Here’s a cool GIVEAWAY sponsored by my favorite online source for fabric, FatQuarterShop.com.  Read through to the end to join the other 400 women who’ve already entered to win. Win what, you say? Read on!

What’s that buzz? Bee My Honey by MaryJane Butters for Moda Fabrics just arrived and has been causing quite the buzz around here. This farmgirl-chic collection will stir up some new project ideas and get your head buzzing! Keep reading for a closer look at the collection and a chance to WIN one of MaryJane Butters’ Designer Select Bundles!

Q: MaryJane, tell us a little about your Bee My Honey collection. What were you inspired by?
A: Here’s the buzz: The little guys and girls are disappearing. Vamoose. Puff. Right behind their eight-legged buddies, bees are not all that high on everyone’s list of favorite animals. Puppies, yes. Kittens, sure thing. Owls, absolutely. But bees? The more I’ve learned while working with my bees (and reading the news), I feel the need to help everyone become more fond of the itty-bitty creatures. I mean, they’re working hard for us. If you happen to LIKE fruits and veggies (can’t live off potato chips—although some people try), you should LOVE, not just like, bees.

But you know what they say: You never know what you have until it’s gone. Short of dressing up like Pooh Bear, complete with honey pot atop my head, I didn’t know what to do.

So I send people on over to watch the Vanishing of the Bees documentary. There ARE things we can do to entice our bees back, and I was determined to do my part. Plant a bee-friendly garden? Done that. Learn how to be a beekeeper? Check. Design BEE fabric? YES!! Here you go, girlfren. Created with love (and honey).

Q: How did you go about selecting the fabrics for your Bee My Honey Designer Select Bundle?
A: I tried to think like a bee. Bees flitter from color to color and then back home. That seemed to work just fine, given the many different hues of merriment and color and restful shadows found in Bee My Honey.

Q: What design trends are you currently exploring?
A: Burlap is all the rage right now. Once it’s washed and yummy soft, I’m having fun putting it together with delicate, but roughly hewn, prints like you see in Bee My Honey.

Q: What projects do you hope to see made with Bee My Honey?
A: Here’s the deal. We care, and we talk, and we hope. And one day, people everywhere will begin to ACT. Beekeeping groups are sprouting up everywhere. I’m using profits from the sales of Bee My Honey to help fund one of them. In the meantime, I have outfitted one of my campers with Bee My Honey curtains and pillows, using the fabric swatches I received early on before the mill printed its first full run.

Q: How do you describe your style and how has it evolved over the years?
A: I’m attracted to two very distinct, couldn’t-be-farther-apart styles. On the one hand, I love frilly, cute, lighthearted, COLORFUL imagery. Kind of like Winnie-the-Pooh meets Farmgirl. On the other hand, I’m drawn to a more modern look that is rugged and full of texture, with heartbreaking simplicity and stark imagery that pulls you back in time. Think burlap meets rustic Victorian lace. Bee My Honey is my attempt to combine the two.

*2 Truths and a Lie*
1. Bee My Honey was inspired by one of my queen bees, Matilda.
2. I’m writing a children’s book featuring Matilda.
3. Matilda has started a dating website, but only organic gardeners are allowed to join.

One of the 3 statements is false. Go to the Fat Quarter Shop and comment on this post, telling us which statement you think is false. Answer correctly and you have a chance to win MaryJane Butters’ Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundle!

Giveaway closes March 4, 2014. Good Luck!

The April/May issue of our magazine, MaryJanesFarm, is now in the works and will hit newsstands mid-March. Each issue is filled with great tips like this one:

Classic American Clothespins

These days, it’s hard to find a good-quality clothespin. The last large American clothespin manufacturer went out of business in 2007, and imported clothespins just aren’t the same—wimpy springs and low-grade mystery wood that doesn’t last throughout the seasons. At least that’s what Herrick Kimball’s wife told him. So Herrick got busy developing beautiful clothespins made to last a lifetime, crafted from sturdy ash with heavy-gauge, tight-coil, American-made, stainless-steel springs.

Classic American Clothespins is a small, home-based business with a big mission: to bring the manufacture of high-quality clothespins back to America by encouraging small-scale, decentralized production by entrepreneurial woodworkers all across the nation. With that in mind, Herrick sells both kits and clothespin springs (as well as finished pins).

Said Herrick, “I would love to see a network of clothespin crafters spring up all across the country, supplying heirloom-quality clothespins to people in their communities.” Find out more at ClassicAmericanClothespins.com.

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