All About Applique &#187; Book-A-Round

Sarah Vee’s happy pineapple

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:47:04 +0000

During the recent Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Around, Sarah Vanderburgh of Espanola, Ontario, Canada, won a copy on Day 4.

That gal is fast! She’s already made a project and is it ever nifty! Check out Sarah’s Pineapple Welcome Banner on her blog Sew Joy.

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Book-A-Round Wrap Party

Kay — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:26:21 +0000

Greetings fellow appliqué enthusiasts! I hope you enjoyed our 10-day tour of the blogosphere, visiting quilting blogs all over the northern continent. Myself, I had the most fun since the 1962 North Carolina State Fair!

Thanks a million to all the bloggers who participated, and to the readers who followed the trail of breadcrumbs through cyberspace. Today I’d like to hear your feedback. Leave a comment about the blog tour… how did you enjoy it? What was your favorite part? I’ll give away one more copy of Easy Appliqué Blocks, and I’ll draw the winner Tuesday morning.

It’s time for Show & Tell. Here’s one more little quilt that appears in the book’s “Little Gallery of Ideas.”

This cute thing is called ‘There’s One in Every Crowd’. (The working title was ‘Renegade Terrier’.) If you read my article series ‘A journey to a book’ you may recall my surprise at finding out that according to the dictionary the little white guy who’s crashing the Scottie party is a West Highland white terrier instead of a West Highland White Terrier. It’s one of those things that may *be* right but just *looks* wrong IMO so I settled for calling him a Westie. I have friends in Ohio who have a bunch of Westies and I couldn’t wait to show them this quilt. This one’s machine appliquéd.

Now for our party refreshments:

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Kay’s Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
2 large eggs

¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
2¼ cups cake flour

12 oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add to wet ingredients and mix well.

Add chocolate chips and mix well.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time, about 12 minutes or until very lightly browned around edges. Let cool on pan 5 minutes before removing. Makes about 6 dozen.

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Enjoy!

Book-A-Round ~ Day 10

Kay — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:27:44 +0000

It’s Day 10, the final day of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. I hope you have enjoyed the easy travel of the internet as we went from one side of the country, toured Canada, and hopped down the west coast. Today we end up in the Heartland, Oklahoma City.

Darcy Ashton’s new book Bunnies & More is the latest in her long line of darling appliqué books from Ashton Publications. Today Darcy is hosting a guest post from me, where I get to talk about one of the quilts shown in Easy Appliqué Blocks, “The Mackenzie Family Quilt.” Join me at Darcy’s Ashton Publications blog.

Book-A-Round ~ Day 9

Kay — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:30:35 +0000

It’s Day 9 of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. Today we move further down the California coast to land in Yorba Linda, just 10 miles from Disneyland.

Gina Halladay writes one of the most widely read blogs for quilters, Quilters Buzz. She is such a busy lady… in addition to blogging, she has a Gammill dealership and a longarm quilting businees, Cranberry Quiltworks, a pattern company, Threaded Pear Studio, and just opened a fabric store in the same location, Fresh Picked Fabrics. Whew! I hear she doesn’t sleep much.

Off to discover the Quilters Buzz on Easy Appliqué Blocks!

Book-A-Round ~ Day 8

Kay — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:51:16 +0000

Welcome to Day 8 of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. This 10-day tour takes hardly any energy at all! Ready for a short hop from San Jose to Hollister, California?

View Larger Map
Let’s drop in on Holly Mabutas of Eat Cake Graphics, rubber stamp and quilt designer of the highest-cuteness-factor-ever.

Holly, the little red-haired girl, with Puppy Tucker.

I hear Holly plans to show some of the blocks from the book that she’s appliquéd. Show & Tell! Show & Tell! Off to Holly’s blog, Sprinkles of Thought.

Book-A-Round ~ Day 7

Kay — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:05:56 +0000

And we’re back! After a lovely trip to the emergency room to see if she had rebroken her foot (she hadn’t, but it’s a bad sprain), Annie is ready to receive us. It’s Day 7 of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. Today we fly through cyberspace down the west coast to San Jose, California. (We’re getting close to my stomping grounds here in Santa Cruz.) We’re visiting with Annie Smith of Simple Arts.

Here’s Annie being Artist-in-Residence at Empty Spools earlier this month.

If you haven’t heard of it, Annie has the most wonderful, warm podcast for quilters, Annie’s Quilting Stash. The information and insight she brings us through her passion for quilting combined with her years of podcasting are incredible. Today you’ll find a recorded interview where we talk about Easy Appliqué Blocks and how it all came about. We recorded it at a retreat and it was just wonderful to be able to talk with other quilters about things they were curious about.

If you haven’t listened to a podcast before, never fear. You don’t need an iPod… you can listen to it right on your computer! Off to Quilting Stash!

We are experiencing a slight delay

Kay — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:34:05 +0000

Just as in the best-laid travel plans, stuff happens. Take a rest, relax, and enjoy your break from the virtual tour. The blogosphere has a frog in its throat but never fear… we’ll get Annie’s podcast to you ASAP!

Stay tuned,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Book-A-Round ~ Day 6

Kay — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:36:47 +0000

It’s Day 6 of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. Are you having a good time visiting our stops on the tour? Today we re-enter Canada, zigging northeast to Calgary, Alberta. You might know Calgary from the 1988 Winter Olympics, or their famous Greatest Outdoor Event on Earth, aka the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.

Kim Jamieson-Hirst, a mother of two, designs quilt patterns and works part-time at her local quilt shop, Along Came Quilting, which provides her with lots of inspiration. Kim’s website is Chatterbox Quilts, where you can see her adorable patterns. Kim also has some great podcasts on her blog. Today she’s writing about the very cool CD that comes with Easy Appliqué Blocks and what a wonderful convenience it is for the appliqué enthusiast. Let’s go visit Kim at her Chatterbox Quilts Blog.

See you there!
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Book-A-Round ~ Day 5

Kay — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:59:53 +0000

It’s Day 5 of the Easy Appliqué Blocks Book-A-Round. Today we hop back to the continental USA and visit Kathy Mack on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in the middle of Puget Sound.

Kathy Mack’s Pink Chalk Fabrics has a gorgeous array of contemporary fabrics for quilting and creative sewing, plus unique patterns for purses, accessories, toys, and more. Kathy writes a beautiful, inspirational, and informative blog at Pink Chalk Studio. Click on over to read an interview with ‘moi’ and see what Kathy has done with a block from the book!