congratulations on all of your new ventures and ad-ventures.
while i don’t quilt (yet), i do love to knit and embroider (especially with silk ribbons)………….
there has been a kick start to my heart dreams…………
perhaps very soon, i will come to your island….
until then, i’ll travel along with you here..
hugs and Baci.
blessings to you ~
Looking forward to checking out Spoonflower & more Susan Branch designs. Looking forward to Willard too. THANK YOU!
Best Red Letter Day Ever! Fabric is back! I have wanted more of your fabric for so long; I made an apron and sewing machine cover from one of the “Tea Party” fabrics some years ago and have been wishing for more ever since! I hope you will be adding that collection soon! My first project is going to be a birthday party tablecloth and matching napkins! I’m loving your new book and am about half way through; it’s my favorite so far:) Thank you so much for all you give to all of us:) Hope you have a wonderful book signing adventure!
Wowza! That grand prize is really grand!!! I love the idea of Spoonflower, yes a little spendy but not that much more than quilting cotton at a LQS.
Love the fabric… your creativity knows no bounds!! 🙂 I love seeing your kitchen in the morning sun and clothes on the line… sigh… just beautiful!
Hi Susan — what a fantabulous giveaway! And I’m so happy to know about Spoonflower. It can be hard work finding pretty fabric in the stores. Sometimes, I leave empty handed b/c I just can’t find anything.
I’m almost through “Martha’s Vineyard …” and love it so much — don’t want it to end. Thank you so much for all the good energy and happiness you add to our world. You remind me of a quote from St. Francis that I love … “All the darkness in the world cannot put out the light from a single candle.” Keep shining little candle!
❤️✨
XOXOXO Georganna!
Gosh, Susan, you are amazing and resourceful with the following up of your fabrics line availability! For all the quilters and skilled sewing GF out there, exciting days and possibilities are ahead!!
My Willard has not arrived yet, but it usually makes it a day or so late for some reason. Believe me, I am watching for it so I can add it to my folder which I love to revisit at times for fun.
Your Heart of the Home inspired me to be on the lookout for old quilts when it came out in the 1980s. I still have a favorite I found for $30 up in north Georgia decades ago. I can’t wait to get your newly updated book this July.
Have a safe upcoming road trip for the new book! It is going to be awesome and I look forward to hearing about the fun here on your blog. It must be so much fun to travel about and meet friends and share stories. Plus riding across this beautiful nation of ours, is a treat all in it’s own. I love the small towns and endless barns and farms. America the beautiful!
Thank-you for another opportunity for giveaways. Three people are going to be mighty lucky!!
Dear Susan…what a generous sweetheart you are! I love your happy attitude! I love your art! I love your books! I love your recipes and cookbooks! I love your blog! I love you!
The is all so exciting! I cannot WAIT for your books!
Wow Susan, you will never stop amazing us with your talent, information and uplifting spirit. This new venture is really exciting. By the way, your latest book….your best. We have all lived parts of it. Blessing to you, Joe and your kitties.
Happy day! Willard and a blog post! It is like having 2 presents to open with my morning coffee!! Thank you! Thank you! What a wonderful start to this day!
Have a great day!!
Hi, Susan! I finished Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams last night and I loved it! I’ve read all three of these books and I display them on my coffee tables under little white starfish. Thank you so much! I would LOVE to own that beautiful quilt!
Oh My Goodness!! So much news!! So much to check out and be thrilled about. I love how reading your posts/emails/books just put me in a great mood, I have some Susan Branch fabrics in my stash…I seem to be guarding them so they don’t get used up. Can’t wait to check out the fabrics…birthdays and Christmas and Martha’s Vineyard…oh my!! Thank you for sharing you with us …In person and via the Internet.
Oh my goodness! SOOO much news! And all of it GOOD! Happy All-Of-It to YOU! Absolutely can’t wait for your book tour because you will be in my neck of the woods again and last time you were, I was not in these woods, I was in an entirely different woods, and I couldn’t make it to your signing. Now…I CAN! And last time, my dearest friend on the planet DID go, and bought me a book, and took a picture with you, for my birthday. (you see why she’s the dearest) And THIS time, I have just reunited with another dear friend whom I haven’t seen in 17 years (crazy! how does time go that fast?!) and she lives right “around the corner” from where you’ll be signing books and WE are GOING to meet YOU there! I knew she would want to know you, so I introduced her to you which she was thrilled about, being a book-lover and lover of all things British as well…and kitties too…so…we will see you in Kansas City!!! So excited about that. Excited that she and I were able to re-connect after all these years; you know it’s like they say, when you’re true friends it’s like time stood still; and excited that we will get to see YOU! She, the newbie, and me, a long-time fan. Can. Not. Wait! I also have more dear friends who love quilting and sewing and I can’t wait to tell them about your new fabric venture too. SO much GOOD NEWS! So happy for you, Susan, and so happy for all of us who get to tag along. 🙂 Hugs to you…until Kansas City!
Hello Susan !!
Wishing you a good morning from snowy Colorado ! I am thrilled beyond thrilled that you will be at Tattered Cover bookstore this Summer on your tour and that I will hopefully get to meet you, at last ! Whenever I am blue or just for fun or inspiration, I take one of you books off the shelf and randomly open it and read a bit. Last time I did this, it was from the Christmas book and I was delighted to read about your walking on the crunchy snow in the Vineyard.
I love how you have gathered us girlfriends together. I have a longtime Facebook friend now, thanks to you , in Michigan. Years ago, she posted that she was having trouble getting Willard (you know, technology is great, IF you know how it works). I began sending her my Willards via email , she received them and the rest, as they say, is HERstory !!
Safe travels, see you in few months,
Best, Debbie
Susan, thank you for your always uplifting exuberance! You remind me of so many positive aspects of growing up in the fifties, sixties and seventies! You are the first person I have come across that is as attached to an old range as I, and good support for my refusal to throw in the towel on my 1950’s Caloric range even though it has been on its last leg for some time. I LOVE pink sunrises! Thank you for sharing all the beauty of your lovely home!
Wonderful Willard this time. Love all the quilts
Willard and the blog are always wonderful but this one is over the top:)
Congratulations on the new book. Can’t wait to read it.
So thrilled to hear that the fabric is back with new additions, esp. the Christmas collection.
Enjoy your journeys this year. Travel safe. Looking forward to all the adventures.
Been following you for years!!! Such an inspiration, thank you!
Good Morning Miss Susan!! What a beautiful day it is here in Michigan! Spring is definitely in the air and we can’t wait until it is in full swing! I love love your fabric designs and will have to look into purchasing some for my sewing expeditions. How exciting! I love reading your blog alongside my mother, who simply adores you. We purchase your calendars every year. None other compares! We hope Spring finds you feeling cheery and rejuvenated! Hugs & Hearts!
Good Morning Susan:
Spoonflower-and your designs on everything that we can imagine-Just love it! I have always been in love with pattern and design and so often wish the wrapping paper could be fabric and vice-versa Thanks to your blog, I know know how to do it.
So glad to see you moving in so many directions that a greater audience will now share the hope, enthusiasm, expertise,fun and empathy you bring to all your girl and guy friends.(I can’t help thinking that so many husbands, boy friends as well as men who just like home and hearth are your quieter or secret admirers as well).
And those of us who have followed you through the years can be secretly smug about “finding” you first when the rest of the world comes to call.
Enjoy every day of your trip across country-we love traveling with you. All the best to you and Joe for safe travels. Marty.
Hi Susan, so thrilled to have read all 3books! You’re writing is fun & witty & charming! I hope there will be more book writing in your future … You’re so good at it!! I’m enjoying your writings, savoring your art work and loving your handwriting … It feels like your writing a letter to each of us!!! My favorite books are yours and I cherish each one! I love trying out your recipes and my family gets to enjoy them! Hope your trip across our dear country is a good one and then your trip across ‘the pond’ is filled with fun adventures!
Take care as you enjoy your travels …love, Linda
Big fan of you and your lovely books, stationary, Willard, tea pots, cups etc…
Adventure always await whenever I read from you:)
Count me in on the trio of gorgeous books and that divine quilt! So excited about Spoonflower, I might have to take up sewing! Its wonderful what they can do nowadays. Its getting down right beautiful here in Northern Virginia with 80 degree days and no humidity. Some seeds from your driveway would be a dream come true! Have a wonderful day! And thank you!
Your fabric designs are wonderful! I’m going right now to check out Spoonflower:) You are a marvel, dear Susan!
I don’t know what is more exciting; a notification for a blog post or a new Willard. Okay, both! Susan, you are great at exhausting me as you talk about your busy life and relaxing me with those lovely sunshine photos. Happy Spring!
Your newest book is wonderful. All of them are! Thank you for your positivity, for spreading sunshine, and for being an elf. Wob you back.
Wonderful…amazing…overwhelming…my heart is racing…I should not drink coffee and read a new blog from you at the same time! This fabric thing is so exciting!xo
Just finished ….Isle of Dreams last night. I did not want it to end! I would love to know about Holly Oaks now.
The information about the fabric is amazing. Going to take a,look at that next.
Thank you for sharing!
Always a pleasure to read your blog posts. Always interesting, encouraging and fun! Thank you!
Oh Susan,
How exciting! Thank you for our Willard and the wonderful prizes!
Take care,
Dawn R.
Hello Sue,
So exciting as always, you never disappoint. Can’t wait to read Isle of Dreams hoping it comes in the mail today.
🙂
Good morning, Absolutely love the fabrics, “ocean park fireworks” has caught my eye. 🙂 Can’t wait to maybe see you in Pasadena Ca. at Vromans.
The more I read, the more excited I became!
I am almost an empty nester, and have often thought what shall I do ?
Learn to sew ! How wonderful your fabric is!
Finished The latest book almost immediately, and now to read the other 2 again! Perfectly rainy day to do so! I don’t remember if you said or not, what happened to the little cottage?
You must of sold it…. Do you know the people who live there ? Wouldn’t it be wonderful for them to read the book?!! How wonderful to know the history of your home! And darling Carlton!
Tootles
I dropped off a book at Holly Oak the other day! I’ll tell more about it in a future blog. xoxo
I would truly LOVE any of these prizes! I sleep under an old quilt every night – no hot comforters for this gal, I would bake under all that warmth! Nope, I just layer quilts if I get chilled! And I could read your books while snuggled under my quilt! The one I love is disenegrating, (sp.?) and I cannot find another that I like yet.
I have heard much chatter about spoonflower, but have yet to check it out, so I will head there from here to see for myself! I am also a fabric “collector”, because I buy, but then can’t seem to put scissors to the pretties I have purchased! Good intentions while shopping, but then I freeze up at actually making things! I presently have 8 large tote boxes of fabric, so have refrained from entering any place that sells it! So hard, so very very hard! Wub you too!
What a wonderful Willard and blog post this morning. I’m looking forward to making a quilt with your fabrics. I will be following along virtually with you as you travel the country and sail to England. What an adventure.
Happy to have you along Margee!
I missed your whole fabric era because I wasn’t quilting or sewing back then. Spoonflower sounds like an amazing experience for us all. I just finished your last book after a very enjoyable day of reading and drinking tea and loved every minute of it.
This is the most exciting news I’ve had all month! Fabric ideas abound. Yes, please sign me up for the give-away. How thoughtful of you to share.
Oh, what a beautiful morning, it was so nice to read your post. I will check out your fabrics, what a nice surprise. I hope you enjoy your trip visiting all the bookstores!
When I was in kindergarten (1972) our little class drew on a long piece of fabric (spread out on the floor) w/ “special” non-washable markers…….anything we 5 year-olds wanted to draw…such fun…and then one of the class moms made the fabric into a dress shirt for our principal! Oh we were so proud to see him (the tallest man in the world to us) wearing our creation!
Thanks for another a sweet and generous give-away. Love to you!
Connie, from Michigan:
Wonderful news about the fabric site! Will check out the spoonflower
site asap! Love reading your Blog and your enthusiasm! You inspire
us all! Please enter my name in the quilt drawing!
Holy Smokes, Susan!!
You don’t stop–not that you should. Heavens no–don’t stop. I am so excited that your fabrics will be available. I am happy for you and all of us. Thanks for working so hard to make this world more beautiful.
I hope I see you on the road.
I’m always excited to see a new blog from you. I, too, love fabric, quilts, and quilting. Thanks for sharing about Spoonflower.
I am always so mesmerized by your writing. Thanks for following your dreams!
Since Florida is not on your tour I will have to see you on your blog. Have wonderful adventures across the US and then across the pond.
Hi again Susan,
I forgot to ask a question in my previous comment, so plz don’t count me twice in your giveaway entries, k? Anyhoo, I’m a knitter and would love to make a ‘nap blanket’ like your grandma’s. Do you have any photos you might share?
Many thanks!
Georganna
Remind me, and I’ll do that … I’m in the car, speeding up the road to Boston. xo
You’re so sweet! Thank you, thank you!
G
I found your blog a few months ago, and it’s been fun following along. I’m a new quilter, just now finishing up the binding on my second quilt. Your fabrics are lovely!
Oh how I loved that line of fabric! That spring quilt market is where we met, it was my first quilt market as a buyer for our local shop. I was so over the moon to meet you in real life. Who would have thought our paths would cross again later at your farm sale. Nothing is more exciting than your own fabric when you’re a fabric lover. I loved all your projects and still covet the pieces I have left over from my projects.
I would love to win seeds but of course I’m always winning just being here and sharing in the day to day. xoxo
And now so often on line Pam . . . always love to hear from you! Who else would be a Pam Kitty? xoxo
Oh Susan you never cease to amaze me with more wonderful items to enjoy. I will check out Spoonflower-I’m now inspired to find a pattern to use in a dollhouse as wallpaper. Rereading MV Isle of Dreams-can’t get enough of it. Safe travels.
Lori in Cape May
I think you are going to be in dollhouse-wallpaper heaven!
Hi Susan,
I am a high school art teacher in rural Arkansas, I also teach Home Economics (Family and Consumer Science as it is called now). I really enjoy the way that you combine the visual and home arts into everything you do. It truly is the art of living. You give me so much inspiration.
My family used to sell your books in our store in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I have been reading your books for a long time. My first book was Girlfriends.
I really enjoy reading your blog and all of your books. I am currently reading Isle of Dreams. My signed copy came in last week.
Congratulations on 30 Years of the Heart of the Home. I am turning 30 on Saturday, so I suppose we are both celebrating a 30th Anniversary of Sorts.
Thank you for the blog post and the Willard! I am going to try to make it up to St. Charles, Mo. to your book signing in May.
I look forward to meeting you.
What a beautiful sunrise, and beautiful fabrics! I want them all! If only I could! Lol! I would love to win!
Omgosh! Wow wow WOW! I’m so excited for you and for all of us girlfriends. I love fabrics as much as books and cookbooks. I love just touching and holding them and dreaming of what they can be turned into. We ALL have so much in common. It’s really so amazing. I’m happy for you and HAPPY for us girlfriends! Happy and safe travels to you and Joe ….. xo
Thank you Cathy!