Appliqué Books
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Jan
8
Birthday quilt and Sis Boom Pow!
Filed Under Books, Patterns, Photo tutorial, 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 tutorial, 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 | 9 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 tutorial, 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 tutorial, Prepared edge | 10 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 tutorial, 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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