Friday, March 8, 2013

Easter Bunting Tutorial

Today is the last day of the Easter Bunny Hop hosted by Lilac Lane and it is my stop :)  I am super excited to share this ever so cute quilted Easter Bunting :)  This is a fun project that sews up quick but creates a big impact for your Easter Decor.  (Which honestly, the basket and the figurines were the extent of my Easter decor, so it really needed some help :)



So let's get to it . . .

YOU WILL NEED:
1 Charm Pack or large scraps (shown with Happy Ever After by Riley Blake)
A large scrap of batting
Ribbon or embroidery floss
A water soluble Marking pen
A pair of pinking shear
Printed Easter Bunting Templates  (Just click on the link to print the templates)


First off, you need to decide on a layout.  The fun part about this bunting is you can mix it up any way you want.  Do as many bunnies, chicks, and/or eggs as you like in any order you like.  The template includes the bunnies and chicks facing both left and right so remember that when you are determining your layout.  

Once you have decided on what figures you want in your bunting . . . you are ready to start tracing your templates.  There are 2 ways to trace your templates.  You can either . . . 

Cut the template out and lay it on your fabric and trace around the template.


Or, you can tape the template in a window or on a light box and then tape the fabric in front of the template and simply trace the template outline.


Whichever way you decide is fine.  Trace as many fronts as you desire in your bunting.  For me, I did 1 bunny, 1 chick, and 8 eggs.

However many figures you cut out, cut the same amount of 5" x 5" batting squares from your scrap of batting and also gather the same amount of 5" x 5" charms or scraps to be used as the back of your bunting.

   

Now, you get to make some mini quilt sandwiches :)  Layer a mini sandwich with the backing charm right side down, followed by a batting square on top of that, and then the traced fabric on top with right side up.  Put some safety pins in it to baste the sandwich.


Now, decide on what colors you want to stitch on each figure.  It is helpful to use bold and bright colors that will stand out on the print.   Stitch a straight stitch directly on top of the traced line of each sandwich.  Be sure to back stitch a few stitches at the beginning and end to secure it in place.  If you have a walking foot it would come in handy here :)    Hint . . .  If you can stitch the eggs without raising your presser foot you will get a much smoother curve and take your time on the bunny and chick and raise your presser foot lots to keep the details.

Once the outline is done it is on to the fun part!!  Adding embellishments :)  This is where you can totally let your creativity roam free!!  But if you wanted to simply highlight the fabrics you can leave them un-stitched.  The decision is totally yours so that you can get the look you want.

For the bunny and chick, I decided to keep it a little simple and just added a eye using a basic zig-zag stitch and then a straight stitch to add a leg and wing.

The eggs are a whole lot of fun to embellish!!  And the options are endless. .   I decided that a little Free Motion Quilting would be fun on some of the eggs.  If you are new to free motion quilting this is a great time to practice!!  You can see my videos on FMQ to give you some basics  I did a basic loops and meandering on the first 2.  (And ya, the eggs are reversible, more options :)

And with the second two I got a little fancier and did some echoed paisley's and some swirls.  I just love micro stitching, it is so much fun!!


And hey, if Free Motion Quilting isn't your thing, you can always embellish with some basic stitching.  The first egg is embellished with basic stitches on my sewing machine.  Just start at one edge, backstitch a few stitches and sew across and then back stitch at the end.  I didn't bother with marking or anything, but if you want to ensure your lines are straight, you can always mark lines with your water soluble pen first.  The second one was some fancier geometric lines.


And then if you have a super fancy machine that has lots of pretty stitches that never get used . . . well now is your chance to try them out.  I had a blast sewing on all these stitches that I didn't even know I had.  Once again, just remember to backstitch at the beginning and end :)


Once you are finished embellishing all of your figures, grab your pinking shears and cut around the stitched edge of the figures leaving about 1/8".  The eggs are simple.  The bunny and chick take a little longer but come out so cute they are worth the time.  Notice, I didn't cut all the way in between the chick's feet.  It isn't necessary and is near impossible :)  


Now, go ahead and lay your figures out according to your pre-decided layout plan.  I am going to show 2 ways to stitch your bunting together.  You can either . . .


Stitch each of the figures using some embroidery floss or bakers twine.  Just thread your needle and go down  at the edge of the stitching in the first figure and up through the edge of the stitching of the second figure.  Tie a bow or a knot and then keep repeating until the entire line is sewn together.


Or, you can do like I have done in the example and sew them to a ribbon.  Simply lay the first figure onto the  ribbon, about 12" in from the end for hanging, and then stitch 4-5 stitches along the top of the figure securing it in place.  I like to stitch, and then backstitch  and then stitch, and then backstitch so that I know it's not going anywhere.  Space the next figure with about an 1" between the first one and stitch it in place.  Repeat until you have added all of the figures.


And that is it!!  Now just find a fun place to hang it and enjoy!!


I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  If you make your own Easter Bunting I would love to see it.  You can add it to my Inspired by Happy Quilting Flickr Group here ;)   And I am linking up this finish to Amanda's :)

Thank you so much to Melissa of Lilac Lane for having me as a designer for her Easter Bunny Blog Hop.  It was such a fun project to put together!!  And thanks to Fave Crafts for having me as part of their hop!



And last, but certainly not least, what would a blog hop be without a Giveaway??

GIVEAWAY CLOSED - Leave a comment telling me your favorite color to dye Easter Eggs and you will be entered to win your choice of 3 of my patterns.  


I will choose 3 winners on Sunday, the 10th :)  One comment per person please and international entries are welcome :)

Have a Hoppy Quilting Day!!!





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142 comments:

  1. I really like the springing colors of blue, pink and green to dye Easter eggs. If I have to pink one it would be an eggshell blue.

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  2. It is a tradition in my family to save one last egg and put all of the dyes together and make an ugly duckling egg. That has always been my favorite egg.

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  3. Cute Easter bunting Melissa! You seem to find a way of designing things that we love! I totally enjoy your blog! My favorite Easter color would be a soft pink...that seems to be my color for 2013. Thanks for the opportunity to win some of your patterns...and have a great weekend:)

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  4. Cute little project! I love purple so purple is definitely my favourite colour for Easter eggs! Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.

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  5. Thanks for the tutorial.The grandkids would love this.I like blue although we have not did much egg dyeing since our girls grew up.

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  6. I always liked the egg dying kits that made the eggs look tie-dyed with lots of colors.

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  7. I like dark blue Easter eggs. Thanks for the tutorial and giveaway!

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  8. I have never died an egg but my favourite colour is blue!

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  9. Love your tutorial. My prefered colors are pink and purple. Thanks for the opportunity to win some of your beautiful patterns !

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  10. Red and Pink! :) Thanks for this giveaway!

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  11. Thank you so much for sharing the cute Easter Bunting Tutorial with all of us. It looks really easy and sure would be fun to make for Easter. My favorite color to dye Easter Eggs has to be blue. Either solid or speckled would work. I am hoping to become a winner of your generous giveaway. I want to do the happy dance and sure am ready for it to happen. Thank you for giving all of us, your followers, the chance to win your priceless patterns.

    Sandi Timmons
    sandit1@sbcglobal.net

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  12. My favorite way to dye eggs is to find a small fern, put it against the egg and wrap in old hose. Then boil the eggs in onion skins. When you take them out and remove the hose and fern you have a beautiful white fern design on a reddish tan egg. It's hard to explain, but fun and beautiful! Maybe I'll need to do a blog post about this method! :)

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  13. My favorite colors to dye Easter eggs are orange and blue! Love your patterns...thanks for a chance to win!

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  14. Gosh I haven't dyed eggs in a long time! Last time I did I bought a set with tablet pill-shaped dyes that disolved in water and preto - a dyed egg!! Would like to try onion skins sometime :)

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  15. Love the project! I love coloring Easter eggs. I just get a bit nervous with all that dye and kids. It can get a bit messy! I think my favorite color would be yellow for an egg. Last year, we had a tye dye kit for the eggs that was fun. I think our fingers were more colorful than the eggs though!

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  16. Super cute bunting! Multi-colored eggs are the most fun.
    Whatthebobbin dot com

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  17. This is a cute Easter bunting, thanks for the tutorial!
    I like red eggs best.

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  18. I love the pure bright colors for Easter eggs, and quilts. Thank you for your wonderful tutorial and great giveaway. Judy C in NC

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  19. You know, I have never actually died an easter egg before (unless I was really little and can't remember). Put I have made one of these: Pisanka, google it, they are awesome!

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  20. Cute bunting! Have to make one for my office! My favorite egg dye color is light blue overcast with purple.

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  21. For some reason, when dying Easter eggs, I always pick the pink first so that must be my favorite. Thanks for the opportunity to win your giveaway.

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  22. What a great tutorial - thank you Melissa!
    I like to dye my eggs yellow!

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  23. Green or blue. My fave colours in just about everything. :)

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  24. Purple! Not usually a favorite color, but it just says Easter to me!

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  25. I love the pastel colors - so springy.

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  26. My favorite Easter egg color is blue. Love the garland especially the chick and bunny. Thanks for the Spring inspiration!

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  27. Purple is my favorite egg color.

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  28. I would mix the red and blue to make my Easter Eggs Purple. It was so fun to play with the dye and dip the eggs part way down and then turn them over and put a different color on the other end. Thanks for the Giveaway!

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  29. Melissa, I love to dye Easter eggs with "natural" dyes -- ie onion peel, berries. Never know quilt what color I'll get, but it's lots of fun!

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  30. I would do green or blue, they say Easter to me :)

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  31. That is just darling!!! I may have to try one of those for Easter decorating. I love yellow eggs!

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  32. Love your colors on the bunting. I'd have to say my favorite color for eggs or practically anything else is a bright pink.

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  33. blue! and you need to soak them for awhile so they're really blue! thanks for the chance, Lori

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  34. i always liked to mix colors. dip it in blue for a minute, then in red. or put in it orange, then green. it gives kind of a speckle look.

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  35. I must be honest and tell you, I've never dyed eggs before, but if I were to ever do it, they would HAVE to be purple!

    Hugs
    Naomi

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  36. Yellow eggs are my favorite... thanks for your tutorial and a great giveaway!

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  37. I love your tutorial. I'll definitely have to try this one. My favorite color for egg dying is purple. Thanks! hickenfam at hotmail dot com

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  38. I love lavender colored eggs. Fun tutorial and something I might try. Thanks

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  39. How cute - can see using this technique to make all kinds of shapes for different seasons/holidays. I love the blue of course - leaving the egg in the dye for different times makes such lovely different hues.

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  40. Cute Bunting! Just darling! I always end up loving the eggs that don't quite turn out the color you thought they would. Mostly I enjoy the fun my daughter and I have doing it. We always run out of eggs way too soon (not that we could actually eat any more!)

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  41. Your bunting idea is great! I love purple eggs because that is the color of royalty. Jesus is the king we celebrate at Easter!

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  42. Purple is always my favorite color :) But I also like the fresh-looking greens. I've been playing with spring bunting ideas, thanks for the inspiration--and a chance to win!

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  43. Cute bunting. I like the yellow eggs.

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  44. I like the green eggs cause they're harder for the kids to find on a hunt!

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  45. Pale purple! Thanks for the tutorial - very fun!

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  46. Hmm, I like to color half yellow and half blue with a mix of green in the middle.

    sntbosch(at)me(dot)com

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  47. I like green and pink with a dash of blue - love the patterns - thanks for the pattern giveaway - !}

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  48. Light and dark purple with a pink one thrown in :)

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  49. Great tutorial - I love pink Easter eggs. Thanks for the chance to win.

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  50. Hmmmm - I guess I would have to say hot pink!! Reminds me of azaleas (sp?) - a pink like no other!! Love your banner - I've already printed out the templates and am headed for my stash! Can't wait to get started! Thanks for sharing and for the chance to win one of your patterns!

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  51. Love your bunting and tutorial!! I guess if I had to pick one color of Easter egg it would be pale blue.

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  52. I'm not sure that I have a favorite color--I love the dying process as much as any particular color. Thanks for the templates!

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  53. I love orange, pink, and yellow combinations, so springy!

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  54. Aqua or purple for sure. Thanks for the chance!

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  55. what a wonderful bunting. thanks for sharing the patterns. we dyed every color imaginable and then made some of our own colors, but the one that seemed to be prevelant most was blue.

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  56. You did a great tutorial. I love the turquoise.

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  57. Yellow - it's cheerful and my faorite color. Thanks!

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  58. I love to write on the eggs with a crayon and then dye them. Aqua blue and baby pinkare my favorite. I love this bunting and it is so cute !! Thank you for the chance at athe patterns.Have a Hoppy day yourself!

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  59. I love when the kids dye blue eggs.
    the bunting is adorable

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  60. My grandkids are at that age to dye eggs. I should think about that. Colour of the rainbow would be nice.

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  61. Yellow is my favorite color for Easter eggs.

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  62. I love lavender, such a girlie girl color babscorbitt@gmail.com

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  63. My favorite Easter egg color is lavender :) Thanks for the give away :)

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  64. fab tut as always, I love purple, eastery and pretty at the same time :)

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  65. HI! LAVENDER IS MY FAVORITE EASTER EGG SHADE!
    THANKS FOR SHARING!

    msstitcher1948@yahoo.com

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  66. My favorite is the blue/green color. Like a robin's egg. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  67. Your bunting is so cute! I'm making an Irish one today for my moms BD. I love purple and lavender for Easter eggs.

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  68. Love your bunting! Can't wait to make one. My favorite color is pink! Followed by Aqua, purple, robins egg blue and yellow and orange. Love all the colors of Easter, so happy!

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  69. This is adorable! I think I need to make one to add to the backdrop of the photographer who takes pics of my girls with live bunnies & chicks. :) My fav color to dye Easter eggs is a beautiful sky blue. It makes me think spring!

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  70. Around here we like to dye our eggs lavendar and add glitter!

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  71. I love the bright vibrant reds, yellows and greens - they speak spring to me after a dreary, long winter. Thanks for sharing and for a wonderful draw
    bonnielarson58@gmail.com

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  72. Melissa, that it is the cuties swag. I love turquoise the colour of a tropical sea against the white sands.

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  73. Favorite Easter Egg color is yellow. Just purchased your "Summer Breeze" pattern for another quilt for my sister, this time for her bed. Can't wait to get started, but there are several ahead of her - including me! Anyway, I love your patterns and posts.

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  74. I love it when the kids dip the eggs into different colors, so they might have something blue on one end and yellow on the other.

    Nonie

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  75. I love your patterns sweetie! I love to color eggs all the pastel colors like blue and pink. Ohhh and YELLOW! How fun. I'm kinda glad I don't do that anymore! :)

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  76. I like pink eggs... thanks for the great tutorial and the giveaway...

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  77. I just love your Easter bunting Melissa. I've never coloured eggs for Easter but if I did, I think I would do pastel pink and pastel blue! Thanks for the lovely giveaway.

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  78. What a cute idea! I love blue eggs because blue is my favorite color by far!

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  79. i like to decorate them robin egg blue & red & yellow designs.

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  80. I haven't died Easter eggs since my children were small. I personally like thepastel colours like blue, turquoise, pink, yellow....Thanks for the great giveaway.

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  81. I love deep deep red. thanks for the chance

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  82. I love bright blue and springy yellow Easter eggs. Thanks for the chance to win!!

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  83. I haven't dyed an Easter Egg for years. I have a memory of doing it as a very young child & it involving leaves and onion skins but I have no Idea how it worked. I have a toddler now - should look into that :)

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  84. It's been twice now that I have stopped dying Easter eggs. The first was when my daughter got past that age and the second when my grandson got past that age. I always preferred the purple ones and the ones that were more than one color. We had fun using a white crayon to draw little things on the eggs so that there would be white pictures that didn't soak in the colors. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  85. When I last dyed eggs I enjoyed double or triple dipping them to get deeper colors. My favorite dye color would be either purple or that pretty blue green. We have chickens now that lay blue eggs and brown eggs so dyeing them just wouldn't be the same! Cute bunting. K-

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  86. Such a cute bunting! I love to color Easter eggs, and love all the colors but probably orange or the blue-green. And at the end there is always that ugly egg that gets dipped in every color :) Thanks for the chance to win!

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  87. Such a cute bunting! I love to color Easter eggs, and love all the colors but probably orange or the blue-green. And at the end there is always that ugly egg that gets dipped in every color :) Thanks for the chance to win!

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  88. Love your bunting. Choosing an Easter egg color is as hard as choosing a favorite fabric color - I love the combination of the pastel eggs, but the aqua blues are probably the ones I would choose.

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  89. Your bunny bunting is so cute. We still dye eggs every year and I usually leave an egg in the blue for at least 10 minutes to get a deep color.

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  90. Adorable bunting! I like to dye eggs a deep purple - I leave the eggs in the dye a long time! Thanks for the inspiration!
    ellen(at)myerly(dot)net

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  91. such a cute idea, I need to make one too. My most favorite color to dye egss is Bright blue. :)

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  92. I always like making purple eggs.

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  93. Very cute bunting! I like making rainbow-coloured eggs, it's more work but lots of fun!

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  94. We paint our eggs, ceramic ones, I have them from when my kids were toddlers and now with grandbabies.. now I have a bunch of them.. its so cool to display them. But regular eggs its the vinegar and food coloring tye dye

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  95. I like to make blue or purple eggs.

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  96. Super cute bunting Melissa. Thank you for the tutorial and templates.

    Anytime I dye eggs, I always tend to do blue and purple eggs first; many times mixing those two colors on each of the eggs.

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  97. What a wonderful Easter Bunting tutorial. Love it!

    My favorite color to die eggs? Difficult choice as I love so many spring colors. How about purple?

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  98. Color for eggs is Robins Egg Blue!

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  99. My favorite is pink for the eggs. I don't usually use pink for anything else so the eggs are always fun.

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  100. Such a cute idea! Love the baby chick. Thanks for a great tutorial and pics. I love to dye eggs pink and purple.

    Thank you for a super giveaway and a chance to win.

    usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

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  101. I like to dye yellow. Then 1/2 green. Then 1/4 blue. Really pretty!!!
    thanks for giveaway!

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  102. I've never dyed easter eggs, but if I did it would have to be teal blue.

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  103. Love the bunting! I love to dye eggs purple! A littler more of a hunt then a bright pink! Thanks for the giveaway!
    mrs(dot)hbraun(at)gmail(dot)com

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  104. Thanks for sharing the bunting pattern. My favorite color to dye Easter eggs is purple.

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  105. Cute bunting! I used to love to dye the eggs green because you could hide them better that way. :)

    Sandy A

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  106. I love the robin egg blue color- my son just painted my kitchen that color.

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  107. I love the bunting. Such a cute idea. I like green because its my favorite color. However, I think you have to incorporate some other pastels!

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  108. Purple! But really, I wouldn't be happy with eggs that were just purple...I like a rainbow of bright colors!

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  109. I like to dye my eggs flame colors - red, yellow and orange. Little balls of flame all over the yard!

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  110. I like green the best. Love the bunting!

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  111. If I am using store bought dye I like the purple. The last 2 or 3 years I have been dyeing my eggs naturally with skins and spices and I have had some really earthy colors in blues, grays, yellows and oranges and I like them even more.

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  112. My favorite was Ruby's Easter Egg dye. It was oil based, so the color stayed on top of the water and as you dipped the egg the colors made a swirled pattern. Wish they still made that dye.

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  113. I love to have a whole rainbow of colors for my eggs, but I love pinks the best especially with some glitter added

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  114. i like to dye eggs using pickled beets juice. they turn out to be a pale magenta. so fun!

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  115. I love pastel colors for dying eggs - yellows and pinks and light green!

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  116. I really like yellow and pink.

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  117. I love the paisley quilted eggs - I actually like the details in these ones.

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  118. I just found some neon food coloring...I'm behind the times, thought it was a new product, but apparently not! haha I think I'm going to try to use them this year, I just love the neon colors!

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  119. I like making red eggs, in fact it is a tradition in Greece to make them red and keep at least one for the next year, for luck.

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  120. I love to color anything yellow. When I was very young i surprized my Mother by dying my curtains yellow with food coloring!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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  121. Blue is my favorite! Thanks for the fun bunting pattern :) mamalusco at ortelco.net

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  122. My favorite is making aqua blue eggs! :)

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  123. purple is my fave debbie jackson
    djackson1958 at hotmail dot com

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  124. I'm a pink girl myself. Thanks for participating.

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  125. I haven't dyed eggs in years but blue was my favorite. I liked using special kits and the glitter was the cutest!

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  126. Melissa, Thank you for the chance. I love to dye the eggs in pastel spring colors. Baby blue,soft yellow, baby green.

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  127. Melissa, I just found your fabulous blog. Of course we dye the eggs in Germany, my favorite color is ruby.
    Barbara

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  128. Hot pink and robins egg blue have always been my favorite Easter egg colors. Thanks for the giveaway and great tutorial. Happy Easter Melissa!

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  129. Fantastic idea to use your decorative stitches for the eggs! We haven't dyed eggs for a while and won't again this year since we'll be away on vacation, but we have hollowed, painted ones that we decorated years ago that are still stored in an egg carton that come out to hang on honeysuckle branches at Easter time.

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  130. The bunting is cute! Thanks for the chance!

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  131. I loved trying to dye eggs red, but they always came out more pink!

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  132. My favorite colour is Pink so that is the colour my eggs will be!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa