Ready, Shop, Sew!

In appreciation, I’ve created a coupon for $5 off any order of $10 or more on my website, where all my stuff is. The coupon code is 5OFF and is good through December 10, 2011, for your holiday shopping pleasure. U.S. and Canada only, regular shipping charges apply.

Here are some great ways to take advantage of the coupon. Stocking stuffers for your quilty friends!

When you click on the links below, you’ll be taken to the page on the website where the item is found. If you don’t see it right away, just scroll down.

Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volume 4. Only $6.99.

A cute little pattern for your friend who would like to hang this in her sewing room. Just $6.

Magnetic Needleminder, $9.50. These look like beautiful cameos and make fantastic gifties. There are 10 different styles to choose from.

John James #10 Straw/Milliner needles, $3.00. My favorites for hand appliqué.

Clover 5″ miscroserrated scissors, fantastic for appliqué. They’re very grippy on the fabric and the cut edge is less prone to fraying. $23.50

The coupon is good on anything you’d like to order from By Kay Mackenzie, including all of my books, patterns and notions. Maybe you’d like to get a gift for yourself! Have you been looking at Sew the Perfect Gift, Inspired by Tradition, or Teapots 2 to Appliqué? Now’s the time!

Hope you had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Well, she had a nice spirit about her and the way she said it was funny, so that actually made me laugh.

We started chatting and I asked her why she felt that way about appliqué. She told me that she had taken a class and had hated the process and the result. During our conversation I told her that there’s not just one way to appliqué and she just hadn’t found the way that suited her best. She agreed with that philosophy, and promised to give it another go.

I hope I helped this nice gal be more receptive to our polarizing pastime. What do you say to fellow quilters who have experienced frustration with appliqué?

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

• My talk with Pat Sloan on March 21 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time
•10-day blog hop, Book-A-Round 2, March 22-31.

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Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Awhile ago I instituted a Giveaway for Kids. I’ll repeat the post here.

Due to a printing glitch and subsequent reprinting, I ended up with way more copies of In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs than I needed. It’s time for them to move away from home!

If you’re a member of a group that makes and donates quilts for kids in need, email me at “kay at kaymackenzie dot com” and tell me about your group. I’ll send you 6 copies (as many as I can stuff in a bubble mailer) by the “slow boat to China,” Media Mail. If you feel like paying me back for the postage, you can PayPal a couple bucks to the same address.

If you’re not a member of such a group but you know somebody who is, feel free to spread the word.

This book includes step-by-step, illustrated instructions for five easy quilts and a comfy cozy flannel blankie, plus detailed instructions on the fusible-interfacing method for machine-appliquéing big, simple shapes.

There are only a few more packets of In a Twinkle waiting to go to a good home. So if your group has not yet received any, now’s the time to let me know that you’d like one for the use of your group’s worthy efforts. U.S. and Canada only.

Thank you for what you do for kids,
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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I myself am subscribed to the blogs I follow through Google Reader, an RSS feed reader that keeps everything organized in a browser tab.

Many people subscribe to blogs that way, while others prefer to subscribe by email. They’re more familiar with email and prefer having a post’s content delivered right to their in-box.

We who write blogs are ecstatic that you’re following us! Any which a way you like! But did you know that if you subscribe through a feed reader or by email, you’re missing a lot?

You’re getting each post in its bare-bones form. You see the text, you see the photos. But we work hard to format our posts, making them look pretty with text lined up and wrapping the right way with the pictures. This formatting is usually stripped away when posts are delivered remotely.

Also, you’re not seeing the blog’s sidebars, which are rich with possibilities.

Have you reviewed lately what All About Appliqué’s sidebars have to offer? Take a moment to click over to the blog itself. Just click on the title of this post and you’ll be whisked away to the blog.

Are we there now? See how nice the content looks in its intended form? See all the good stuff in the sidebars? Let’s take a tour.

Top left… the Appliqué Bookshop, powered by Amazon. All appliqué titles, hand-picked by me for your browsing pleasure. Just below that is the Appliqué DVD Store.

Next comes a rotating ad from Amazon, with juicy titles to catch your eye.

Below that is a search function for the blog. Type some keywords here and it will search the entire archive, bringing up any post no matter how old. A very handy feature when you’re looking for information on a designer or a technique!

Then come the Categories. These are categories that I assign each blog post so that if you’re looking for info on a certain subject, you can click on one and all posts assigned that category will come up. Another way to search the blog, and very useful when looking for information.

Then there are a couple of blog rings. Click on these logos and you’ll be taken to another blog that belongs to the same ring. You can keep going around from blog to blog for a long time .

Lastly on the left are the Archives, filed by month. If you want to look back and see all the posts for a certain month, that’s how you can do it.

Now we move to the right-hand side.

Up top are two ways to subscribe, by email or by feed reader. Both of these are great ways to receive automatic notification when a blog post goes up. Just remember, you’re only seeing a stripped-down version of the post when you get them this way, and clicking over to the blog itself is a good thing to do every once in awhile.

Below that are two linked logos, one for the new on-line Quilt Pattern Magazine, and one for the first issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, both of which I had stuff in.

Then there’s a link to the All About Appliqué Flickr group, which you can post your appliqué photos to, or just go and enjoy the eye candy!

Below that is a linked image for the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round from 2009. Ooh, that was a fun one.

Guess what… there’s another one coming down the pike! That’s right, look for Book-A-Round 2, Inspired by Tradition coming your way in March or April. There will be tons of info about the new book as well as lots of chances to win a copy.

Below that is the blogroll, with lots of linky love for appliqué designers and pattern companies. Another rich resource for appliqué enthusiasts.

That’s it! Thanks for coming on the sidebar tour with me. And thanks for reading the blog, and subscribing to it!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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How very cool! I certainly appreciate receiving an award of any type!

What does it mean? I asked myself.

I Googled the term and found Versatile Quilter awards all over the internet, and not just among quilting blogs. You name it, this award is going around it, and I couldn’t find out who started it.

Not knowing its provenance, I’m choosing not to pass the award along, which would involve telling you seven things about myself and presenting the award to other blogs that I read. However, I will tell you about one blog that you may find of interest. Did you know that Checker Distributors publishes a blog? Called the Checker Newsletter, it’s mostly written by Penny Haren, author of the Pieced Appliqué series of books. Penny’s not a Checker employee but works with them a lot in the industry. The blog highlights all the brand-new things that are coming onto the market… very interesting!

The fellow appliqué enthusiast who sent me the award is Erin Russek, who writes a pretty darn versatile and attractive blog herself. Thank you Erin!

Erin’s blog is One Piece at a Time and she does lovely, lovely work. Not only that, she has posted several appliqué tutorials that you’ll find of interest.

Well, I still don’t know who started the Versatile Blogger award, but the way I interpret it is that Erin finds my blog worthwhile, so I’ll take it and run! Thank you so much again Erin! Your original designs are gorgeous.

Here’s Erin’s “Miss Kelly.” It’s the center block for her 2011 BOM called “My Tweets”. There will be a free small pattern every month so be sure to check it out on Erin’s blog.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Would you like one of these Scratch & Dent copies at a bargain price?

Teapots 2 to Appliqué by Kay Mackenzie

Crunched corner, otherwise completely useful

If so, send me a PayPal payment of $14 (that includes the shipping) to kay at kaymackenzie.com (no spaces, and use the @ sign) and be sure to include your shipping address.

FAQ:

• No, no mail order on this one. PayPal is easy and quick, and you don’t need to have a PayPal account.

• The book normally sells for $16.95 plus a couple bucks shipping.

• You can see all the details about the book at By Kay Mackenzie.

• Do NOT order the Scratch & Dent through the website. This sale is “off the grid.” If you use the shopping cart on the website, you’ll get a regular copy at regular price.

Please give these slightly blemished beauties a good home.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Would you like to contribute an article to All About Appliqué? Come on down!

You can show us a special tip or trick, give us a photo tour of your method, demo a product, review your favorite book, etc. etc. Any method of appliqué is great! Use anybody’s pattern, or your own, just be sure to give the pattern source. Shoot me an email to kay at kaymackenzie.com (you know the drill, use the @ sign and no spaces) and let me know what you have in mind.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to know how to blog! If you can write an email and attach a photo, you can do this! I’ll turn your material into a fantastic post.

Many thanks!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Kay

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Sigh, see you soon,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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