Appliqué Books
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Jan
6
The book goes to… and, what I got for Christmas
Filed Under Fabrics, Kittens Off Topic, Prizes | 11 Comments
Heather came up the winner in the draw for Pennies From Heaven. Congratulations Heather! She says she is particularly attracted to the valance since she has been toying with the idea of making one. Enjoy the book!
Every year the DH Dana puts some fat quarters in my stocking. (Yes, he’s a very good quilt husband.) This year, as I mentioned, he was in Oslo on a business trip in mid-December, so what should I pull out of my stocking but these beautiful things!
The apple fabric turned out to be an Alexander Henry, which he was bitterly disappointed to learn is a California fabric company LOL! I didn’t care, I love it!
He did better on the other two. I consulted Dr. Google and found that the Tilda fabric is designed by adorable Oslo native Tone Finnanger. Isn’t it gorgeous? Tone has a whole line of things that she has designed and it’s all to drool over.
Dana didn’t remember the name of the shop where he found the fabric, describing it as “sort of a craft store.” Luckily the label on the fabric enabled me to track it down to being Panduro Hobby in downtown Oslo.
And here’s what else I got for Christmas. You remember the Cavalcade of Kittens? And how I said there was a followup? You remember the very last batch, the ones with the sneezy noses?
A few days before Christmas I started getting a queasy feeling… queasy because I was terrified by it but still it was there… of thinking that maybe Max would stay. (He’s the one in the middle with the smush-face.) I brought it up with Dana and he was delighted! He was all for it, but understood my fear of commitment. After losing Willie and before that, three aged cats one by one, I felt like a widow enjoying the dating scene but not ready for a long-term relationship.
But truly, Max had all the qualities we would want in a cat, so I kept thinking about it. On Christmas Eve we turned out the lights at about 11:30 p.m. and Max came and draped himself purring over my neck and laid his face on my cheek for a pillow, and suddenly my heart opened up and the fear washed away, and I knew that he was a keeper. It had to be about midnight on Christmas morning.
Dana named him for his favorite childhood TV character Maxwell Smart. Max is a velvety soft, squishy, floppy five-month-old who loves to be picked up, held, hugged, kissed, turned upside down, draped over the shoulder, etc., purring all the while. He’s ours now, all officially adopted through the shelter, and fits in here like peas and carrots.
This cat knows how to relax.
Did I mention that he's floppy?
Under my ironing board.
Willie used to sleep at the base of my stash.
Max has chosen his spot, about four feet higher.
Face plant in the batiks.
To quote Dr. Seuss (and Anne Sutton, who recently told us the heartwarming story of Bitsy Button Sutton), “It came without ribbons.” I didn’t want a kitty for Christmas, but it’s the very best present I got.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
P.S. BTW the other two kitties recovered well from their colds and I took them back to the shelter. Within 10 minutes of getting them set up and settled in the adoptable area, one of them was already requested for a meet-and-greet. Out the door he went with his new family. About 45 minutes later, the other one went! That’s gotta be a new world’s record, even for the Kitten Flipper (as they call me at the shelter)!
Sep
20
Baltimore Album fabric
Filed Under Baltimore Album, Fabrics, History | 1 Comment
I got an email newsletter from Hancock’s of Paducah that had a link to a fabric line called Baltimore Album by Mary Koval. Of course I had to go and check that out!
This is a beautiful set of fabrics for the appliqué enthusiast! There’s a gorgeous printed panel and a whole range of fabrics that are perfect for this type of project.
On the Hancock’s of Paducah website, if you click on the panel fabric, there’s a free download pattern by Mary Koval. Very cool!
Until next time,
(patchy project nearing completion),
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jun
11
Colouring *in* the lines
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Color, Embroidery, Fabrics, Fusible web, Guest posts, Hand appliqué, Photo tutorials, Raw edge | 1 Comment
Sarah answered the call! Recently, when I put out a call for contributions to the blog, regular reader Sarah Vee of Ontario, Canada, got in touch right away. I’d delighted to turn the blog over to her today for a terrific guest post about blanket-stitch appliqué. Go Sarah!
Sarah Vee of Sew Joy, whose motto is “I have found happiness in making quilts – and joy in sharing my quilt making.”
Sarah: I have been a patchworker for most of the time I have been quilting. Almost 14 years now! I shied away from the “A” word for many years, even though some of the first quilts I fell in love with were in the Baltimore Album style.
Eventually I started to try it a block at a time. I made a wedding wallhanging with one large appliqué block –- no one could really tell if I had left anything out — and I did, almost half of the leaves!
When Kay’s book Easy Appliqué Blocks: 50 Designs in 5 Sizes came out, I was lucky enough to win a copy. Who could resist the possibilities! Around the same time, my sister sent my daughter a container that held all of her embroidery floss from doing cross stitch for many years. She was putting it aside to focus on quilting.
My daughter never had a chance! I claimed the box of thread like it was my first box of 64 crayons! I was no longer daunted by the delicacy of appliqué – I had colour on my side.
I put my first blocks from Kay’s appliqué book into a larger pieced quilt for one of my nieces. Instead of having my stitches blend in with my fabrics, I outlined them in black like a colouring book.
I use the blanket stitch because it’s easy (once you get the hang of it). You can change the size of the stitch to work on any piece, and you can work it by hand or machine. You can use it to secure pieces that are fused and also ones that are not.
I’m by no means an technical expert on supplies or technique. I use what I have, look at lots of pictures – and try stuff. Just take a quick look at these photos I took while working on my latest quilt. You’ll see how I made the colours and blanket stitch work for me to create my Bunny Lady quilt.
The basics: I’m using DMC embroidery thread. I use two strands because that seems to give the thickness I need to cover the edge of the fabric. I use a needle that works for me — not sure if it’s the ‘right’ one. The eye isn’t so small I can’t see to thread it, but not so big that it leaves a hole when going through my quilt top. It’s a medium-length needle so that the thread doesn’t glide out of it too easily.
Tip: Use a fairly long strand of thread. You don’t want to re-thread the needle any more times than you need to – just don’t make it so long that it tangles after every stitch (this isn’t quicker – trust me).
To start: Bring your thread up from the back right at the edge of your piece to appliqué. The length of the next stitch determines the length of your blanket stitch – how far it goes into your appliqué. Put your thread into the fabric and bring it back up almost right on top of where you started.
On the leaves I used smaller stitches closer together because I had to turn a lot of corners, and the leaves are fairly small. On the carrots, I took larger stitches because there was more open space in the middle of the appliqué pieces.
You work this stitch counterclockwise (at least I do because I’m right handed). Hold your thread across the edge of the piece working to the left.
From where your needle just came up, take a stitch down and to the right that lines up with your first stitch into the appliqué. Bring your needle up at the edge of your appliqué and go over the thread you are holding in place. Pull the stitch snug (but don’t make the piece pucker).
This space defines how close together your stitches will be. On smaller pieces, or going around a corner, you probably want them closer together.
Keep going until you’re done, or almost out of thread! Make sure you leave a long enough tail so you can make a knot on the back.
You can see how I had fun with colour. I used different shades of orange on my carrots. Changing the colours made it more fun to go around so many carrots –- and also gives the up-close viewer a visual treat. The carrots in the border were not fused down, just pinned in place until I secured them with the blanket stitch.
The bunnies and carrots in the quilt top were fused, then stitched. I used bright, fun colours on them too. I used a fairly large stitch on the bunnies so it would be more visible.
I hope this was helpful and encouraging. I stared at many magazine diagrams and pictures of beautiful quilts before I finally tried my hand at appliqué and the blanket stitch. You’ll never know the possibilities until you try. Thanks Kay for providing so many possibilities with your designs and inspiration-packed blog. I’m looking forward to including appliqué on many more quilts.
With Joy,
Sarah Vee
www.sewjoy.blogspot.com
Kay: Thanks a million, Sarah, for your article sharing the joy of appliqué! You’ve gone from “A” word avoider to appliqué enthusiast, because you found your method! I love those patched bunnies… reminds me that I have some randomly pieced hunks of patchwork sitting in the UFO pile awaiting their final destiny! Hmm…
FYI, Sarah is hosting a Placemat Party Blog Hop from Monday, June 28, to Friday, July 2. Visit her blog to find a new hostess each day celebrating the release of Sarah’s first pattern, “Eat with JOY! Placemats”. There will be prizes, fun, refreshments, and hostess-gift ideas for summer parties. Sounds like summer fun!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
May
5
A Baker’s Dozen of delectable quilts
Filed Under Books, Embroidery, Fabrics, Freezer paper on the back, Fusible web, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge, Prizes | 11 Comments
Tasty precuts make great ingredients for A Baker’s Dozen!
A Baker's Dozen from the staff at That Patchwork Place
Most of the staff at Martingale & Company (parent company of That Patchwork Place) are quiltmakers. In this collaborative pattern book they challenged themselves to use the yummy precut assortments available today… we’re talking jelly rolls, layer cakes, honey buns, turnovers, dessert rolls, fat quarters, and charm packs… to whip up a bakery case of delectable quilts.
Note: It isn’t required to use precuts. Each set of instructions also gives fabric requirements for pulling from your stash or from bolts at the quilt shop. But just in case you have been tempted by those luscious jelly rolls, layer cakes, etc., the book gives information on how to handle them, sort them, to wash or not to wash, and what to do about those confusing pinked edges.
Staff from all areas of Martingale contributed to the book, from web manager to the marketing department to customer service and relations, print and production, editorial, book design, illustration, accounting, author liaison, acquisitions and development, and the social networking coordinator, who quilted 11 of the quilts! I thought it would be fun to hear something about the process.
Mary Burns, Marketing Coordinator, tells the story of her quilt Flying Shuttles.
The Editorial Department put out a call to the staff for designs using precut fabrics or fat quarters. I don’t really consider myself a quilt designer. I think of myself as just your average quilter. Everyone here is so encouraging though—I work with such wonderful and creative people—so I decided to jump in!
I had a fat quarter pack of Kim Diehl’s “Country Haven” and I knew I wanted to do something old-fashioned and folksy to go with the décor of my 1901 farmhouse. I found a traditional pieced block called “Cracker” in my trusty Judy Hopkins book 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks. I set the blocks in circles and called it Colvin Mill Wheels, after a historic mill near my sister’s house in Virginia.
At the last minute, I sketched out an alternate layout of Cracker blocks in vertical rows—and that’s the one that was chosen. (Hooray for last minute inspiration!) At that point the quilt didn’t have any appliqué, but after I pieced it and sewed on the cream border, it just looked like it needed something. I sketched out a flowing vine, some leaves, and folksy flowers. Fortunately, they were thrilled—but I only had a couple weeks before the deadline for finished quilts— and I was scheduled to be at Spring Quilt Market the first week and on vacation at my sister’s in Virginia the second week. What was I thinking?!
As Marketing Coordinator, one aspect of my job is to get everything ready for our booth at Quilt Market. The month up to and including Market is extremely hectic. I stayed up late every night the week before we left, finishing the pieced borders and machine appliquéing all my vines and leaves, cutting out all my folksy flowers and flower centers and packing them all in my carry-on—didn’t want to risk losing it!
I use freezer paper applique on the wrong side of the fabric, with the shiny side up so that I can press the seam allowance to the sticky side, then cut a slit in the back and remove the paper. I machine-appliqued the vines and leaves and hand-appliqued the flowers and flower centers. I finished appliquéing the centers onto the flowers on the plane; it really made time fly!
When we got to the hotel, I laid the quilt out on my bed and figured out where I wanted the flowers to go. Despite my valiant efforts, by the time Market was over, I still wasn’t finished appliquéing the flowers—how naïve of me to think that I could work hard at Market and still have time and energy to finish the quilt! So off to my sister’s house the two of us went, my quilt and I, with a promise that I’d email a photo of the finished quilt before the deadline. It’s kind of fitting that I finished it in all the way across the country in Virginia, near the Mill that originally inspired me to use the Cracker block.
I changed the title of the quilt to “Flying Shuttles” because the way the Cracker block turns left and right reminds me of how a shuttle flies through a loom. When I showed it to my teenage sons at home, the Cracker blocks reminded them of the old Intellivision game, Astrosmash, and the space shuttles that you had to shoot to win. Either way, I just love how this quilt turned out–and apparently I’m not the only one, because the quilt has been chosen to be in That Patchwork Place Quilt Calendar 2011—I’m Miss November!
So there’s my saga, hope you find it amusing. The hardest part about designing a quilt pattern is that you have to write down everything you do, and have it make sense to someone who’s never done it before. Now I know! It’s not as easy as it sounds!
Cathy Reitan, Martingale’s author liaison, set a personal challenge for herself with her design.
Circles and Chains by Cathy Reitan
I have always created with textiles, starting in high school with fashion sewing from patterns and then moving into copying store fashions. As I moved into my 30s and had a family, the focus changed to children’s designs and home dec sewing with a little bit of quilting. With the dawn of children having their driver’s licenses and freedom from being a slave to the car, I began to quilt. You know, the kind of quilting where you plan a project, shop for the items you need, and work on it for significant lengths of time, not just in stolen moments.
I usually use traditional civil war colors and patterns with a lot of hand work. When the opportunity to design a quilt for A Baker’s Dozen came along, I set myself a goal of using colors out of my normal color palette and geometrical shapes that where also not the norm for me. Circles and Chains was the result. I combined the traditional Irish chain block ( just could not completely give up the traditional) with the geometric fast-fused applique circles. I made couple of sample blocks and threw them away because the colors I picked were not strong enough to support the jelly roll I wanted to work with. Back to the quilt store for the brown and yellow solids and another trial block was made. The effect of the deeper color was much better with my jelly roll. I used several colors I love to hate, primarily orange paired with turquoise which is color that I am repeatedly drawn to but matches nothing in my house. Now I just need a child to give up a bedroom so I can decorate with a new color scheme!
Working at Martingale is a great place to inspire creativity and take the next leap of faith because there is always someone to encourage and praise your efforts. There is always someone to bounce and brainstorm ideas with. Of course with so many beautiful samples coming in from authors the list of projects I want to make is always longer than the hours left in my lifetime!
Adrienne Smitke from the illustration department describes the collaborative effort that went into her design.
Ladybugs!
This quilt was a team effort, and I think that’s part of why I like it so much. Not only are the colors and motifs cheerful and welcoming, when I see this quilt I think about all the different elements of its construction and how many different hands helped stitch it together.
While I really like sewing, I love shopping for fabric. I could spend hours browsing either online or in the fabric store through the ever changing rows of color and pattern. It is more often the fabric that helps inspire the kind of quilt or project I want to make rather than the other way around. I had been trying to come up with an excuse to work with Momo’s Wonderland fabric line since its release. While browsing for ideas, I took a closer look at the polka-dot print in this fabric line and discovered that some of the dots were actually ladybugs. Inspiration struck and I knew ladybugs would make a cute and easy appliqué design. To compliment the ladybugs, I pulled three simple flower shapes from the print used in the border.
As a technical illustrator I spend a lot of time working with Adobe Illustrator (a vector drawing program), so it was easy for me to draw the full size applique patterns on the computer. This allowed me to easily tweak and size them as I needed to fit the blocks. You don’t need to be a professional designer to use a computer to create your own patterns. Many computers already come with drawing software, or you can simply Google “vector drawing program” online to explore the many options available. It can take a little time to get used to the drawing tools in these programs, however you shouldn’t be discouraged. Like with any skill, practice makes perfect.
Once the quilt design was complete, that’s when the teamwork began. I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish two complete quilts (my other quilt in the book is “Rose Garden,” page 62) in the time available, but my co-workers came to the rescue. Despite that they were all working on additional quilts of their own for A Baker’s Dozen, they pitched in and each took on a part of the process.
While I cut and sewed the pieced blocks, Karen Soltys worked on the appliqué blocks. Karen has a wealth of great tips for how she made the machine appliqué simple and easy. First she traced all the large shapes on fusible web and then, before cutting any of them out, traced the smaller shapes inside the larger ones. She cut those smaller pieces out of the centers of the larger ones, and fused them onto their contrast fabrics. This not only saved on fusible web, but made the finished appliqué blocks much softer and more flexible.
After all the shapes were fused to their fabrics and then to the white background blocks, Karen machine-blanket-stitched around all of the shapes using chocolate brown machine-quilting thread to add definition to the designs. She recommends using open-toe presser foot so that you can easily see where you’re stitching. In addition, she used a 50-weight thread (“regular” sewing thread) in the bobbin, which required loosening the machine tension a bit so that the bottom thread wouldn’t pull up to the top as she stitched.
Karen handed off the appliquéd blocks to Cathy Reitan, who hand-embroidered the beautiful details for the flower stems, lady bug wings, and antennae before assembling the blocks and borders into a quilt top. Karen Burns, who did the stunning machine quilting on almost all of the quilts in the book, stitched all-over swirls in the appliqué blocks to help the motifs stand out, and then added flowers in the borders reminiscent of the flowers in the fabric pattern. Finally the quilt came back to Cathy, who sewed on the binding and hanging sleeve. It was really thrilling to see how all of the blocks and pieces were assembled into a stunning final product, and to know each of us had a hand in it. Now the quilt hangs behind my desk at work and each day I am greeted by its cheerful motifs and reminded of the teamwork that helped put this quilt together.
I really enjoyed hearing these stories, hope you did too. Martingale has supplied a copy of the book to give away, so leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on Saturday, May 8, to enter the drawing to win this delicious collection of quilt patterns. (U.S. and Canada only)
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Apr
3
Jump out of your box!
Filed Under Books, Borders, Color, Designers, Embellishment, Fabrics, Improvisational appliqué, Words | 18 Comments
Mary Lou Weidman is one of my most favorite admired quiltmakers and authors. Her Whimsies & Whynots: A Playful Approach to Quiltmaking has been on my bookshelf for years.
And so it was with great pleasure that I received a copy of Mary Lou’s latest book Out of the Box: Unleash Your Creativity Through Quilts from Martingale & Company as our featured appliqué book for this month.
Mary Lou’s quiltmaking style is one of riotous, colorful fun, personal meaning, and brave and fearless fabric choices. (It was through her that I first noticed and learned to appreciate the color “cheddar.”) This book is an inspiration to anyone who is willing to be inspired, and Mary Lou writes at length about the process of discovering your inner artist, inviting play and discovery, and listening to yourself instead of to your friends and/or critics.
Every day you have at your disposal the ability to think big, think colorful, think happy, think with large imaginative images, think clever, think expressive, think funny, think lofty, think about the past, think about the future, and think things that no one but you can think of. You have the ability to think ‘out of the box’ and to share your wonderful thoughts and your imagination with others in the form of art, in this case, quilts.
How different is that from the quilting rut of choosing colors and fabrics that “go” with our living rooms, of fretting over “perfect” precise blocks, of fearing the quilt police so that our childlike creative voices are stifled?
What is out of the box? “Push the lid open and jump out!” says Mary Lou, and she gives us a checklist of 24 sample items to test our position in relation to the box. After administering this self-test I discovered that I am not quite out LOL, but I can peep over the lid.
This book holds quite a bit of wisdom, more reading and thoughtiness that your average quilting book I’d say. It’s a process book rather than a product book. I really appreciate that approach. When I’m in my booth at quilt shows, I’m often asked, “How long did it take you to make that?” or, “How long would it take to learn to do that?” Wow, that’s a really product-oriented type of thinking. I want to reply, “Does it matter, if you’re enjoying yourself?”
Mary Lou emphasizes the need to think and daydream, and this struck a chord with me as well. Often, what happens to me during shows is that when I have some down time… slow periods on the show floor, or upon waking up too early in the morning… I seize a pen and paper and write down long list of thoughts that flood into my brain. The inspiration and energy that comes from being at a quilt show turns on a tap for me and I love it when the daydreaming flow of creativity starts. Mary Lou says we need to set aside time for this every day to doodle, think, and imagine.
(Yes, you really can find a half an hour each day.)
There’s a list of creativity stoppers to watch out for (like, ‘there is only one right answer’), pages and pages of inspiration exercises and sources found in our everyday lives, how the author shops for fabric, a section on words in quilts, and lots of information on color. How about being shown the eight styles of fabric! This was an eye-opener for me and something I especially enjoyed.
Then there’s an extensive gallery of the author’s quilts and short-story quilts made by her friends and students. Martingale has done their usual fantastic job on the photography… kudos Brent Kane!!! The quilts burst from the pages. Mary Lou finishes up the book by talking about the making of short-story quilts and how you can derive them from your own life. She shares “secrets” of scale, theme, focus, design elements, drawing, creating patterns, and also shares her own methods of appliqué. Borders, quilting, finishing, and embellishing (’the icing on the cake’) are also included.
Out of the Box is quite a pep talk and an energizing boost! If you’d like to win a copy, leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. (U.S. and Canada only.) Tell us why you need this book in your quiltmaking life!
The winner will also receive a copy of my book Easy Appliqué Blocks: 50 Designs in 5 Sizes. Thank you Martingale!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Mar
3
Tile Quilt Revival
Filed Under Books, Fabrics, Fusible web, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Needleturn, Prizes | 38 Comments
At the Road to California show in January, I had the excellent fortune to sit at the breakfast table with Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley. Several friends of mine were staying at the hotel, and they were also friends of Carol and Bobbi, so introductions were made–on a first-name basis–and Bobbi was flabbergasted when I asked her, “Are you Bobbi Finley??” That was a very familiar name to me after years of hanging around with active members of the American Quilt Study Group.
Carol and Bobbi had a special exhibit of their tile quilts in the show. Passing these at warp speed as I did the first time, these beautiful pieces have a stained-glass look, but lighter and airier. Bobbi says that a lot of people compare them to stained-glass quilts, but they’re not. Construction-wise, instead of “leading” applied over the raw edges of the shapes, these shapes are finished with turned edges, and the background is left exposed to create the spaces between shapes.
Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form is Carol and Bobbi’s fascinating, educational, and inviting book that reintroduces this “unique and somewhat obscure” form of appliqué quilt.
Tile quilts are explained this way:
Traditional tile quilts… are constructed with small pieces of cotton fabric appliquéd in a random manner to a white background, leaving a narrow space between the pieces; this white space serves as the “grout” between the tiles or “mortar” between the pavers or stones.
The books starts out with a brief history of tile quilts, with great photos showing examples from the past. Then comes a section on how to make a tile quilt, reinterpreted for today. When I read the following, the heavens opened up and I heard the heavenly choir!
The tile quilt technique, with its large and simple shapes, creates an ideal showcase for bold, contemporary fabrics. Interesting, large-scale prints are will suited for the tile pieces. If you’ve ever found yourself admiring some of the daring prints now available but wondering how to use them, a tile quilt is an idea project for putting them to good use.
Hallelujah! I have a tub of fabrics in my stash labeled “Modern” that has been… well… sitting there.
Now my “daring” prints have a destiny!
The techniques used in the book are so simple they’re ingenious! No need to consider seam allowances, to reverse patterns, or to figure out where to place the pieces. Another really great thing about this book is that it has fantastic appliqué instructions… needle-turn by hand, turned-edge machine-appliqué and fusible machine appliqué too, all expertly explained and illustrated. If you’re reading this blog, you probably like appliqué already, but how about this section where the authors say:
Even if you don’t love to appliqué or don’t consider yourself to be skilled at it, chances are you will enjoy the tile quilt process because it is not exacting. The tile-and-grout form is quite forgiving, and the inevitable deviations from strict uniformity in the grout add to the visual interest and appeal of a piece.
How cool is that?? Get your A-word friends to take a look!
After the appliqué information, there are instructions for several projects with full-size pull-out patterns.
Then there’s a Gallery of Contemporary Tile Quilts. These are fun and inspiring to look at as you see what quilters of today are doing to reinvent the form.
C&T Publishing is graciously sponsoring a giveaway of a copy of Tile Quilt Revival! Leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on Friday, March 5, to be in the drawing. U.S. and Canada only, unless you’d be willing to pay the shipping.
Those subscribed by email, click over the the blog itself and scroll to the bottom of the post to leave a comment.
I wanna start a tile quilt right now, but dang I have deadlines!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Nov
11
Awesome Asian Teapots
Filed Under Books, Fabrics, Fusible web, Patterns, Raw edge, Show & Tell, Topstitch | 2 Comments
I came across this entry on longarm quilter Nancy Gambrel’s blog, where she shows off her customers’ quilts and the beautiful quilting she’s done on them.
Lo and behold, there’s an absolutely beautiful teapot quilt made by Pat Besenhofer, and I recognize it as being from my Teapots 2 to Appliqué.
What an internet find! Pat and Nancy both graciously agreed to let me use the photos and put up a Show & Tell of my own.
Asian Teapot quilt made by Pat Besenhofer, quilted by Nancy Gambrel.
Look at the elegant quilted frames surrounding each teapot, setting them off just so.
Pat writes,
This is so cool. My quilt is indeed based on your book Teapots to Applique 2. I would be thrilled to have my quilt shown on your website. And to think it isn’t even bound yet! I’m glad that Nancy and I spent so much time exchanging ideas about the quilting, I think the frame she did works beautifully with the teapots and the corner diamonds.
I’ve been a tea person all of my life, and I get so tired of patterns featuring coffee, espresso’s and latte’s, etc., so I snatched up this book (as well as the first one) when I saw it at the all-the-quilt-books-in-the-world vendor at the Rosemont, Illinois, Quilt Festival a a year or two ago.
This is the first quilt I’ve made with a definite location in mind; it’s going to go in my kitchen. I’ve been second-guessing myself on the pattern, wondering if I should have placed one or more teapots going the other way, or adding a teacup in one spot for a bit of whimsy. I’m happy that you like it as is.
Pat told me that the quilt was done with fusible raw-edge applique. In order to get the teapots facing the ‘correct’ way, she copied the positive images, then flipped the paper to create a reverse image to draw on the fusible web. Pat, that’s just the way I do it. Nancy stitched down the edges of the fusible applique with clear thread.
A beautiful job, both Pat and Nancy!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Oct
26
A lovely quasi-quilty trip
Filed Under Books, Designers, Fabrics, Quilt shops | 3 Comments
It started last Wednesday morning bright and early as Dana and I packed the car and drove an hour and a half to Pleasant Hill, California, to attend the quarterly meeting of the Northern California Quilt Council. I had been invited to participate in a panel discussion called “So You Want to Get it Published.” How very cool! Publishing nerd that I am, I can’t think of a more thrilling topic.
My fellow panel members were Cara Gulati of Doodle Press, Jill Rixman of A Designing Woman, Megan Wisniewski and Lynn Koolish of C&T Publishing, authors Judy Sisneros and Melinda Bula, Tracey Brookshier of Brookshier Design Studio, and Judy Mullen of Scaredy Cat Designs. Quite an array of different perspectives on publishing in the quilting world!
We each had five minutes to introduce ourselves, complete with red, yellow, and green flash cards to let us know when the hook was approaching LOL. Questions from the floor followed. Some of the answers shared great information about various forms of ‘getting it published,’ while others provided moving inspiration. I think we all wish the session could have gone on longer. We only scratched the surface; there was so much more to talk about!
After the meeting was over Dana and I had lunch and set off for our next destination: Shinneyboo Creek Cabins near Emigrant Gap in the Sierra Nevadas. This is a rustic vacation resort with little cabins that I found by following Google Maps up I-80.
Little cabin in the woods.
It was so much fun! A complete change of scenery from our coastal Santa Cruz. Crisp mountain air, woodsy terrain, and tons of tumbled rocks and huge boulders thanks to the work of glaciers in the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago. (Hello, I‘m married to a science writer.)
We brought our dinner and warmed it up in our cozy little cabin in the microwave, and made tea with the electric kettle. Dana immediately climbed up into the loft and turned 10 years old again, reading in the loft as happy as a clam. I read some quilting magazines and stitched three holly leaves.
The next morning we went for a walk. (Notice I said walk. I’m a good sturdy walker but don’t say the word hike.) Our destination was the Pierce Creek Wetlands Trail, ¼ mile from the path behind our cabin.
A mile or so later down a rocky road, we came to the following sign.
I swear they were in that order.
But we did find the Pierce Wetlands, er, dry creekbed. Rains this winter will undoubtedly make it wet again.
They also have a yurt.
Dana examining a fascinating rock.
Dana contemplating a sign that says nothing, with a pine cone on his head. Don't ask.
We left Shinneyboo and drove east to Bearpaws & Hollyhocks, a charming quilt shop in Sacramento well worth the detour. I found some of the double pinks that I have come to greatly appreciate.
We got back on the freeway and proceeded eastward a short hop to historic Auburn, where I stopped in at the Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe. The first thing I saw was Susan Brubaker Knapp’s hot-off-the-presses Applique Petal Party! (A whole post about that’s comin’ up.)
As I was perusing the shop’s lovely fabrics and making my selections, the owner came in. “Oh, hello!” she said to me. She had been at the NCQC meeting that morning! It was great to chat with Patti a little bit about the experience. She gave me a copy of the 2007 Quilt Sampler magazine, which features Cabin Fever as one of the Top Ten Stores! Congratulations Patti and staff!
Just one part of the store.
Then, on to our last stop, the Sands Regency in Reno, Nevada.
From woodsy to glitzy.
Dana plays in a chess tournament at the Sands once or twice a year and I love to go along when I can. The fabulous Windy Moon Quilts has a huge selection of fabrics, lots of lights and darks and other categories too numerous to mention. I also found Sew-n-Such, a very fun shop featuring sewing machines, sergers, and a sizeable quilt fabric presence. Very nice vibe in that shop.
My haul of fabrics from the trip. Can you tell that I’m collecting backgrounds, reds, pinks, greens, and blues? Yep, I’m off to the races on another future project.
So what quilter doesn’t combine vacation time with visits to quilt shops, catching up on quilting magazines, and time spent on take-along projects? For us, all trips are quasi-quilty! I sure enjoyed mine.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Oct
19
Thank you so much to everyone who came over from the Bloggers Quilt Festival and left amazing comments about Shopping Bags. I cherish each and every one; you’ve done my heart good.
There’s a followup story. As I was cutting shapes for the bags, I also cut a few blades and squares from each fabric for some Dresden plate blocks, figuring I had already pulled a coordinated assortment of fabrics so why not make it a twofer. I made this quilt later. Same fabrics exactly as the shopping bags! This quilt is from Faye Anderson’s pattern ‘Cracked China.’ I call mine ‘Mix and Doesn’t Match.’
Mix and Doesn't Match by Kay Mackenzie
Here’s the quilt that appeared in American Quilter. Funny that they were originally attracted to the pattern from the dark blue quilt, requested an additional lighter sample, and then never used the first one at all!
Shopping Bags II by Kay Mackenzie
In this quilt, the bags were pieced into the background instead of appliquéd on.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Oct
9
Dana’s choice
Filed Under Embellishment, Fabrics, Improvisational appliqué, Show & Tell, Turned edge | 58 Comments
I asked Dana which quilt should be my quilter’s choice for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival put on by Amy of Park City Girl. Immediately he said, “Shopping Bags.”
Shopping Bags by Kay Mackenzie
The bag popped into my head a number of years ago whilst tromping the aisles at Pacific International Quilt Festival. It must have been the heavenly combination of quilts, fabric, and shopping!
It took awhile for the concept to get from my head to a design. Yes, kids, each bag has set-in seams in two places. That did not deter me. I used freezer-paper templates and sewed carefully, and they came together just fine.
Shopping Bags detail
It was gobs of fun rummaging through my stash for fabrics to make the fronts, sides, and backs. For the sides, I chose fabrics where I could use both the back and the front, to add to the illusion of a folding pleat.
After the bags were all sewn together (by machine), I turned over a quarter of an inch all around the edges and pressed. I chose a swirly background fabric and made my best stab at an artistic arrangement. In fact this may have been my very first quilt to come even close to being an “art quilt.” I just wanted them to hang there in space and overlap and float in and out from each other.
Once the bags were arranged, I basted them down and stitched the turned edges like appliqué, changing threads to match or blend with each fabric.
I went to the craft store to get something for the handles. I made my choice and as I was standing in line I saw the manager. Susan!” I yelled. “Whaddya call this stuff?” “That’s rat-tail cord,” she replied. Who knew. I couched the cord into place using one of those curve-bar thingies for placement.
Get this… I totally forgot to leave enough background fabric at the top for the handles. I quickly figured out that the topmost handles were going to stick up off the quilt. A happy accident… I get comments on how creative and clever this is.
Along with a different version of the quilt, the Shopping Bag block pattern was published the Fall 2005 issue of American Quilter magazine.
Hope you like Dana’s choice! Visit Park City Girl every day through October 16 and get a ringside seat for other bloggers’ quilt picks.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Sep
15
The item that I ordered from Keepsake Quilting to use for the new designs arrived. There’s your second clue. 
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Sep
3
This month’s prize winner among registered readers of the blog is
Kathy G. of Lincolnton, North Carolina. Congratulations Kathy!
Kathy has won a copy of Applique Quilt Revival: Updated Patterns from
the 30’s
The cool thing about this book is that it’s an homage to history while including updated quiltmaking tehniques. Besides all the patterns, there’s information on all the basics, like rotary cutting, machine piecing, pressing, squaring up, assembling the quilt top, adding borders, and finishing your quilt. Nancy also includes illustrated instructions for her method of hand appliqué plus two forms of machine appliqué. The whole package!
Nancy presents a dozen darling appliqué designs that are based on patterns published during the 1930s, and she gives us some background about the history. We have a huge array of 30s repro fabrics available to us today so that we can re-create the unmistakable and greatly appealing look of that period. The book gives a variety of projects for using the designs, and as the introduction says, “These wonderful homey quilts offer something for everyone: delightful bunnies, cheery flowerpots, darling kittens, beautiful butterflies, stunning wreaths, and frolicking cowboys.”
Here’s my favorite, Fandango, made with the Colonial Scrap Basket block.
If you register you can be eligible for the monthly prize drawings too. See the right-hand sidebar.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jul
15
The Encyclopedia of Appliqué is back!
Filed Under Books, Fabrics, Guest posts, History | 3 Comments
I’m delighted to present this guest post from Barbara Brackman, esteemed quilt historian and author. Barbara has some news to share that is of great interest and excitement to the appliqué enthusiast!
This just in from quilt scholar
Barbara Brackman
Twenty years ago I published my Encyclopedia of Appliqué, which indexed all the appliqué designs I could find before 1970. It’s been out of print for years.
This month, C&T Publishing is bringing out a revised edition. The index will be the same but the introduction is updated.
Applique artists will love having the inspiration that the 1,800 black-and-white drawings provide. Born organizers like me will enjoy seeing all that exuberant design classified and numbered.
Here’s a scan of one of the pages on Reel quilts (they are all numbered 17). I’ve been having fun lately by finding block designs from online auction quilts and making myself digital files with color pictures of actual quilts like the page here. (I am a born organizer so that’s my idea of fun.)
The reel is one of the oldest appliquéd block designs, with examples dated in the early 1830s. It remains popular today. Here are a few quilts made by me and my friends using variations of the pattern.
Oak Leaf and Orange Peel (Bowden Family Quilt) by Bobbi Finley, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2003-2005.
Hip Hop Hickory Leaf by Carol Gilham Jones, Lawrence, Kansas, 2007.
Hickory Leaf by Barbara Brackman, Lawrence, Kansas, 2003. Quilted by Lori Kukuk.
Kaw Valley Quilters Guild Opportunity Quilt
by Georgann Eglinski and Roseanne Smith, Lawrence, Kansas 2009. Quilted by Lori Kukuk.
Thank you so much Barbara for sharing this sneak peak with us! The new edition of the Encyclopedia means that not only is it in print again, there’s an updated introduction about the history of appliqué, plus it has color pictures accompanying the black-and-white reference drawings, and, five quilt projects!
You can pre-order your copy at amazon.com. Here’s the link: Encyclopedia of Appliqué on Amazon.
If you have an interest in quilt history and fabric dating, you’ll definitely want to read Barbara’s blog, Material Culture: Information from a Quilt Historian About Quilt Fabric Past and Present.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Pubications & Designs
Mar
21
Ruth wins the fabric
Filed Under Fabrics, Holiday | 2 Comments
Ruth B’s the winner! Ruth, your comment is the same as what I would say about why I love quilting. It allows me to be a creative person. I never found ‘it’ until I found quilting.
Ruth, send me your name and mailing address to topdog at quiltpuppy.com and your beautiful blue fabric will be on its way.
Thank you all for sharing what quilting means to you. It’s good to stop and think about it every now and then.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Mar
21
It’s National Quilting Day
Filed Under Fabrics, Holiday | 7 Comments
Today we give extra-special thoughts toward celebrating quilting in all of its forms.
Let’s talk about it. Leave a comment telling everyone why you love quilting.
At 7:00 p.m. California time I’ll draw randomly from among all the comments posted, and I’ll send the winner a yard of this gorgeous Michael Miller fabric “Lotus Blossoms” designed by M.E. Hordyszynski.
Your fellow quilter,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Feb
22
What rhymes with orange?
Filed Under Books, Color, Designers, Fabrics | 62 Comments
Nuttin! Orange and silver are two words for which there is no exact rhyme in the English language. A fabric company should put out an orange fabric with metallic silver highlights and call it “Nothing Rhymes.”
Today I’m ruminating about the color orange as part of Pat Sloan’s Virtual Weekend Retreat and OP Challenge. What’s an OP you might ask? Orange Pile! Your pile of orange fabrics from your stash! There’s a blog hop going on with prize giveaways, a free block pattern, photos of work in progress, and a tutorial. Click the OP logo in the left-hand sidebar and you’ll find out all about it.
What’s orange in nature? Lots of things. Oranges. Tangerines. Papayas. Pumpkins. Carrots. All of these grow with green leaves, so it seems that green goes with orange. However, to me, an orange and green combo just always has a “food” connotation, like food-service industry.
California poppies. Chrysanthemums. Nasturtiums. Still with the green leaves, but commonly pictured against a blue sky. Orange and blue… a nice combination.
Ginger tabby cats. Parts of calico cats. Pomeranians. Monarch Butterflies.
My calico cat Maikai.
Orange and black, besides being two colors in the classic calico triad, just means Halloween. Orange and brown occur often together in the coats of animals. A touch of orange is fantastic for depicting critters. Go see the giraffes on the home page of appliqué artist Nancy Brown’s website.
I happen to like orange, and when I say that I mean in my stash and in my quilts. Supposedly I can’t wear true orange, me being a ‘classic winter’ and all. But when I really think about it, orangey-red is really one of my favorite colors! Witness the color scheme for this blog (which I designed myself). My car is ‘red-orange metallic.’ I’m far more drawn to the orange side of red than the purple side.
I try to pull a splash of orange into my appliqué whenever I can. Here’s my improvisational, scissor-cut wall quilt Free Flowers. It just wouldn’t be the same without the orange and the pink.
When I pulled fabrics for the blocks in my book Growing Hearts to Appliqué, I mixed orange into the reds.
One of my very favorite color combinations is orangey-red and tealy blue. Can you see it in this quilt block? They’re opposite each other on the color wheel, so they’re complimentary, and they look fabulous together.
Last year I stopped by In Stitches, an exceedingly cute quilt shop in Red Buff, California. The owner, Erda Fleming, told me that they had a program whereby the first fabric purchased by a customer would become the Bolt of the Day. I was the first one in the door so I got to proclaim the Bolt of the Day. Here’s what I chose.
Pat Sloan fabric!
Note the orangey-red and tealy blue. No wonder it was my favorite!
When I designed the cover for Growing Hearts I used this color combo too.
Have you guessed it? This book is my giveaway for the OP Challenge! Leave a comment on this post to enter the drawing for Growing Hearts to Appliqué. The winner will be drawn this evening, California time.
Don’t forget to visit Pat Sloan’s blog for the rest of her virtual weekend retreat on all quilty things orange!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Feb
17
Pat Sloan’s OP Challenge
Filed Under Color, Designers, Fabrics | 2 Comments
Fabulous quilt designer Pat Sloan has put forth an OP Challenge.
What’s an OP? Orange Pile! Your pile of orange fabric from your stash! How fun.
Pat has already started putting up some notes for quilters who are participating in the challenge. If you’d like to join in the fun and “orange along,” just click the OP logo in the sidebar for all the information.
As part of the OP Challenge, Pat is hosting a virtual weekend retreat from Friday, February 20, through Sunday, February 22. There’ll be a blog hop with prize giveaways, a free block pattern, photos of work in progress, and a tutorial. It should be great fun, as it seems Pat really knows how to throw a party! I’ll be one of the bloggers on the hop and I’m already planning my prize giveaway.
Here’s my Orange Pile. I like orange. This doesn’t even show the orangey-reds.
Cheers,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Feb
10
Spotlight on Maria Peagler
Filed Under Books, Color, Fabrics, Spotlights | 3 Comments
Welcome to my stop on the Color Mastery blog tour! I’m Kay Mackenzie, an appliqué enthusiast and writer, and this is my blog devoted to appliqué — any kind! I’m privileged today to publish this interview with Maria Peagler, author of the new book for quilters, Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts.
Kay: Maria, we met by email through our mutual photographer Gregory Case. Then, amongst the throngs of people at Spring Quilt Market 2008, fortune put us shoulder-to-shoulder not once but twice. I so enjoyed our conversations, and marveled at your calm self-assurance at this huge project of putting out a book about color for quilters. Please tell us about the experiences in your life, both artistic and professional, that prepared you for this journey.
Maria: Color Mastery is my eighth book, and the second I’ve published independently. Because I’m a veteran at writing and publishing, the whole idea of giving birth to this wonderful book for quilters on color was thrilling, and I couldn’t wait to get started. My expertise in writing was instructional design and curriculum development for computer training companies, which basically means I developed classes for highly technical subjects, and made them easy to understand. So you’d come to my class and after one day, go back to work with skills you needed. I’ve taken the same approach to color: one day with me and you’ll really see color differently.
Art has been a part of my life from childhood. My mother was an artist and a musician, and I loved watching her hands with a paintbrush and playing the keys of a piano. I’ve always expressed myself with words and images, and really see them as connected.
Kay: From that background, how did you get started as a quilter?
Maria: I was quite fortunate to have a good friend, Debbie Gerbers, invite me to her quilting guild. Debbie and I both sewed and were newlyweds in our twenties, but I really had no interest in quilting. What I didn’t know is that Debbie belonged to the East Cobb Quilters’ Guild, a nationally-known quilt guild whose members’ quilts have been in Spike Lee films, the Atlanta Olympic Games, and is home to many professional quilters. So when I attended the first meeting with Debbie, I was shocked to see women who were artists. I remember thinking during the guild’s show and tell: I’m in. Whatever it takes to learn how to do this, I’m in.
Kay: That is so cool. I can tell that you found “it” that day. How was it that you became especially interested in color in quiltmaking?
Maria: For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved color. When I was a young girl growing up in the psychedelic 70’s, I loved all the colorful images around me, and I adored drawing and painting, and wanted to be an artist. My parents encouraged me to do something more practical, so I followed my other love of books and writing. When I became a quilter, it was really the color and gorgeous fabrics that appealed to me. I delighted in selecting fabrics and colors for my quilts, but was frustrated by my results. I would sit in my quilt guild meetings and be really disappointed that I couldn’t get the same outstanding results I saw from other, more accomplished, quilters. And so I tried to learn color theory and the color wheel, but I just didn’t get it. It was only once I became a watercolor painter that I understood color theory and how differently it applied to fabric and quilts.
Kay: How did all this come together to inspire you to write a book for quilters about color?
Maria: I was teaching machine quilting in a local shop in Dawsonville, Georgia, called Sew Memorable. Dawsonville is a gorgeous town near the base of the Appalachian Trail, and has many artists and crafters. The shop owner, whose favorite color is brown, was getting a lot of requests from quilters for a color class, and asked me to develop it. I wanted quilters to see color results in one day, without having to wade through a lot of color theory that doesn’t apply to us. I developed an entirely new kind of color class for quilters that was quick, immediately hands-on, fun, and at the end of the day quilters would have a finished quilt top.
And it worked! Quilters who were previously intimidated by color theory were having so much fun and finally understanding how color relationships work in quilts, they forgot all about being frustrated with color theory. I developed my own exercises and projects, but found I was spending a small fortune in paper, ink, and materials. So I decided it was time to put it all in a book. I knew I had something unique in the Color Mastery premise.
Kay: Can you describe what it has been like for you writing this book and marshaling it through the publishing process? How long from concept to print?
Maria: I published Color Mastery through my own “indie” publishing company, and was able to develop a really unique quilting book because I had no limitations on what I wanted to do. First, I didn’t self-publish; many self-publishers do everything themselves, and from experience, I know what I do and don’t do well. So I hired a photographer, book designer, illustrator, and two editors to be on my creative team. Second, I developed a series of exercises that allow quilters to use their own stash to really “see” colors in fabric the way artists do, and show them how to use that new color knowledge to design their own color palettes. Third, I designed quilts that really extended the book’s color exercises, but the projects don’t look like exercise quilts: they’re lap quilts, table runners, wall quilts, and doll quilts. All practical, and in a range of styles from funky, to feminine, to masculine. Fourth, I acted as the book’s sales and marketing team, getting the word out to the quilt industry about this new concept in teaching color to quilters.
The entire process took about 1-1/2 to 2 years, from concept to the book being in quilt shops.
Kay: How do your current publishing efforts fit in with family life?
I have two school-aged sons, and being a mother has been the greatest joy of my life. I don’t want to miss a single moment of their growing up, so I work around their school schedules. Sometimes when I’m gearing up for a big promotion or a deadline I end up working at night after they’re in bed, but my husband owns his own business and understands the life of an entrepreneur.
I’m also aware of being a role model, for not only my own sons, but other students in this area as well, as an author. I live in a rural county where most families live within severely limited means and college is a luxury. I never imagined when I was a child of being a writer: I didn’t know anyone who was a writer, and I’m the first person in my family to attend and graduate from college. I visit the area schools and talk to students about being a writer and getting published, and encourage them to follow their dreams. (Some parents attended these too – I think it’s the great American dream to write a book!)
Kay: You sent me an advance copy and asked if I would like to write a blurb. I was delighted to do so. Here’s what wrote itself, from the right side of my brain, without effort: “I’ve attended several lectures on the color wheel, but none of them made me start thinking about color the way that Maria Peagler’s Color Mastery did. All of a sudden I had fresh eyes, and looked at everything around me with greater understanding. This book is an instant classic.” I’ve been tickled pink to see my blurb appear on your Color Mastery blog and indeed on the Amazon.com detail page
Maria: Most color wheel lectures left me cold, with too much emphasis on rules and limitations of using the color wheel. I wanted to show quilters what I had discovered about using the color wheel, that it’s really a launching pad for unlimited color options and innovative color palettes. I stress how important it is for quilters to keep a color journal, where they start collecting images and ideas for color palettes they love (and those they don’t). Without knowing your own color style, color theory ends up making formulaic quilts. The most common observation I hear from my students is this: “I was making the same quilt over and over again. I didn’t realize what a color rut I was in!” Once you combine your own color vision with color theory, you’ve unlocked the door to endless color options.
I do spend a lot of time on teaching the parts of color theory that are essential to quilters, but I do it in a way that gets quilters working with their fabrics right away, so they can visualize color palettes with their own fabrics. I also stress using the color wheel as a tool: it’s not the focus of my quilts, nor am I a slave to it. I make the color wheel and color theory work for me in my style of quilts.
Kay: I have to tell you that one startling revelation in your book changed my fabric choices forever… for the better! My jaw dropped when I read that the Impressionist painters did not use black, brown, or gray in themselves. After that, I was making a wall quilt, and when I would have reached for gray (because that’s the true color of what I was depicting), I reached for blue-gray instead. It looked fabulous! Would you expound a little more on this topic?
Maria: Some of my favorite parts of the book are the artist’s secrets, where I show quilters how to use color in their quilts the way great masters throughout time have. While I love using black in my quilts, I never realized how much more colorful a quilt would be by using a darker color in its place, like dark blue. It really does work, and gives a quilt far more vibrancy than if you use a simple black. It’s also a great example of how you can use value to increase the color potential of your quilts. Most quilters think of value only in terms of light vs. dark, but it can have a far greater impact on the color in your palettes.
And if you dye or paint your own fabric, you can make a much more colorful version of black by combining dark red, dark green, and dark blue. While I don’t dye my fabrics, I use this technique often in my paintings and sketches, with gorgeous results.
Kay: It strikes me that Color Mastery is coming along just when we quilters need it more than ever! In light of our current ‘economic downturn,” your book helps quilters understand how to wring every last bit of color from, of their stashes. In addition, the exercises reveal what’s needed in the stash, so that the quilter can shop for fabrics wisely and judiciously.
Maria: The emphasis on our fabric stash in Color Mastery really resulted from a need. I wanted to convince quilters that outstanding color results were possible with everyday fabrics, and so I turned to my stash to prove it. I made all the quilts in the book from my limited stash, knowing that if I could develop innovative color palettes for gorgeous quilts using only fabrics I had on hand, any quilter could read the book and go into a quilt store and select fabrics with ease. And, I knew from my classes that using your own fabrics for color exercises helps quilters to better understand color, as they’re using the fabrics that have meaning for them. Looking at a mock-up block that uses someone else’s fabrics teaches little about color.
Kay: Maria has made a sample chapter from her book available for download! (One of the perks of having one’s own publishing company.)
Visit colormastery.com.
Maria: Thanks Kay, for hosting me at your All About Appliqué blog on my Color Mastery blog tour! I so admire you and other women authors for the creative work they do. And I can’t imagine a better business than quilting in which to write and be an entrepreneur! I love the whole notion of quilts being an art form you can wrap up in and share with loved ones.
Kay: It’s been my pleasure. Readers, ask for Color Mastery at your favorite quilt shop, or order from Maria’s secure distributor AtlasBooks or from Amazon.
Also, be sure to also check out the guest post that Maria did here last October on “Color and Appliqué.”
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jan
16
Appliqué and juried shows
Filed Under Articles, Baltimore Album, Broderie perse, Designers, Embellishment, Fabrics, Hand appliqué, History, Quilt shows | Leave a Comment
One of my appliqué idols, Jeana Kimball, has written a very thoughtful piece on traditional hand appliqué in today’s quilt-show climate. Jeana’s website is Jeana Kimball’s Foxglove Cottage (be sure to check out her books and patterns) and here’s the link to the article on her Sewing Room blog.
Dec
31
The roosters’ new clothes
Filed Under Designers, Fabrics, Patterns | 3 Comments
My pal Janet Locey, Head Chick at Henscratch Quilting, recently redid her Pecking Order quilt sample in fresh new fabrics from Maywood Studio.
If you like chickens, this is the pattern for you!
It’s available on Janet’s pattern page.
Be sure to bookmark Henscratch for all your Featherweight needs as well. John Locey, the Ruler of the Roost, is a specialist.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
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