Appliqué Books
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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
Jun
1
The Ultimate Appliqué Guidebook
Filed Under Books, Freezer paper on top, Glue stick, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge, Prizes, Raw edge | 44 Comments
Remember this photo, of me and Annie Smith holding each other’s books?
The Ultimate Appliqué Guidebook from C&T Publishing is our featured book this month.
Full disclosure: Annie is a buddy of mine. For years we’ve followed one another’s progression as we strove for and attained career goals. A goal that we each held dear was the publication of an appliqué book. I’m so thrilled for Annie that her wish came true last fall when this gorgeous book came to life.
I’ll start by telling you that this is not the ultimate guide to every method of appliqué that’s out there. It’ something very important, a sourcebook of appliqué design elements and a gentle guide through the process of finding inspiration, encouraging it, recording it when it strikes, and translating it into your own unique appliqué quilts.
Starting with the basics, Annie goes through choosing fabrics, playing with fabrics, employing a focus fabric, and determining value. There’s a comprehensive section on tools and supplies for appliqué.
Wow.
Then she moves on to detailed instructions for her own favored appliqué methods: raw-edge fusible machine appliqué and Holly Mabutas’s prepared-edge method for hand appliqué, where freezer-paper templates are ironed to the front and the turning allowance is glued to the back. All through the book there are specific, detailed photographs to help you see exactly what Annie’s talking about.
Then comes a section on the basics of design for blocks and quilts. These are important concepts that in my experience are not covered all the time. A beautiful gallery of quilts follows, to give you even more inspiration. Check out an earlier blog post of mine that shows Annie’s gorgeous coat and accompanying quilt, both of which are pictured in the book.
Following that are several lovely quilt projects to get you started, with pull-out patterns in the back Then comes a whole long catalog of appliqué design elements! A 50 page appliqué shape-a-palooza! Mix and match these as you like!
Many of the elements are given in a variety of sizes, and you can always enlarge or reduce on a photocopy machine. And, you can use any method of appliqué that you like. Another great thing about this book is that it has a lay-flat binding, so you can smooth it out flat for tracing without worrying about breaking the spine. Very cool!
Annie gave me an autographed copy of her book to give away to one of my readers in a drawing. Thank you Annie! If you’d like a chance to win, leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Saturday, June 4. Contest open to U.S. and Canada addresses only. Good luck!
Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
P.S. In case you might not know, Annie does a podcast for quilters. Check it out at Simple Arts.
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
Feb
7
Giveaway nears conclusion
Filed Under Admin notes, Books, Fusible interfacing, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge | 1 Comment
Admin note: The Giveaway for Kids has drawn to a close.
Awhile ago I instituted a Giveaway for Kids. I’ll repeat the post here.
Due to a printing glitch and subsequent reprinting, I ended up with way more copies of In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs than I needed. It’s time for them to move away from home!
If you’re a member of a group that makes and donates quilts for kids in need, email me at “kay at kaymackenzie dot com” and tell me about your group. I’ll send you 6 copies (as many as I can stuff in a bubble mailer) by the “slow boat to China,” Media Mail. If you feel like paying me back for the postage, you can PayPal a couple bucks to the same address.
If you’re not a member of such a group but you know somebody who is, feel free to spread the word.
This book includes step-by-step, illustrated instructions for five easy quilts and a comfy cozy flannel blankie, plus detailed instructions on the fusible-interfacing method for machine-appliquéing big, simple shapes.
There are only a few more packets of In a Twinkle waiting to go to a good home. So if your group has not yet received any, now’s the time to let me know that you’d like one for the use of your group’s worthy efforts. U.S. and Canada only.
Thank you for what you do for kids,
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
24
Erin’s ‘perfect petal’ technique
Filed Under Hand appliqué, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Starch, Turned edge | 1 Comment
So many thanks to those who chimed in about their blog-reading strategies. One reason for doing that last post that I forgot to mention is that sometimes I get messages from readers who are subscribed by email, who don’t even realize that they’re subscribed to a blog, and they think I’m sending them emails!
Erin Russek, who writes the One Piece at a Time blog, recently posted a great photo tutorial showing a very cool template-drawstring-and-starch method for getting the edges pressed under on petal-shaped pieces. Check out her Little Bird Top Knots post. Thanks for a great lesson, Erin!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Sep
24
Patchy hearts find a home
Filed Under Fusible interfacing, Patched appliqué, Prepared edge, Topstitch | 3 Comments
You may recall how I made some patchy hearts out of random hunks of patchwork from my UFO pile.
For awhile I looked at that fluffy stack and waited for inspiration to come. I wanted to make a quilt top to give to the AllStar Quilters For Kids, an offshoot of my guild that makes quilts for kids in need. It wasn’t too long before I got an idea, and I sketched it out in my illustration Program, Adobe Illustrator.
Illustrator is not a quilt-dedicated program, but it has a grid and a “snap to grid” function so I can easily lay out quilts to get an idea of what they’ll look like and what the dimensions are.
I decided to use the blue and the yellow hearts, and sorted through the stack to pull those out. I hallucinated in my head that I needed 6 blue and 3 yellow hearts, and snap! that’s exactly how many I had. Kismet!
Yeah right. When I went to put things together I realized that I needed 4 yellows. Off I went to those large scraps of patchwork that I had fished out of the trash LOL! I sewed the two largest ones together, added a couple of little pieces to one end, and had enough for that fourth heart!
Here’s what I made.
I fused the hearts to the background fabric, top-stitched around the edges, and cut away the background fabric and the fusible interfacing behind the hearts.
The alternating squares are all from stash fabrics that were happy to find a home. I had to go out and look for the two border fabrics (because I don’t have very many large pieces in my stash).
Now, what to do with the remaining colors of hearts in that pancake stack… hmmm…
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
Jul
28
Patchy project coming along
Filed Under Fusible interfacing, Patched appliqué, Prepared edge | 9 Comments
I’m resting up from a week in Long Beach. The trip went well despite a dead battery on the way down. I handled it (I am woman, etc.) and after that everything went as planned, within normal operating parameters.
You may remember me posting about some random hunks of patchwork I had dug out of the UFO pile.
I had an idea! I thought of the fusible interfacing method for turned-edge appliqué! I felt this was a natural for making something appliqué with all those seams.
I marked the hearts on the smooth size of the interfacing and pinned in place over the right side of the patchwork.
I did a whole tutorial on this method over at the Show & Tell Center. Check out The Anatomy of a Lollipop for a refresher.
Shortened up the stitch length a bit and sewed all the way around each shape, on the drawn line.
Cut out the hearts, leaving a 1/8″ seam allowance. Clipped the notches.
Cut a slit in the interfacing and turned the hearts. A quick run along the seam with a craft stick and a poke at the tip with a stylus and that’s it! They look like a stack of fluffy pancakes.
I know from making gobs and buckets of lollipops that these will smooth out and flatten when they’re fused to their backgrounds.
I thought I was now done with those hunks of patchwork. However, as the project went along, I found myself pulling the bigger scraps back out of the trash. Will this never end!!!?
Now what am I going to do with the hearts? Hmmm…
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
Jan
8
Birthday quilt and Sis Boom Pow!
Filed Under Books, Patterns, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Starch | 4 Comments
Easy Appliqué Blocks sightings!
To make a bday quilt for her little niece, Sarah Vee used designs and blocks she discovered by reading a variety of quilting blogs. For the bright and polka-dotty flowers in the quilt, she printed out the Daisy, Sunflowers, Posy Bunch, and Tulip Trio designs from Easy Appliqué Blocks. Such a fun and cheerful quilt! Lucky little girl.
Mary on Lake Pulaski used the Vase design for a charity fundraising project called Sis Boom Pow. The fabrics she used, by Jennifer Paganelli, are fresh, fun, and modern. Check it out on the Sis Boom blog. In the comments on her post, Mary puts up the URL for a tutorial on the starch method for turned-edge appliqué on Snippets of a Quilter.
Thanks a million, Sarah and Mary, for hauling out Easy Appliqué Blocks! It worked for you just the way I envisioned, as a library of appliqué blocks right at your fingertips.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
3
Machine Appliqué for the Terrified Quilter
Filed Under Books, Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge, Prizes, Raw edge, Reverse appliqué, Stained glass, Turned edge | 33 Comments
Happy New Year appliqué enthusiasts!
Hey is anybody going to Road to California later this month? I got a call just a couple weeks ago offering me a spot as a vendor and I said yippee! If you’re going to be at this fabulous quilt show and conference in Ontario, California, in two weeks’ time, please come by and say hello! I’ll be in 806.
Now on to our January giveaway, sponsored by Martingale & Company / That Patchwork Place. Sharon Pederson is a Canadian quilter whom I’ve met a couple times, most recently when she came to give a talk at my guild. If you ever get the chance, be sure to go to one of her lectures because it is a highly amusing experience. Sharon’s book Machine Appliqué for the Terrified Quilter is intended for quilters who (like Sharon in a former life) “refer to appliqué as the A word.”
Sharon says that her book is for those who are attracted to appliqué but feel that life is too short to do hand work. Learning that she could appliqué by machine was what it took to make her a total convert! I’ll throw in my 2¢ worth and add that even if you like hand work, it’s great to throw more techniques into your appliqué bag of tricks.
Lots of introductory information is given about fabrics, threads, needles, sewing machines, and stitches. Then Sharon takes you step-by-step through two methods: invisible machine appliqué, where the edges of the appliqué are turned and the stitches are unseen, and fusible appliqué, where the edges are raw and the stitches are visible. Reverse appliqué is also covered.
Sharon gives lessons on a variety of machine stitches, including the satin stitch, narrow zigzag, and decorative stitches, plus how to manipulate them in interesting ways. Great closeup photos accompany this information.
The projects in the book are mostly small and manageable, because after all, “you might be just a little bit terrified about the prospect of machine appliqué, so why further terrorize yourself by trying a queen-size project first?”
If you’re more of a visual learner, you might be interested in the DVD, a separate item. A sample lesson from it is available for viewing on the Martingale website.
Whether you’re terrified or not, this is one great resource for those interested in machine appliqué! Leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Wednesday, January 6, to enter the drawing for the book. U.S. and Canada only, unless you’d be willing to pay the shipping.
The winner gets my book Easy Appliqué Blocks too, with its companion CD that lets you print 50 designs in 5 sizes!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Aug
16
Invisible machine appliqué video
Filed Under Freezer paper on the back, Glue stick, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Product demo | 2 Comments
On The Quilt Show website, there’s a link for a series of Bernina Educational Videos that are free for the watching… you don’t have to be logged in.
I found this one on invisible machine appliqué that shows the freezer-paper-template-and-glue method for doing turned-edge appliqué with the blind-hem stitch. The link starts up the video right away.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jun
23
Take a trip to Whimsyland
Filed Under Books, Designers, Prepared edge | 10 Comments
Colorful, fun, uplifting, energetic, and positive.
That describes Beth and Liz Hawkins, their design aesthetic, and Whimsyland, their inspiring, eye-appealing book that’s full of crafty and creative projects.
I’ve met and chatted with the Lizzie B Cre8ive Girls, Liz and Beth Hawkins, a number of times. They’re both as nice as the day is long, and we’re ‘like this’ when it comes to appliqué. Not only that, the Lizzie B logo uses Frivolous, one of my favorite typefaces that I use in some of my books.
I was excited when I heard the girls were working with Kansas City Star on their first book. Whimsyland came out last month, just in time for Spring Market. The publisher provided me with a review copy, thank you Kansas City Star Books!
The publisher (whose website is pickledish.com by the way) provides a free download from the book! You can see the gals and the Whimsyland quilt.
Besides the adorable eponymous quilt, there are lots of other cute things to make that you’d totally want around your house, from a pillow to a rug to a beanbag chair! There are full-size templates for all of the appliqué motifs, and detailed instructions for the type of appliqué preparation that they favor, using starch and templates to turn the edges.
What makes this book extra-special IMO is that, in addition to the projects, you’re getting a lot of Beth and Liz. I heard that the publishers knew right away they wanted the authors’ personalities in the book. There are humorous anecdotes sprinkled throughout, tons of pictures, the Lizzie B recipe for ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies, and the spooky story of how two sisters-in-law, both named Elizabeth Ann Hawkins, found out that they also share a brain.
A couple days ago I almost busted a gut reading the latest entries on the Lizzie B blog. I was laughing so loud that the DH came in to see what all the hilarity was about. I sat him down and made read about book editor Kent’s ‘World Tour.’ Before long Dana was chuckling right along with me. Here’s the permalink to the first Whimsyland sighting on Kent’s tour.
And now, guess what? I’m giving the book away! I was scheming this from the beginning. Leave a comment on why you think you’d like Whimsyland. I’ll draw a winner on Thursday evening, June 25, at 7:00 California time.
See you then!
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Mar
16
Penny Haren pieces more appliqué
Filed Under Books, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Prepared edge | Leave a Comment
Last August I did a post about Penny Haren’s Pieced Appliqué™ book and explained just a little bit about the technique.
Now Penny has a second book out, Penny Haren’s Pieced Appliqué™: More Blocks and Projects. If you like the idea of using layered prepared-edge appliqué to achieve what looks like intricately pieced blocks, then these books may be just your cup of tea!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Mar
4
Lizzie B’s Easy as Chocolate Pie appliqué
Filed Under Designers, Freezer paper on the back, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Turned edge | Leave a Comment
Liz Hawkins and Beth Hawkins, two couldn’t-be-nicer sisters-in-law who share a name and the company LizzieBCre8ive, have a great machine appliqué tutorial posted over on their website.
The method they detail uses spray sizing to turn the edges of the appliqué motifs before stitching. They say, “It’s easy as pie! Of course, we mean chocolate pie!” (I believe I’ve heard that chocolate plays an important part in their design process).
The tutorial begins just under the video tip they’ve posted about sewing the bottom of their Ooh La La Bag.
Thanks gals!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications.com
Aug
4
Penny Haren’s Pieced Appliqué
Filed Under Books, Designers, Freezer paper on the back, Glue stick, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge | Leave a Comment
When I was at Quilt Market in May, I had a chance to attend a demo by Penny Haren, who showed us all about her “pieced appliqué” method. I was certainly wondering beforehand what it was all about. The word appliqué was enough to get me in the door. You may be curious too about what she means by it.
Well it’s really pretty cool. Penny (me too) doesn’t like piecing tricky blocks with bunches of little pieces that go cattywonkle and the points are going to get cut off and you have to haul out your seam ripper. Penny has learned to look at blocks a different way… she sees them in layers. She pieces simple blocks and then overlays the tricky parts on top to achieve the end result.
Penny uses freezer paper templates and glue stick to prep the overlays, which are then stitched to the base block. What happens is that a simple block turns into a complex block without any complex piecing!
It’s really amazing what she does with this method.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
P.S. Some really fun stuff is coming up here in the blog starting in September. Let’s just say that if you’re at all interested in writing a quilting book, you may just want to tune in.
Jun
22
Glue stick turned edge hand appliqué
Filed Under Designers, Freezer paper on top, Glue stick, Hand appliqué, Patterns, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge | 14 Comments
As promised, today I’m learning a method of hand appliqué preparation that’s new to me. Holly Mabutas of Eat Cake Graphics gave me her pattern insert with instructions for what she calls “glue stick turned edge appliqué” and I’m trying it out! What intrigues me about this method is that the margin of the fabric is glued back on itself. I’ve tried the other kind of glue-stick appliqué, where the margin is turned and glued over freezer paper, then after stitching you soak the block, slit the back, and get the freezer paper out. That method never ’stuck’ with me, no pun intended. Now I’m going to try it this way, where the freezer paper is on the front of the fabric.
The first thing I did was to go out and get a brand-new glue stick. I happened to know that the ones I had were a mite dried out — moral of the story, don’t buy them too far in advance, or try keeping them in the fridge as a friend of mine told me.
As it happens, we’re having a heat wave in Santa Cruz. There are just a few days a year when we roast… yesterday it was 102º and I was sweating just sitting upstairs in my studio. So today I gathered up everything that I needed and put up my handy-dandy little table from Costco downstairs in the living room to work in cooler conditions.
Freezer-paper templates traced and cut out.
I used the bunny block from my Spin in the Garden pattern.
I had to run upstairs to iron the templates onto the right sides of the fabrics. I used a piece of cardboard underneath, which helps create a better bond.
The next step is to trim the motifs, leaving a scant ¼” turn-under margin. Here are the pieces, trimmed and clipped. There’s a dashed line on areas that are going to be overlapped by another piece.
Gluing the margin back onto itself on the wrong side. Holly says to use an awl… I didn’t have one so I used a stylus with a tiny, sharp tip. The moist sponge is for cleaning off the glue stick when it gets thready. I’m working on top of an plastic sheet protector.
Here are all the pieces glued and with templates removed.
I wasn’t a whiz at the previously unused fine motor skills required to turn the margin with the implement, but I’m thinking I can smooth things out as I stitch. And, as Holly says, “Don’t be too hard on yourself if things aren’t perfect the first time or even the second. With a little patience and practice you’ll do just fine. ”
Again using the sheet protector, I’m positioning the pieces to join them together into units. No background fabric involved at this point! Holly advises using little dots of Roxanne’s basting glue for this step. I didn’t have any so I hauled out some really ancient stuff called Border Patrol. Turns out this was a misstep on my part, and I’ll tell you why later. Anyway, I used it on the edges of the tail and ears that were going under the body piece, and glued the bunny together.
Here’s a whole bunny, separate unto itself, edges turned and ready to hop onto different background fabrics until it finds its favorite one.
Here I’ve positioned all of the elements on the background fabric and have used the liquid glue to secure them in place. Still hoping I can work out those pokies.
All stitched… and it worked! I was able to manipulate out the little bumps. For the more serious ones, I dipped a cotton swab in water and soaked the edge of the motif. The glue released immediately and I was then able to smooth out the curve with my needle.
Okay so here’s why the liquid basting glue I used was not a good choice. Turns out, unlike Roxanne’s, it’s a permanent glue, and I used it in some injudicious places. See the little spot on the bunny’s paw? It’s confusing, but when you look at glue labels, you want it to say “water soluble” or “washes out.” “Washable” means it doesn’t wash out!
Anyway, aside from that little “learning experience,” I’d say this is the best method of turned-edge glue stick appliqué I’ve tried. For one thing, you don’t need a reversed pattern… what you see is what you get. Plus, you don’t have any freezer paper to remove once you’ve finished stitching. Holly appliqués these by hand, and so did I. If the templates were on the inside you’d have a crinkly, crunchy time of it, but here, where they’re gone already, it was a pleasant stitching experience. And a big thundercloud came along and cooled things down considerably.
Thanks a million, Holly, for sharing your preferred method with me, and allowing me to show it other appliqué fans. If you like an edge that’s already turned before you start stitching, this might become your favorite too! Get one of Holly’s adorable patterns and try it out for yourself.
See A Spin in the Garden over at Quilt Puppy.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jun
16
Spotlight on Holly Mabutas
Filed Under Designers, Glue stick, Hand appliqué, Patterns, Prepared edge, Spotlights | Leave a Comment
I met Holly Mabutas a year and a half ago at a quilt show in Hollister, California. When I saw Holly’s Eat Cake Graphics booth, I was instantly captivated by her darling appliqué style.
We became friends right away. I’ve been bugging her to give me an interview because I’m fascinated with her story of rubber stamps and appliqué designs. Here’s Holly and Puppy Tucker, the star of her blog, Sprinkles of Thought.
Kay: Holly, how did you get your start in cartooning?
Holly: You know, I can’t ever remember a time when I didn’t doodle. I do remember seeing my mom do a little sketch of our dog when I was young. I was fascinated watching the pencil lines come to life and wanted to be able to do the same.
I started out by trying to duplicate the drawings in my coloring books. With a lot of practice I got better, started drawing my own ideas and from there I guess started developing my own style. I don’t really have a formal art background – I took a few art courses in junior college – I’ve just always loved to draw. And I guess when you do something you love and practice over the course of a lifetime you’re bound to get better at it.
Kay: Where do you think the inspiration comes from for your adorable style?
Holly: I’ve always loved the cute and whimsical world of art. I was a HUGE fan of the comic strips Calvin & Hobbes and Bloom County. I also love children’s book illustrators – and have quite a few books (is that bad to admit for someone over 40 whose children all have fur and tails). I also think that I’m drawn to whimsical stuff because with everything going on in the world I want to focus on something happy, so that’s what I draw.
Kay: Tell me how you started up your rubber-stamp company.
Holly: I actually worked in a rubber stamp store in Los Gatos, California, for quite a few years. I was in there all the time and they asked if I’d like a part time job – I jumped at the chance, of course I never really did see a paycheck. Then I was approached by an acquaintance of my mom’s. She wanted to know if I might like to go into business, again I did a happy dance and said yes.
Eat Cake Graphics came about when my business partner and I decided to go our separate ways. I actually “opened” (although there were no balloons or fireworks) in January 2000.
So here I am, eight years later with over 600 images and still trying to figure out the ins and outs of online shopping carts – good grief does it ever get easier!
Kay: Tell me a little bit about how you segued into quilt patterns.
Holly: I never really thought I’d be designing quilt patterns! I walked into a quilt shop in the mid/late 90’s and saw a quilt on the wall using a technique called appliqué. I thought it looked fun so I signed up for a class. It was fun but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon another appliqué technique, using a gluestick, that I really became hooked (probably more like obsessed). In one of the ongoing monthly classes I was asked if I could come up with some simple blocks to go along with a project we were stitching. I said sure.
I think it was then the light bulb went off and I thought, hey, I really like seeing what my little sketches could become in fabric. I took some of my stamp images and on my computer played around with the layout, took the printout to a local copy shop, enlarged it, came home and started playing with fabric. It actually worked and when I showed it to people they asked about a pattern…and well, here I am.
Kay: Thank you, Holly, for giving us the back story. Here are some of my favorite of Holly’s patterns.
Windy Wintery Day
Don’t Drink and Fly
Home in the Middle
Holly gave me her pattern insert with instructions for her turned-edge gluestick appliqué method, and in my next post I’m going to give it a whirl. I’m always interested in learning new ways to appliqué! This one combines glue-stick prepared-edge with hand stitching. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
May
6
APQ site is good resource
Filed Under Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Raw edge | Leave a Comment
Not that long ago, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine launched a companion website called AllPeopleQuilt … APQ, get it? I was intrigued by a mention in the latest print magazine about quilting classes on-line, so I surfed on over to check it out.
Two appliqué classes head up their list of offerings. Linda Hohag is demonstrating a starch technique, and Pat Sloan is showing how to she does fusible appliqué. It looks like these are on-demand videos.
On the site, there’s also an area called “Try Techniques.” Click on the Appliqué section for gobs of free tips and tricks for a variety of methods.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
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