Appliqué Books
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Jul
19
Nancy Brown slideshow ~ you must see
Filed Under Designers | 5 Comments
A couple years ago I put up a post about Pup Art, one of Nancy Brown’s quilts.
The Quilt Show has posted a whole slideshow of Nancy’s work. OMG you have got to go and see this. It will make you smile.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
P.S. I’m headed to Long Beach tomorrow for the summer edition of International Quilt Festival. Hope to see some of you there!
Jun
29
Princess Feathers
Filed Under Designers, Hand appliqué, Quilt shows | 8 Comments
I was just in Reno, Nevada for the Quilting, Stitches and Crafts Expo at the Grand Sierra Resort. As I was touring the show floor, I was drawn with a strong magnetic attraction to this gorgeous Princess Feather quilt.
It’s the 2011 Opportunity Quilt for the Foothill Quilters Guild of Auburn, California. They call it “Prince’s Plume.”
Many hands went into the making of this beautiful quilt.
For more information about the guild or this amazing opportunity quilt, contact the Foothill Quilters through their website, www.foothillquilters.org.
I made a new friend at the show! Knitting designer Lorna Miser, author of Faith, Love, Hope, Knitting was just across the aisle from me.
Lorna Miser
She had luscious loops, skeins, and twists of hand-dyed yarns, as well as cute knitted items like bags and footie socks.
Lorna has a new book coming out in November, The Knitter’s Guide to Hand-Dyed and Variegated Yarn.
My neighbor to the left was an old friend, Dee Lampson of Dee’s Designs. From her I purchased The Most Cute Jumper in the World.
This one had me written all over it. Dee makes jumpers, overalls, separates, and two-piece outfits from her own original patterns, using beautiful high-quality fabrics like we see in our independent quilt shops. Look for Dee at fine art and gift shows, quilting and sewing expos. She specializes in custom sizing, no size is too small or too large. Contact her at “deesdesigns1 (at) sbcglocal.net” if you need one of her designs.
I can’t tell you what a delight it is to see Dee’s creations after all the dreadful things that are offered to us at the mall.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Apr
26
Holly Mabutas of Eat Cake Graphics just posted an adorable free Santa pattern on her blog Sprinkles of Thought.
Like all of Holly’s artwork, the pattern’s special and wonderful. Be sure to take a look at all the quilt patterns and rubber stamps at Eat Cake Graphics. You’ll be glad you did. I keep telling Holly’s she’s the next Mary Engelbreit, Susan Branch, and Debbie Mumm all rolled into one.
If you like scrapbooking, be sure to subscribe to A Sprinkling of Samples, which shows what ‘bookers have done with Eat Cake stamps. So creative, and a feast for the eyes.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Apr
15
Batting bonanza
Filed Under Batting, Designers, Product demo | 7 Comments
I finally get to write about something I’ve been wanting to get to since January. Now that my quilts for the new book are finished and safely arrived at the Martingale offices, I can actually pick up my head and look around!
Before the Road to California show in January, I received a very nice invitation from Darlene Christopherson, esteemed appliqué artist and Marketing Developer for the Pellon Quilt Division. Pellon was having a booth at the show, and Darlene invited designers to come by and receive a sample of Pellon’s new Legacy brand battings.
Naturally, I was happy to do so. I was presented with a sample pack of 15 different battings. Wow, that’s a lot of styles! I’ve been itching to stitch up some samples to share on the blog. What came to mind are some ancient appliquéd hearts that have been marinating in unfinished-land for you wouldn’t believe how many years. Let’s just say that when you see some of the fabrics you may take a trip on the hot tub time machine back to the 80s. Apparently when I was a young green quilter I thought I would appliqué a heart out of each fabric in my stash, onto bleached muslin. Well you can imagine how long that lasted. Sigh, the naiveté of youth.
Gentle quilters, I didn’t take the time to hand quilt any of them, just whizzed them up on the Bernina with some swirlies. Some of the swirlies are more “interesting” than others and I make no claims about my machine quilting. Sorry you can’t feel these But I hope there’ll be some useful information here.
I did the poofy poly and wool ones too, though these probably aren’t the styles you’d choose for machine quilting.
And last but not least, how about this dramatic back batting?
I like a low-loft batting myself, and all of the first 12 were fine and dandy for what I do. It’s very interesting the different fibers used… you can choose from cotton, poly, linen, flax, bamboo, soy, rayon, and blends of more than one. When I first started quilting there was Mountain Mist and Mountain Mist. We have so many choices now!
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
Feb
24
Pat Sloan offers new free BOM
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Threads | 3 Comments
The ever-zany daily blogger Pat Sloan has started a new, free BOM. Check it out at Pat Sloan’s Corner. A very cute block and great closeup photography of her fusible appliqué and thread choice.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Feb
20
It’s a hoot!
Filed Under Designers, Patterns, Prizes | 20 Comments
Kim Jamieson-Hirst of Chatterbox Quilts is a designer friend of mine in Calgary. Recently, she put out the most darling pattern called Hoot-mon!
I love this perky little family of owls.
“Hoot-mon,” according to the urban dictionary, is Scottish for “Yo dude!” That makes me laugh. My grandmother was Scottish, however I don’t remember her using this expression. I guess she just wasn’t that hip. It does convey to me the sense of Canada being part of the Commonwealth.
And how’s this for cute?
They’re stuffies!
We’re giving away a copy of Hoot-mon! to a lucky winner, so leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Monday, February 22, to enter the draw. Tell us why you like owls!
Coming up on the blog… revisiting thread topics and a look at Tile Quilt Revival.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Feb
3
Another Season of Beautiful Blooms
Filed Under Books, Designers, Prizes | 33 Comments
This month’s book review is the brand-new title from Susan Taylor Propst, Another Season of Beautiful Blooms: Appliquéd Quilts and Cushions.
Inspired by the gardens and countryside of England and Europe, this book brings fresh floral designs to appliqué enthusiasts. Each of nine flower designs includes a full-sized block pattern and instructions for both a pillow and a wall hanging—in two different colorways—providing 18 projects in all.
In the intro Susan says, “These designs are great for hand appliqué, but can also be done with fusible appliqué. One of the best things about appliqué, and flowers in particular, is that the result doesn’t have to look exactly like the pattern. Flowers are quite varied, so relax and enjoy the appliqué.” Here here!
This gorgeous book is filled with photos of the cultivated gardens and wild countryside that give the author inspiration. The front matter includes information on choosing appliqué fabrics, backgrounds, and borders, then moves to the appliqué process. Susan uses the overlay method for positioning, and uses freezer-paper templates on the back of the appliqué fabrics. Step-by-step instructions and illustrations take you through her process in detail. Unit appliqué and bias stems are also covered. Then there are some really great general instructions for making wall quilts and cushions.
On to the flowers! So beautiful. Petunias (as seen on the cover), Poinsettias, Black-Eyed Susans, Cherry Blossoms, Lilies, Tuplis, Bougainvillea, and more! Each one detailed and realistic, yet designed to avoid difficult stitching.
If you like floral appliqué, you will love this new book. Martingale and Company has provided a copy for a drawing, so leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 5, to be eligible to win.
And guess what? I also have Susan’s first book in the series, Beautiful Blooms! The lucky winner will get both books! That’s a whole lotta floral appliqué.
U.S. and Canada only, unless you’d be willing to pay the shipping.
A note to those subscribed to the blog by email: To leave a comment, you’ll first need to click over to the blog itself. Scroll to the bottom of the post and click on the Comments link. Leave your comment there to enter the drawing.
Until next time (with some exciting news),
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
27
Superior windfall
Filed Under Designers, Threads | 8 Comments
At the Road to California show earlier this month, I was directly across the aisle from the Superior Threads booth. What a fantastic location!
I was on the lookout for The Thread Guy and Mother Superior, aka Bob and Heather Purcell. I was sure I would recognize them from their appearances on The Quilt Show.
When the opportunity presented itself, I approached Bob and said, “Mr. Bob Purcell?”
He looked at me with a little bit of that “deer in the headlights” look (like is this someone I’ve met and I can’t remember her?) but I quickly explained how his fame as The Thread Guy had preceded him. I told him about what an appliqué enthusiast I am (gesturing toward my booth as evidence) and that I had been using DMC 50-weight 2-ply cotton for years. I asked him whether Superior’s MasterPiece would be like an equivalent.
The answer was yes, and it’s long-staple Egyptian-grown cotton, which makes it, well, superior! I told him of my appliqué blog and how I liked to supply information to other appliqué enthusiasts, and he generously presented me with a fantastic goody! A rainbow of MasterPiece threads in a collection of prewound bobbins! Yippee! A little bit of 36 colors!
Later in the show, Heather came over and said, “I know you like Bob better.”
“Well,” I replied, “he gave me thread.”
“But I want you to try this,” she said, and handed me a rainbow of polyester threads in a collection of prewound bobbins. Wow!
“Now I know that you’ve only used cotton,” she went on. “But just try this poly thread and you will never go back. And then, you will like me better.”
Cotton on the left and poly on the right. The “Frosted” part of the cotton name came about because Superior did a collection of threads for the Piece o’ Cake gals, and donut, kinda self-explanatory. I can only conjecture about how they came up with Holy SuperBobs.
What a thread windfall for an appliquér. All those luscious colors at my fingertips… I can’t wait to try out each kind, for hand and machine appliqué, and file a report!
The cotton MasterPiece thread feels and looks very comparable to the DMC. The poly thread is even finer than the two cottons.
The Purcells are super-nice, down-to-earth people. I like ‘em both. They care passionately about their product and they are very tuned-in to the needs and wants of the quilter. Just check the Education tab of the Superior website for gobs of information about the world of thread.
I also met quilter, designer, author, and sweetheart Cindy Needham, who was hanging out in the Superior booth helping shoppers with their questions about thread. I think I persuaded her to go a guest post for us about appliqué and her fabulous work with wholecloth linen quilts. Stay tuned!
More later,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
24
Butterflies and a spaniel
Filed Under Classes, Color, Designers, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Show & Tell | 2 Comments
A couple of years ago I blogged about Sheril Drummond’s quilt Remembering Barbaro.
Last October at PIQF she had the most amazing, huge butterfly quilt called “Flights of Fancy.”
Flights of Fancy by Sheril Drummond
I checked Sheril’s blog Serendipity and was delighted to learn that she is now offering patterns and on-line classes to help others achieve the stunning look of her quilts. While you’re there be sure to send virtual scritchies to the Cavalier King Charles spaniel 
.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
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