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!
Hi Susan! I am thrilled to learn about Spoonflower and appreciate you sharing that with us. I’ve already placed an order. Thank you for sharing one of your quilts with us. I know very well how precious they are. I grew up helping my Mom piece and hand quilt them… hundreds of hours of work, so I have a special appreciation for these treasures. Happy Anniversary!
I would be honored to receive your books, but the blotter bookmark, brush & wisteria seeds are like the cherry on top of a sundae! Your artwork always puts a smile on my face! 🙂
Oh my gosh, Susan Branch fabrics! What could be better? I am already trying to figure out what I want to make first! Thank you so much for all you do for us girlfriends. You are truly amazing 🙂
Susan, I just finished reading “Isle” – loved, loved it and I wish I can show you, I put little cute kitty post it type of stickers for the quotes, recipes, etc that I want to go back to. Black/white kitty sticker for quotes, pink kitty for recipes, yellow for other parts … I’ve done this with the other books too.
I pulled out my Heart of the Home (mine is 11th Edition) and it was so much more fun after reading Isle. I’m ordering the new edition this weekend after I go through the entire shop and see if there’s anything else I want. Now for your next book, before you made the final decision to write your memoirs, I asked if you’d write ‘how to do your watercolor’… and you said that would be a consideration…I bet you’ll inspire the next generation and who knows will be the next Susan Branch! Actually, you have already brought watercolor love for me and I’m painting! Love you!
Love to hear it Suzanne!
So much loveliness! Thank you Susan for all you do. You make my little corner of this big, wide, wonderful, world that much nicer! So very excited about the new fabrics!
Hugs, Janelle
Good morning, Sue ~
I’m on a little vacation with family in South Carolina this week. I finished the book on the beach at Hilton Head Island. Words can’t convey how I feel about it. I read passages out loud to my husband and to my sister. There is just so much wonderfulness…so much wisdom….so much inspiration….so much faith, hope and love in this beautiful book.
I try to begin each day with a grateful heart. I does take practice. The thing I notice is the more grateful I am…the more I find to be grateful for. This morning I am grateful that there are people in the world like YOU!
xoDebbie
PS: Long ago, I decided to learn to quilt when I retire. Well, that time is fast approaching. After 32 years as a childcare provider in my home, I will have that chance in a couple of months! My first project will be to finish a beautiful quilt that my great-grandmother made the top for almost a hundred years ago! I’ve been cherishing it and just waiting for the free time to do it. After that, I see Susan Branch fabric-inspired quilts in my future. Dreaming…
Love your new fabrics (ten exclamation points). Happy Anniversary and Birthday. I’ll be sending my love to the kitties while you’re gone…can’t have too many folks loving your kitties, I say.
Diane in North Carolina
Congrats! Too wonderful to be true! Would be thrilled to win something! Thanks Susan!
How exciting to be able to get your fabric! So happy about this!! And all your other great news!
Susan,
I just love reading your books and blog!! It all make me very happy!!
xoxo
I do love the new fabric. Glad to see it again. Have a great trip. Yikes 8000 miles. Jean
I love this blog. Thanks for sharing your beautiful patterns. See you on the 7th in Cinci!
Happy anniversary! Here’s to many more!!!
Susan, I’m so excited for this giveaway! This is my first comment on your blog even though I’ve been a fan for y e a r s. I’m the proud owner of many of your books but my favorite is probably “Heart of the Home” which I’ve had since it first came out – I can’t believe it’s been 30 years! Congratulations and I hope to catch up with you on your upcoming book tour – wish you were coming to Florida:)
I am so thankful every time I am able to follow you and see your beautiful creations. You have brought joy to my heart by sharing your creative talents that you have been blessed with. Happy 30th Anniversary
So glad to hear the exciting news about Spoonflower! I LOVE reading your blog!! You are so inspiring Susan! Best of luck on your book tour!!
Somebody teach me how to quilt!!
I replied earlier but Willard just arrived in my mailbox this morning so I just have to say how much I enjoyed it and the updates. I am really, really hoping to get to the Cape in July if I can get a ticket. I have a feeling it won’t be easy….Congratulations again!
Love all three of your books, so, so much. They are a gift! Thank you!
Pam Bronson
Thank you for sharing your life, I always look forward to your new posts.
And thank you for the spoon flower site….I know several people who will enjoy
a visit there.
Congratulations on your new book.
Enjoy the journey.
Susan, you are such a lovely, lovely person! I get so excited when you post either here or on Twitter because you wave your magic wand everywhere you go and do magic with words and pictures. Please never stop or you’ll have a very sad bunch of girlfriends on your hands!
I love the way the sun comes into your kitchen. My kitchen gets the evening sun in a similar way, and I love it! So cheerful and restorative to my soul!
Spoonflower – what a wonderful resource for sewists, etc.! May it ever flourish so your patterns are always available!
P.S. Still patiently waiting for my copy of Willard to pop into my inbox.
always a lovely way to start my day…a visit with susan and new adventures…always looking forward to the next one…❤️😘❤️
Such kinship I just can’t believe! Love,love,love your garden pictures and I thought I was the only one to take pictures of the outside from the inside! And also the effects of a gorgeous sunrise on the inside! Thank you for all the joy you so lavishly share.
CAN NOT WAIT to see what is coming with your fabrics! I remember looking high and low for them years ago with no luck. Thanks for the chance to win your lovely books (and the amazing quilt). I do so want to read them all. Give the kitties a big smooch from me.
I’m a quilter, so, of course, I have pieces of your past lines in my stash. I still have some of the labels–I need to make more baby quilts–lol! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the bluebirds and forget-me-not design–that can’t come too soon as far as I’m concerned–love it!!
Hi Susan and a belated Happy Birthday! In honor of the Queen’s birthday, could you draw a Corgi? My Sophie,the Corgi, would be so happy and so would I!!
Great morning! Received my Willard…….thank you for such a good read! Very excited about your giveaways. Hope you received my comment a few days ago as it did not seem to go through the usual way. Love your new fabrics. Want to get back to sewing again. What kind of sewing machine do you use? You’re such an inspiration! Congratulations on all of the good things that are happening for you!
I have loved your fabric for a long time. I bought some years ago and hung on to it waiting for the perfect project. Then I couldn’t find it anymore, so excited I can get it on Spoonflower, yay!!!!! Happy Anniversary, I have the first copy of the cookbook but will get the new one too. Have fun on the road. Looking forward to hearing about your adventures.. Also love old quilts..
LOVE, LOVE all things Susan Branch! I have many of your books – though not the ones you are giving away! Still cherish and keep some scraps of lovely wrapping paper, stickers, etc. Have several prints hanging in my house. Every year I have your calendar hanging in my kitchen. And LOVE the quilts! Happy Spring!
What a wonderful idea to use Spoonflower. I love them and can’t wait to snag some of the holiday fabric. The redwork pattern would make such lovely wrapping paper *and* cute pj bottoms. Thank you so much for releasing it ahead of October or November! I love to start my holiday preparations and sewing in June and July. Plenty of time for thinking about what to make and ordering yardage. Hurrah and Huzzah!
Also, will there be Fall/Halloween designs? I love the artwork from Autumn.
Thank you again for all the wonderful lovely joy you put out into the world!
Thanks for the latest Willard!! Good luck on the road trip!! Can’t wait for your updates.
I am always so thrilled to see Willard in my inbox. Thank you so much for sharing as much as you do with all of us. You are such a dear and special person. Thank you for the opportunity to win those fabulous books! Safe Travels !
Susan, I am so happy for you- all that is happening. You deserve it all! Your lifestyle in your home is so appealing to me- the kitchen and the stove like my mother’s, the ironed curtains and sheets hanging on the line! I have your book, “Summer” and the recipes produce delicious results. All the best for your safe travels.
Susan, I love reading your blog and your news. I am so glad we will be able to get your fabric now on Spoonflower. I am sad that you do not list my local independent bookstore, Best of Books, in Edmond, OK. I am going to tell the owner about you and maybe you can make a stop here. I love reading about your adventures.
Flower seed giveaway. What a great idea
I so appreciate your love of everything beautiful. Quilts have been my favorite art to collect for many years and the creative use of fabric is endless.
My goodness!!! I was just thinking the other day reading Willard, how long I’ve been following you and how wonderful each year becomes for you. And how we all follow you, Joe and the kitties. I was living in Maryland in 1988 – 1998 and my girlfriends discovered your first cookbook – Heart of the Home. How wonderful, interesting and beautiful it was!!!!! I kept looking for stuff that you did all these years – tea pots, ink stamps, prints that I found in Colorado!, ALL of your books and calendars and NOW THIS – FABRIC!!!!!!!! This is exciting, Susan, and you just keep creating – what a gift for us! Many thanks for your talents and wanting to share with all of us….
Just finished reading Willard. You are going to be one busy lady this spring and summer. I wish you a pleasant journey. Also thanks for the give-away of your books. They would make a great shower gift for my Grand-daughter who is getting married this fall. Fingers are crossed!!!
All I can say is I love starting each day looking at my beautiful calendar- then reading the blog- and when my Willard arrive- Bonus!! Thank you for putting a smile on my face!!
Hi Susan! I love the Willard! Reminds me to grab what life offers and jump with both feet! Looking forward to the book signing and your trip to the gentle country of England. I love to be a armchair traveler. You have been enticing me to save and travel. Also, the saying “you can have anything you want… as long as you make it” motto is mine now.. Love the fabric and so glad that you found a way to make it work. See you soon and safe travels! Kathy
Happy Anniversary! That was a lovely post about your quilts and fabrics. I have been a quilter since the 1980’s, and subsequently, a fabric collector as well. My taste in fabric has changed over the years, from dark and tea-stained, to bright and cheerful. I’m hoping to see you in Madison, CT.
You designs are amazing and now I will have to have all of them! Spoonflower IS a great place to shop! Old quilts are my passion, new quilts too! Wisteria…..I lost my handplanted from seed last winter due to the sub-freezing weather we don’t usually get. It was 15 years old….Can you tell I miss it? Lol! I love your blog and your books!
I just finished reading your latest Willard letter– magnifique! Loved it, just as I love every blog post you make! Congratulations on your 30th anniversary of writing books. I have my original copy of “Heart of the Home” (and all of your other books- so far!), but I can see I will need the new “revised and expanded version”.
All I can say is I love starting each day looking at my beautiful calendar- then reading the blog- and when my Willard arrive- Bonus!! Thank you for putting a smile on my face!! And now fabric at spoonflower- over the moon happy. I love spoonflower and love the one of a kind selections!
30 years!! How is that possible?! I received your book as a shower gift that many years ago! (but I’m not that old!) My mother has been so wonderful keeping up and adding to my collection on birthdays and Christmas! Your stories hold a special place in my bookcase!
Now off to buy some fabric!!
Congratulations on 30 years AND all your wonderful new news!
Keep calm and enjoy spring! Your home is lovely, your artwork is lovely, your spirit is lovely. When I think of Susan Branch, I think of all things lovely. Thank you for always inspiring us too look on the lovely side of life.
Hello Susan,
You do not know me but we are “old” friends. I have been reading and re-reading any and everything of yours I can get my hands on since my first purchase of the original Heart of the Home. I live an enchanted life in Salida, CO and look forward to finally meeting you at the Tattered Cover in Denver! I have already purchased your books and I am neglecting all duties as we speak…I cannot put them down 🙂 I too have a Beatrix Potter room (my grandkids room) and just when I think I should change it I discover it is my pleasure/creative/dreaming sunshiny room. So needless to say I need an old quilt to put on the bed as I moved out the daybed and have a full size bed for my growing GRANDchildren. These quilt colors and the treasure worn colors are perfect. Safe travels and see you soon! Mary
Love reading your blog! Old quilts have always been one of my favorite things. Grandmother’s quilt is on our bed. She made it over 50 years ago. When I look at the fabric I see pieces of my childhood dresses, Grandad and my uncle’s shirts, Grandmother’s Sunday dress, and older fabric that matched aprons from Great-grandmother. Sweet memories all stitched up together!
Oh Sue,such a happy day! I absolutely LOVE Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams! I’m on my second reading savoring each drawing and word. Such a treasure. I am joining the chorus of girl friends that so love you and your amazing talent. We are so blessed to have you as a “girl friend” Can hardly wait to get my hands on some of your fabric. So many thanks!! From another Sue
Oh, Susan, in my little crazy world, you have been my ray of sunshine! I’ve been reading your book very S – L – O – W – L – Y to make it last…and I absolutely love it! Then I receive your blog, and then Willard! I am one happy girl! Thanks so much for all your hard work that brings joy to mine. Hope to see you in California!
I have a plaque in our bedroom that says “you are my happy”. That’s how I feel when I read your writings and see your art💙 am enjoying your new book🌻
Ahhh! All my worries and troubles seem to melt away with your Willard’s and their wonderful MUSICA! A fan for years now, I picked up your Summer book on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard right about the time it came out. It just spoke to me and captured the beauty of the island in your illustrations. Boy am I glad I did because it was the gift that just kept giving with all of your letters, books, now blog, fun paper products and fabrics…the list goes on. Each Willard brings me right back there to that vacation, and you make me feel like a treasured guest in your very own home. Thank you! I’m putting you on the calendar. Finally I live in a place you are stopping by so I’ll be looking for you in St. Louis area in a few weeks where maybe you can sign my summer reading! Safe travels my friend~ Hope to see you soon!
I have been reading your stuff, buying your stuff, and embracing your joy for over 20 years!!! All babies have a Baby Love book filled to the brim! Oldest is 22!!
Love love love your inspiration and spirit!
Grateful for you<3
Oh my!! This is the most exciting thing I’ve heard in a long time!! I can’t tell you how sad I have been that I didn’t buy more of your fabric years ago. I also have searched EBAY often for your fabric and usually there is none. I am going to the Spoonflower website right now to check out your listings. Thanks so much for not giving up on the fabric line!!!
Also, thanks for always thinking of us with such wonderful and fun giveaway’s. What a treat it would be to have one of your treasures!!
Have a great day!!
I so enjoyed reading all of this as always. Thanks for this giveaway. ❤️
Oh my, love your ideas for the fabrics! Fabulous. I would love to be in your drawing. I am also hoping to see you on your book tour!! Thanks for keeping us girlfriends in the loop!! 🙂
Well, I’m still holding my breath. Maybe I will get picked this time. Tell Joe hi for me.
Such a lovely giveaway! Happy Anniversary!
Susan,
Your blog, Willards, and books bring me so much happiness. Thank you for being who you are and sharing yourself, Joe, and cats with the world. You just add to my life. Have a wonderful adventure and stay safe.
Much joy and happiness,
Deb
Hi Susan,
Belated Happy Birthday. I am curious about your “ring around the candle” tradition. I have never seen or heard of it before hearing about it from you. What is the background of this. I find it quite charming(-:
As far as I know this is our own concoction…we’ve been doing it for years. I’m hoping it might start a tradition, because it’s wonderful that we all get to make a birthday-candle wish on each other’s cakes.
I’m so excited you’re going to be in Georgia! I’m planning a trip, with my mom and daughter, and we’re going to be there to see you in June!
Just got off my porch swing and left your world of 1982!
Was kind of hard to jump into the here and now from Isle of Dreams. Trying to read it slowly a bit at a time to make it last longer (sigh).
I adore your old quilts and have always dreamed of owning one. Love to see them flapping in the breeze.
Well back to the porch swing! Have a sunshiny day.
See you at the book signing in Ohio.
Susan, you bring good cheer to my life. I think I have been buying all your cookbooks for myself as well as my friends for the past 30 years because I do have your original Heart of the Home! I can lose myself in reading them over and over. Love them all!!!
Seeing all the beautiful fabric makes me wish I could sew and quilt! I do have some darling Susan Branch dishes. Any chance more dishes will come out again? Safe journeys to you and Joe.
Susan, as I read your Willard last night you jogged my memory. I checked my pretty pile of Susan Branch books and yes, Heart of the Home was there! 1986 Nineteenth Printing. I enjoyed perusing it once again! Thanks for all your hard work sharing your wonderful ideas!
Love from another,
Susan
You amaze me with every post! Can’t wait to check out Spoonflower!
Hello from sunny Florida! Can’t wait to get your new book!
I can’t believe how the time has flown by. LOVE your work! Thank you for everything!
I truly enjoy your enthusiasm for life. I would love to win the quilt and the trilogy! God bless you for warming our hearts with your love
oh, my goodness!!!! I think I’ve said before…it just KEEPS ON getting better and better-er!!!!! hubby and I are setting out in our travel-trailer to go across the country….early part of may….and, now that we’re firming up our itinerary….I have hope that we may intersect SOMEWHERE!!!! wow. i’d truly be over-the-moon. here’s hoping. bon-voyage…Godspeed…safe travels….and, maybe we can have an auld-lang-syne moment….somewhere!!!! wheeeee & whooopppeeee. thank you….for being you!!!! xoxo
Happy Susanniversary!
Enjoyed the Willard. Would love to win 🙂
Thank you!!
Got my Willard !!! I was so happy to see that your preference for the actress to portray you is Zooey Deschanel—–she is my first & last choice !!! Loved the jammed filled Willard !!!
Have always loved fabric. Spoonflower sound fantastic. Thank you for sharing all the beauty that is a part of your life.
Loved the Willard and your blog! Amazing fabrics! Cannot wait to read your new book! I’m bringing my Mom who loves your books too to Asheville this summer! Looking forward to meeting you! Safe travels! Virginia from N.C.
Congratulations on all your wonderful accomplishments. We are the lucky beneficiaries of them all! Your books are tattered from re-reads in my apartment! Thank you for bringing a lovely sense of wonder to my life. And please enter me to win your book package! ♡♡♡
I got my first quilt from my grandmother too! It is an old family heirloom and I love it! I love your fabrics, your books, calendars, everything!
Spoonflower? I will have to check this out. I love my grandson’s drawings. What an amazing quilt that would be!!
Thank you for sharing, and thank you for sharing you.
Dear , dear Susan! Your books as well as your blog and ‘Willard’ are such a delight to the soul! I am re-reading ‘A Fine Romance’, AGAIN! LOL! I like it better than ‘Downton”, but don’t tell Julian. I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings, after all. I would love to win your books, and would give the wisteria seeds to my friend who lives over the mountains from me, and gets her Beatrix Potter figurines from your online store. We hoped to go to Beatrix’s home ( among other places!) in England this year, but I get to have a knee surgery instead. Such is life, things happen. I cannot tell you how pleased I am about your having your designs in fabric available on ‘Spoonflower”! They are a great business to deal with, and I will go check out your fabrics now. I love putting your older fabrics ( safely hoarded in my quilter’s stash!) into my quilts, little surprise reminders of you and your blog! Safe travels on your 8,000 mile journey around the USA! Hugs from Oregon, Suzette
You are so thoughtful of poor little Julian. shhhh, we won’t say a thing! xoxo
Hi Suzette,
Sorry to hear about the knee surgery. It might be a good time to watch “84 Charing Cross Road” starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft. You may relate to Bancroft’s character… it is a wonderful film.
You will get to England and it will be everything you hoped it to be, that’s the wonder and spell of the magical kingdom.
Hope your knee is tickety boo very soon.
It always cheers me up when Willard appears in my inbox! Your artwork and style of writing make me smile. =) Thank you for the generous giveaway! The quilt is SO beautiful!!
Susan Branch for President!!
What a way to start my day-reading another post from YOU! I am so glad I signed up some time ago to receive your blog posts. You always make me smile. So happy to read you are doing some fabrics on Spoonflower-I know of them, and have browsed there many a time, but now I know what I’m going to buy!!
Thank you for just being you, I feel like I’ve known you for years. :+} And loving your latest, so happy to receive it so quickly.
I enjoy your Blog and I love your fabric prints. I am so glad they will be returning in the future. I have not read your books yet, because I cannot find them in any of the local bookstores or the Library. I will keep on looking.
I’m just now catching up with you Susan after sleepovers and fun with my grandaoghters~ I cannot wait to visit Spoonflower and see what that is all about!! You are a gift that keeps on giving for sure! Your morning light pictures are just beautiful on this post and your fabric lines are treasures! sate travels with your book signings and thank your u again for your inspiration! xoE
Dear Susan,
I’m slowly reading Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, savoring every delicious word…not wanting it to end. I’ve laughed and cried and love you more and more with every word I read! 🙂
So excited to see you and get my books signed in Danville California. Safe travels!💕
Susan,
Over 2000 comments, wow! I think I already said I loved the book. Got to look at your fabrics and love them as well. Now to decide what to make! Hoping to see you in Illinois. Have a safe trip and just thought you should know my kitty, Luna, loved the ribbon on the book. She played with it while I read. You really meant that for our kitties, right??? No need for a bookmark. I didn’t close the cover until I was done. One more thing, just wondering if you watched the Lark Rise to Candleford series? I’ve been streaming all the seasons. Love the Miss Lane character and her line “it is my one weakness”. Safe travels. Your girlfriends can’t wait to meet you!
Sign me up among the thousands of other hopefuls – you are so popular, Ms. Susan!
I am enjoying your Willard and dreaming of your movie or series – very exciting! As exciting as Downton Abbey!!! With fashions as well. . .
Happy trails to you and lots of fairydust sprinkled on your way*~*~*~*~*~
It’s so great to see someone with a personal style that doesn’t change with the winds of popular style. I love you cookbooks, fabrics, short-lived dishes designs, etc. I would love to have that quilt or, because of my long career in the library world, a signed SET of your books.
Thanks for all the inspiration and great ideas – I especially enjoy your quotes and artwork. Happy Anniversary!
Just read the latest Willard and I thank you. It was a lovely respite on this beautiful day. I will definitely be looking for your fabric. I have neatly folded piles of my favorite linens found at tag sales here and there and even better, from my mom and aunt, their back-in-the-day lovely linens. It’s fun to have them out instead of stuck in a drawer because they make me happy to look at them. Hankies, too! I love hankies! They are beautiful and useful, too. And they look nice in tiny folded stacks.
Whenever I read your posts/Willard, I find myself breathing slower and smiling. Thanks for sharing your gift!
Dear Susan..
Wonderful Willard! ……ohhh how I miss the publications thought. Still a heart warming read.
So excited about your new fabrics. They look lovely! Just another way to have a bit of you in my home 🙂
Have a wonderful trip……..cant wait to be on that journey with you~they are always so much fun.
xo Love ya, Raenell
Oh Susan…Happy Anniversary to You! I have a first edition copy of Heart of the Home, purchased at a shop called Marshmallows in Providence, RI, now long gone. I simply cannot wait to investigate your fabric on Spoonflower. Ingenious!!! I am going to make some little curtains for my chicken coop- a new venture for me this year. I have three and named them Beezus, Ramona and Roberta 🙂
How “things” have changed in the culinary world and beyond since the publication of your first book. I couldn’t be happier for you and the glorious life you have made. Isn’t it wonderful that we can savor the new while remaining steadfast and loyal to the old?
Can’t wait for the bluebird and teacups designs to go online! Yeah….
Hi Susan, I’m taking my time reading the new, wonderful book. I want to make it last as long as I can!
Congratulations Susan!!!🎉 Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us and your gift of inspiration! Whenever I see a new post or a Willard in my inbox, my spirits lift. I discovered you years and years ago when I was going to Cal Poly in SLO. I worked while going to school, at the Apple Farm in the gift store. Your cook books were displayed in the Mill House and I fell in love with your art work and recipes. My aunt and uncle live in Shell Beach and live across the street from Judy! She gave me my first job when I moved to San Luis Obispo. I worked for her cleaning business! I am so grateful she hired me. I got work experience in a college town where it was competitive to get a job at the time…that led me to Apple Farm and your cook books! Have an amazing trip visiting all the bookstores, I hope to meet you someday!
Thanks, Susan, for another great giveaway. Celebrating my birthday with you!
I feel extra special with the new posts and the Willard.
Well, done Mrs. Susan! Looking forward to looking and buying some new fabric. I love quilting, too.
Well done! Looking forward to super fun fabrics, too!
I love quilts–have some of my grandmother’s–would love to add one that came from you! Please enter me in your drawing, thanks, Judy