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Feb
4
Sugarplums meet Tales of the Quilt Shop
Filed Under Books, Designers, Glue stick, Hand appliqué, Patterns, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge | Leave a Comment
This just in from my pal Holly Mabutas of Eat Cake Graphics:
I’m SO excited to announce a new project! I’ve teamed up with author Terri Thayer, actually she’s the one that approached me with the project over a year ago. She’s writing an 8 month series of stories called Tales of the Quilt Shop, and I’m creating an applique project to go along with it called Sugarplums.
You have GOT to go and take a look at the first block on Holly’s Blog Sprinkles of Thought. If there were anything cuter it wouldn’t be allowed by law. Way to go Holly! Not only that, Holly includes a link to her glue-stick turned-edge hand-appliqué tutorial.
Back soon,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
31
Petal Path
Filed Under Designers, Magazines, Patterns | 4 Comments
I got home from Phoenix yesterday, safe and sound. I was looking through the mail that had accumulated and what should I discover but the March/April issue of Quiltmaker magazine with my project in it!
I met the magazine’s editors while I was in Salt Lake City last May for Spring Market, and we’ve been working on getting a design of mine into the magazine ever since. It’s finally here!
This was made entirely out of one line of fabric, Memories of Provence by Monique Dillard for Maywood Studio. The fabric line was a pleasure to work with and gave me every single thing I needed to make the quilt. It’s hand appliquéd and machine quilted.
Back soon with our featured book for February!
Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
25
Sewing Room Clocks
Filed Under Batik, Blanket stitch, Circles, Designers, Patterns, Wool | 2 Comments
I am in awe. The ingenious Darcy Ashton has done it again! You have got to go and see her fabulous new design for making an appliquéd clock!!!
Who knew?
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
6
Quiltin’ Happy
Filed Under Books, Designers, Prizes | 62 Comments
At Spring Market, I stopped by the Lizzie B Cre8ive booth to visit with Beth Hawkins. Beth is half of the Lizzie B team. The other half, Liz, was manning a booth at another show the same weekend.
These gals are sisters-in-law who are both named Elizabeth Hawkins. Besides the name, I think they share a brain! They have the same design sensibility, the same upbeat humor, the same sense of whimsy and fun, and they even have identical handwriting!
This team seems to have a boundless supply of energy. They design and make quilts, they have a huge line of fun patterns, they have their own fabric with Henry Glass, they have books with the Kansas City Star, they publish an on-line magazine, and now I find out they’ve put out their own new book, Quiltin’ Happy!
The subtitle is “simple hip quilts to make ya smile.” There are seven fast, fun, fresh quilts included, with complete instructions, easy-to-follow diagrams, and full color photos of all the projects All the quilts in the book are made from the Hip Happy collection of fabrics designed by the Lizzie B girls. Hip Happy offers colorful brights combined with blacks and whites to make modern-looking quilts that pop.
Playful Posies and Happy Dancin'
Their links:
Lizzie B website
Lizzie B on-line store
Lizzie B blog
Lizzie B magazine
Beth gave me a copy of the new book for a giveaway. Thanks Beth! If you’d like to win a copy of Quiltin’ Happy, leave a comment on this post by 7:00 p.m. California time on Wednesday, August 10. Contest open to U.S. and Canada addresses only.
Remember that if you are subscribed by email, you’ll need to click over to the blog itself to leave a comment. Replying to your email feed won’t get it done 
.
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
3
Good neighbors
Filed Under Designers, Quilt shops, Quilt shows | 2 Comments
Do you know who these good-looking gentlemen are?
On the left that’s Orion Burns, son of the illustrious Eleanor Burns. On the right that’s Chris Burns, Orion’s half-brother-from-another-mother. Both of them are instrumental in running Eleanor’s Quilt in a Day store in San Marcos, California.
These guys are a hoot! Both just as friendly as can be, as cool as cucumbers, 100% knowledgeable about quilting products, and comfortable (to say the least) around the ladies. They kept me entertained all weekend. They let me take their picture once I promised to say how smart and handsome they both are.
I was right across the aisle from Eleanor this time at Festival-Long Beach.
The lady herself!
Rubbing elbows with a quilting luminary.
At one point Eleanor came over and asked if I had an extra plug so she could charge up her phone. At first I didn’t think so, but then I realized that the extension cord for my cash register had a couple extra outlets on it, so we plugged it in. Awhile later it rang. Eleanor was surrounded by her adoring public, and for a wild second I thought of picking it up and saying, “Eleanor Burns’s phone,” or “Joe’s bar, Joe ain’t here,” or something equally clever, but I was too chicken so I let it go to voicemail LOL.
After that, Orion came hustling over, handed me his cell phone, asked me to tell his wife how to get there, and fled back to their busy cash register. Thanks goodness I used to live in the area a long time ago! I directed her as best as I could. I think she still managed to go the wrong way on the 710. After a couple more calls and helpful passersby, she finally arrived with the baby.
I had such a great time this year! I felt that the energy and spirit in the quilting world was really up. And I enjoyed my neighbors very much.
Eleanor gave me a hug and made me promise to tell the cell-phone-charging story.
Back soon with a very cool book from the Lizzie B gals!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jun
7
New in the blogroll
Filed Under Blogroll, Designers | Leave a Comment
I admired the designs of these pattern companies when I saw them at Market, and just added them to the blogroll.
Cheers,
Kay
May
28
More from Schoolhouse
Filed Under Books, Designers, Glue stick, Magazines, Prepared edge, Prizes | 3 Comments
The winner of the Quilted Crow Girls pattern is… ! Congratulations
One of the Schoolhouse sessions that I attended during Spring Market was a presentation by Tri-State Printing. Tri-State is a well know name in the quilting industry. I’ve never used them, but I’ve been aware of them for a long time. They are extremely knowledgeable about our industry and its printing needs, and they print for a ton of quilt designers. If you need a little or a lot of help with your printed materials, from pattern covers to brochures to self-published books, they would be a good company to contact.
I went to a fun presentation from the Quilted Frog! Aka Carla Scott and Leanne Smith, who just came out with a new book from AQS Publishing called Lady Bug & Friends Quilts.
The Quilted Frog gals have developed a distinctive, cartoony, and very fun style they call Easy Outline Appliqué™. You have to go to their website and see the quilts from the new book! They are so different looking, really fresh and appealing!
Over on their website they also have tutorials and videos, so be sure to poke around all the great resources they offer.
There’s more from Schoolhouse and Market. I’m trying to wrangle some guest posts, so stay tuned!
Whilst I was tramping around the aisles of Market, I stopped by the Creative Crafts Group booth. They’re the ones who publish Quiltmaker and the special 100 Blocks issues, among many other publications. I was tickled to see the cover of the recent 100 Blocks Volume 3 blown up to poster size. A staffer insisted on taking my picture, and she told me to point to my block. This cheesy maneuver caused me to slump down, which made me look like I gained back that 10 pounds I just lost, but oh well.
In case you ‘re interested in getting that special issue and haven’t found it yet, I have it available on my website now, on the Patterns page.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
May
25
The woolies
Filed Under Designers, Photo tutorials, Prizes, Wool | 23 Comments
In the recent call for topics, Susan wrote: “I would like more information on wool appliqué (fusing) and the decorative stitches (not limited to blanket stitch) that can be used to embellish the wool.”
The next Schoolhouse that I went to was presented by the Quilted Crow Girls, Leonie and Deirdre, who came all the way from Tasmania! That’s a small island off the coast of Australia! They were delightful to listen to.
The Girls specialize in felted-wool appliqué, and at the session they shared their techniques for achieving a neat and soft finished product. First of all, they do not fuse the wool, they simply stick the appliqué to the background with a bit of water-soluble glue stick and then staple it in place! That’s right, staple! “The wool is self healing,” they point out, “and will not leave a mark when staples are removed.”
Their preferred stitch is the blanket stitch. However, in response to Susan’s question, I’m sure there are many others ways to stitch the edges of the wool. A primitive running stitch comes to mind. At Market, there were tons of “woolies,” i.e. designers featuring wool appliqué. Here are the ones that I’ve just added to the blogroll, fresh from Market:
Quilted Crow Girls
Heart to Hand
Reets’ Rags to Stitches
Woolylady
In addition to these, there are many more woolies in the blogroll (right-hand sidebar, at the bottom). Did you know that if you hover your mouse over a link, a little tag will pop up? Look for “wool” in the pop-ups and you’ll find a bunch.
Also, click on the category “Wool” in the left-hand sidebar and you’ll get all of the articles pertaining to wool that have already been published on the blog. A really good one is Kaye Moore’s guest post, and there’s a fabulous photo tutorial on the Cottons ‘n Wool blog.
The Quilted Crow Girls laid a free pattern on their Schoolhouse attendees. Nice!
I’m passing along this gorgeous wool appliqué runner pattern in a drawing. If you’d like to win, leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Saturday, May 28. In your comment, feel free to pass along any wool tips that you might have to share. Contest open to U.S. and Canada addresses only.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
May
10
Cute new patterns
Filed Under Designers, Freezer paper on top, Glue stick, Patterns | 2 Comments
First of all, thank you so much to everyone who visited during the recent blog hop and left nice comments about my Party Frock. Several people suggested that the block would look nice done up in multiples, with different dresses. Great idea! That may just to be something that I need to revisit in the future!
A couple designing buddies of mine have just come out with new patterns that are extremely high on the cuteness scale.
Last fall I blogged about the Tokay Stitchers show, where I had the good fortune to be next-door-neighbors with Rita and Debbie of Lady Bug Lace.
The gals just put out a new pattern called No More Monkeys.
Is that fun or what??
Rita and Debbie told me that since some of the appliqué pieces in the pattern are large, they decided to print one large copy of the design, thinking this would be easier for the quilter than taping several smaller pieces together. The drawing can be taped up onto a sliding glass door or a large window to trace the appliqué pieces, and you can also use the whole drawing to place under the background fabric for placement of the appliqué pieces.
That is certainly an added convenience for the quilter! No More Monkeys is available from their Etsy store.
Neeext… Holly Mabutas of Eat Cake Graphics is at it again! She has just released a darling new quilt pattern called To The World.
This pattern started out life as a rubber stamp, like many of Holly’s do, and is now available for quilters. The very cool thing about Holly’s patterns (besides their adorability) is that Holy includes instructions for her freezer-paper-on-top-glue-to-the-back method of preparation for hand appliqué.
To The World is available over on the quilt pattern page at Eat Cake Graphics.
I’m off to Salt Lake City tomorrow for International Quilt Market, Spring Edition. My publisher has lined up a couple book signings for me, which are so much fun and quite a heady experience. See you after I get home!
Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Mar
20
I gab with Pat Sloan tomorrow!
Filed Under A story of another book, Blog hops, Book-A-Round 2, Designers | 4 Comments
The wonderful Pat Sloan has invited me to be a guest on her internet radio show tomorrow afternoon!
I met Pat a couple years ago. Here’s a link to the story of how we met, in a post called A funny thing happened in Long Beach.
If you’d like to hear my dulcet tones (that’s a joke) then click over to Pat Sloan’s Creative Talk Network at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time to listen to the live broadcast. The first guest is designer Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. My segment will start at approximately 4:30 p.m. That’s Eastern time, so remember to adjust for your time zone.
Part of the fun of my talk with Pat will be giveaways of my new book Inspired by Tradition. Follow Pat’s information on how to enter the drawing on her blog. (BTW the program will be taped and if you miss it live, you can always listen to it later.)
And just as a reminder, the very next day, March 22, we embark on a 10-day journey through cyberspace on the virtual Book-A-Round 2! Come on along… there will be more chances to win a copy of Inspired by Tradition. Start here each day to be whisked away to that day’s stop on the tour!
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
21
The anatomy of a blog
Filed Under Admin notes, Blogroll, Book-A-Round, Designers, Introduction | 8 Comments
I’m a member of an internet discussion group among quilt-pattern designers. Our conversations range far and wide, and recently the topic of blogs, blog feeds, and email subscriptions came up.
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
Dec
1
Folk-Art Favorites
Filed Under Books, Designers, Prizes | 43 Comments
Seasons Greetings fellow appliqué enthusiasts! December is such a fun month. Let’s start it out with a festive book giveaway! A thoughtful present from That Patchwork Place to a lucky winner.
Our featured book this month is Folk-Art Favorites: Quilts from Joined at the Hip.
Joined at the Hip is a design company specializing in folk art that consists of Tammy Johnson and Avis Shirer. Their husbands inspired that name for the company, as the men knew that between them they could always track down the quilting twosome LOL.
When I think of folk art, I think of fun, funky, primitive shapes that are not necessarily the right size for one another, like a crow being way too big for the tree it’s sitting in. The Hip girls agree: “We are draw to objects that are out of proportion, whimsical, and offbreat.” Me too!
The authors begin by giving basic instruction in quiltmaking and machine appliqué, then dive right into the projects. If you’re a fan of that rustic, un-fussy look, you’ll love the designs from Joined at the Hip.
The pomegranate motif is always pleasing, here done in country holiday colors.
This is one of four seasonal banners, the winter one of course for this time of year.
There are also pillows, wall quilts and small quilts embellished with wool and buttons, a schoolhouse sampler, and a beautiful table runner with rickrack and penny-rug ‘tongues.’
To enter the drawing to win Folk-Art Favorites, leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Sunday, December 5. Those subscribed by email or feed reader, remember click over to the blog itself and scroll to the bottom of the post to leave a comment. Drawing open to U.S. and Canada only due to the cost of shipping.
Until then,
Happy holidays!!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Nov
24
Tokay Stitchers put on beautiful show
Filed Under Designers, Quilt shows | 5 Comments
Every other year the Tokay Stitch ‘n Quilt Guild of Lodi, California, put on a delightful show. While I was there I was so happy to see guild member Thelma Welch once again. Two years ago I blogged about her unbelievable Baltimore Album quilt, and at about 85 years of age, Thelma is still at it. Look at this elephant quilt that is one of her latest creations.
The show’s featured quilter was Fran Schmidt. Here’s Miss Fran in her sparkly sash denoting her status.
We made her put on the tiara too.
Here’s one of her many wonderful quilts that were part of the featured display.
As usually happens at a show, I made some new vendor friends. Across the hall from me I discovered the elegant appliqué designs of Bobbie Y. Jarrett.
That’s some eye candy for us appliqué enthusiasts, no?
Right next door to me were two fantastic ladies who are just starting out on this designing adventure, and IMO they’ve got “it.” Meet Rita Traxler and Debbie Holland of Lady Bug Lace.
Rita and Debbie
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Nov
12
A Hawaiian workshop
Filed Under Classes, Designers, Hand appliqué, Hawaiian, Needleturn, Patterns, Quilt shows | 6 Comments
Last month I had the privilege of taking a class in Hawaiian appliqué from Maui resident Keri Duke.
Keri was here for Pacific International Quilt Festival and came a week early to give a workshop for our guild. She’s snorkeling buddies with our program chair Tracey Brookshier so yay for us!
It was a beautiful day and a great location for a workshop. We were making a traditional breadfruit (ulu) appliqué. As Keri told us, this is usually the first pattern made by a quilter because it is supposed to bring fruitfulness and good luck in life.
Cutting out the motif, folded in eighths.
My big basting stitches. I was the first one done basting; some spent the whole morning just basting, using little bitty precise running stitches instead of big honking toenail catchers. Not necessary, gals. Just throw ‘em in there.
Some of the class members chose other colors for their projects.
It looks good any which way you do it.
After the entire dark-green leaf motif was basted, we did traditional needle-turn hand appliqué. I’m a fast stitcher (well, you know, it isn’t my first rodeo) and I had my block all done for Show & Tell at quilt guild the next night. This type of Hawaiian appliqué is about the most fun, I think. Once you get it all prepped, you just sit and stitch and stitch to your heart’s content.
My Ulu.
The following week was PIQF.
The crowd waiting to get in on Thursday morning.
Once I made it inside the doors, I chatted with Keri in her Keri Designs booth, and I was delighted to learn that she and another quilter had curated a special “Colors of Maui” exhibit for the show!
This hibiscus was my favorite entry, and come to find out, it was Keri’s!
If you’d like to go on a tropical tour of the Colors of Maui, there’s a lovely slideshow posted over at The Quilt Show. Enjoy!
Aloha,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Oct
11
I’m versatile!
Filed Under Admin notes, Designers | 1 Comment
I recently received the Versatile Blogger award from a fellow blogger who enjoys my blog.
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
Sep
15
ellen and larry’s first date
Filed Under Designers, Show & Tell, Words | 5 Comments
One of the most amazing women I know is fellow Santa Cruz quilter and fabric designer ellen edith. She makes story quilts about the many wacky and also meaningful things that have happened in her life. These quilts are so full of color, life, verve, and a million other energetic words. It’s a style I greatly admire.
Recently ellen sent out photos of her latest quilt, First Date.
ellen:
I just finished a new story quilt celebrating the day I met Larry. I want to share the finished quilt, story and a few close-up details with you:
My first date with Larry was bicycling to the monarch butterfly preserve. He was so cute & I was so nervous I was yacking away. He finally said “If you would lie down & be quiet the butterflies might land on you!” Right then I knew I could relax & be myself around him. We have had 15 wonderful years.
I painted his favorite shirt with dog paw prints & the motto “Down Boy Down!”
I used some of my own butterfly fabric, dressed myself in bright colors & added a vintage pin as a hair ornament.
Santa Cruz is in the migratory path of the Monarch Butterfly. Each fall we look forward to their visit. I can just picture this lovely scene at Natural Bridges State Park.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
14
Find your method
Filed Under Books, Broderie perse, Designers, Fusible web, Glue stick, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Prepared edge, Raw edge, Starch, Turned edge | 1 Comment
I’ve long been an advocate of finding your own method of appliqué, one that’s right for you and gives you results you like. That’s not the same for everyone, and I believe there’s no right and no wrong way, only what pleases you. When quilters stop by my booth at shows and make faces at the “A” word, I tell them they just haven’t found their method.
So I was delighted to take note of a new book by Laurel Anderson called Appliqué Workshop: Mix and Match 10 Techniques to Unlock Your Creativity!
Here’s some information straight from the author herself.
Laurel Anderson:
I wrote this book with the idea that everyone has different design needs and different technique requirements.
The quilter who wants to occupy her time while on a fishing boat or in a doctor’s waiting room will be more interested in hand appliqué or cutting out fused shapes for three-dimensional or fused appliqué. The mother of four with limited time may be delighted with the speed of machine appliqué or the raw-edge technique. The artist who wants creative freedom may mix many methods into one piece of fiber art.
The techniques in the book are grouped into turned-edge, raw-edge and needle-turn appliqué. Each technique has a summery of its best uses. For instance: the Turned Edge with Starch or Glue makes very sharp points on leaves or petals. The 3D Broderie Perse method makes fast and easy daisy petal shapes for wall hangings. It is easier to be creative if you have your choice of many design tools.
 Coneflowers by Laurel Anderson |
The book offers ten appliqué methods, two edge-finishing facings, and several different template ideas. As a bonus, there’s a section on color and a chapter on dying fabric for flower quilts. The pullout section gives six full-size, ready-to-use patterns. The instructions teach several techniques for each pattern. If you make them all you will have tried all the techniques!
The book is available from Laurel’s website, Whisper Color. Laurel says to be sure to send her a message in an email telling her who to sign to book to. (There’s a Contact button on the website.) And while you’re on the site, check out the 100% bamboo batting and Laurel’s latest stand-alone pattern, Winter Amaryllis.
 Winter Amaryllis pattern | Isn’t this gorgeous? |
Thank you, Laurel, for telling us about your exciting new book. I’ll be directing those face-makers to it!!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
6
More Fabulous Flowers
Filed Under Books, Designers, Embellishment, Embroidery, Faced appliqué, Prepared edge, Prizes | 15 Comments
I have to say that I’m just a flat appliqué girl myself. But I truly appreciate dimensional appliqué and our book look for August is a fantastic celebration of floral forms that stand up and sing!
More Fabulous Flowers: Mini-Quilts in Dimensional Appliqué by Sharon K. Baker gives a ton of information on how to make faced, double-fused, prairie-point, double-folded prairie-point, ruched, strip-pieced, and yo-yo leaves and flowers. The detailed, illustrated instructions in the book go soup-to-nuts, from fabrics and supplies to pre-quilting the background to making stems to constructing all those luscious leaves and petals to embellishing them with beads and yarns to finishing the darling mini-quilts.
The book includes 20 little quilt projects to spark your imagination, and you can go anywhere from there. “The designs in this book are like ingredients in a recipe,” says Sharon. “Combine the ingredients as you like to whip up your own special creation. Use the flowers to embellish quilts or wearable art, or simply wear then as decorative pins on clothing. Combine the flowers, explore your own creativity and style, and create a peaceful garden for the mind and soul.”
Many thanks once again to Martingale & Company / That Patchwork Place for providing a copy of More Fabulous Flowers for a lucky reader. If you’d like a chance to win, leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Monday, August 9. U.S. and Canada only due to the cost of postage.
Those subscribed by email, remember, don’t reply to the email to leave a comment. Instead, click over to the blog itself. The comments link is at the bottom of the post.
Good luck!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
2
Do you already have A Dozen Roses?
Filed Under Books, Designers, Faced appliqué, Patterns, Prizes | 9 Comments
Jennifer Rounds, co-author of A Dozen Roses (our featured book last month), was delighted to read the wonderful comments about the book. She sent me a premium to offer to one of my readers who already has the book (or who has definite plans to acquire it).
 |
Her pattern “Rose Wreath” is a spinoff of the coverlet project from A Dozen Roses that we were all slavering over. The instructions in the book are the foundation for the pattern’s how-to’s so Jennifer says that it’s better to be familiar with the process in order to complete the project.
If you are already the proud owner of the book (and yes, Barbara you’re eligible ), leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Thursday, August 5, for a chance to win this beautiful pattern.
The pattern is available at Rosie Quilters.
Next time, a look at More Fabulous Flowers: Mini-Quilts in Dimensional Appliqué by Sharon Baker.
Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jul
19
Nancy Brown slideshow ~ you must see
Filed Under Designers | 6 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!
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