The reader who won a copy of A Batch of Quilt Soup is…. No. 18, Dora! Congratulations Dora! I know you will enjoy Barbara’s designs.

I have a busy September, but Max is busy every month. :) Dana made a video proving that Cats Can Fetch Too!

Just like last year, September is packed with quilt shows and I’m on the road every weekend. Here’s my schedule:

Sept 7-8, 2013 Los Banos Arts Center Quilt Show
This nice show is put on by the Pacheco Pass Quilters in Los Banos, California. Special preview plus wine and cheese tasting tonight, Friday night, September 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m! Find out more at the Los Banos Arts Council.

Sept 14-15, 2013 Diablo Valley Quilters Show
This biennial show takes place in Walnut Creek, California. The featured quilter is the renowned appliqué artist Nancy S. Brown!! I’m so excited! You can find out more about the show at the guild website.

Sept 21-22, 2013 Sierra Quilt Guild Show
A lovely show held at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in beautiful and historic Sonora, California. All the information is at the guild website.

Sept 26-28, 2013 Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival Pleasanton
The super-nice guys at Rusty Barn put on this show devoted to quilting, sewing, and crafting held at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. All the info at rustybarn.com. Here’s a free admission ticket!

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I’m a big admirer of the designs of Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup. There’s something about her work that’s eye-appealing, soothing, comforting, fresh, and beautiful all wrapped up in one.

I’m so pleased to say that this month, courtesy of Martingale, we have Barbara’s book A Batch of Quilt Soup.

This fun book is full of pieced and appliquéd charmers. For the appliqué, Barbara personally prefers needleturn, but stresses that you may use any method you like for the designs. She gives complete information on the method she uses for hand appliqué, from template preparation to cutting out motifs to positioning to stitching. The appliqué shapes are relatively large, and full-sized template patterns are included.

As Barbara says, “These patterns are easy to finish in this lifetime!”

Summer Cottage

There are soup-to-nuts, illustrated instructions for nine “fun patchwork and easy appliqué patterns,” plus information on supplies, quiltmaking basics, and finishing.

Summer Runner

And if adorable quilt patterns weren’t enough, there are also recipes! How does “Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake” or “Amaretto Scones” sound?

Ellery's Smoothie

If you’d like to win A Batch of Quilt Soup, please leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on Thursday, September 5.

Do not click “Reply” to your email feed! That will not enter you in the drawing. You have to leave the comment on the blog itself on the internet. Just clcik the title “Quilt Soup” and you’ll be whisked over to the post.

Drawing open to U.S. and Canada mailing address only.

Good luck everyone, and thanks for reading All About Appliqué!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Congratulations go to Kathy Lancaster! She came up the winner of the Flourish on the Vine pattern pack! Kathy, I hope you enjoy this gorgeous project. More giveaway goodness next month, so stay tuned.

The quilt exhibit in Long Beach was fabulous, as always. After I put up the post mentioning that I was leaving for the show, I received this comment from Carli Heinrichs:

Hi Kay,

If you get to see the “O Canada” exhibit, you’ll have to check out my little ditty there, look for ‘Beach House Crazy Quilt.” I’d love to see a photo by someone I know out there in blog-land that may have come across my little part of the vast world of quilting. Send me a photo, I’d drool for that!

All the best,
Carli

Of course I sought out Carli’s entry and found it right away in the O Canada exhibit. So darling!

Thanks for dropping me the note, Carli!

The next appliqué quilt that made me stop and get out my camera:

Never Again...Again by Joan Dorsay

Strikingly beautiful against the black background.

A friend stopped by my booth and told me that she had seen a Christmas quilt by a Japanese quiltmaker that had made her brain full for the day. I neglected to ask her the name of it, and it took me a couple days to track it down, but when I found it, it was worth the wait. OMG. I’m not usually one for Daiwabo taupe (I just don’t live in the neutral world) but I’m telling you…

Christmas Song For You by Hiromi Yokota

This was the type of piece that had you standing there studying, taking in all of the precious detail.

Amazing.

When I uploaded my Long Beach photos to my ‘puter, I was dismayed to discover that I hadn’t captured the label for another one of the spectacular appliqué quilts. After some show program and internet research, I found it! The quilt photos are mine, but the label is from a different show, probably the Rosemont Festival.

Bird of Paradise by Connie Watkins

I just love the folk-art quality of this quilt.

It was the last International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. Next year the summer edition of Festival from Quilts, Inc., is moving to Portland, Oregon, and is rebranding itself as Quilt! Knit! Stitch!

I’m sorry to see it leave California. Portland is a loooong drive for me and I wouldn’t look forward to that. The fact that the show is reaching out to a broader base of stitchery-types is good, but it might dilute the number of attendees who are interested in appliqué. The jury is out on whether I’ll be there, as it was for many of my fellow vendors. What do you think?

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The winner of the IQA Founders Award in Houston in 2011 was a masterpiece appliqué quilt by Kathy K. Wylie called Flourish on the Vine.

Flourish was also on the cover of the April/May 2012 issue of Quilters Newsletter, so you may have seen it there!

C&T Publishing has collaborated with Kathy to publish a pattern pack with full-size pattern sheets and complete instructions to make your own version of this graceful and sophisticated quilt.

They sent me a copy to share with my readers! Thanks C&T!

Kathy used a focus fabric to pull together the soft palette she had in mind. Inspired by wrought-iron work and a Bible verse, the quilt took two years to complete. The pattern has the quilt top divided into 12 sections for ease of completion. Suitable for experienced appliquérs who like luxurious, intricate details, the cover makes the point that it also has comprehensive instructions with template tips that make it approachable for ambitious beginners.

If you’d like to win a copy of the Flourish on the Vine pattern pack, please leave a comment here on this post before 7:00 p.m. on Friday, August 9.

Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to your email feed; leave your comment on this post on the blog on the internet.

Good luck to all, and thanks for reading All About Appliqué!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The winner of Jeanne Sullivan’s
Simply Successful Appliqué is No. 1, Linda Klauer! Congratulations Linda,
I know you will enjoy the book.

Here’s a quilt tale from the road.

Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes, was displeased last weekend.

I was in Madera, California, at a quilt show, and this was my view.

This is a very pleasing quilt made from all Hawaiian-themed fabrics. Upon closer inspection (which I had plenty of time to conduct), it appeared as though the sleeve had been applied to the wrong end and the quilt was hanging upside down.

Note the boats sailing in the sky, the palm trees growing like Miracle Tomatoes, the motorcycle shack hanging from the ceiling.

Pele displayed her displeasure. It was 104&#186 when I arrived for setup.

Wished I had Sue’s sunbonnet during load-in. Putting the booth up was quite the challenge. At one point I lay down on the cement floor. It felt good but I thought I might scare somebody so I got up.

I learned a new term, that of “swamp cooler.” Alicia explained to me that it’s when air is blown over water (as opposed to refrigeration) for cooling.

Swamp coolers are what we had at the Madera District Fairgrounds. But we were told that two air-conditioning units were being brought in, so we had hopes that the days of the show would be better.

According to the Vibe it was 85º at 9:00 the next morning.

My neighbors were good buddies Shawn of the Rusty Crow and Alicia the Batty Lady.

The Rusty Crow, featuring “Anything Primitive and Scrappy.”

The Batty Lady can answer any question you may have about batting, and probably carries the type you want.

Shawn wished for a piña colada.

Alicia was frying eggs on the metal loading door.

Shawn had thermometers in her booth. Yes, that does read 90º inside.

Here were our two a/c units, demo models at a vendor booth on the other side of the building.

My knitting needles had been in the suitcase in the car.

As you can imagine, the crowds stayed away in droves. But there were some beautiful appliqué quilts in the show.

Celtic Spring by Virginia McClaren


Daisy Dance by Melinda Worstein


Civility by Barbara Haggard


And they had the loveliest retrospective displays I’ve ever seen.

The guild members were very supportive, bringing us cold water, encouraging us to take our time packing out, and helping us tear down. Thank you, ladies.

It was 105º as I headed home.

When I got to Casa de Fruta it was 92º and their chocolate goodies were melting and stuck together. I received a discount on my fudge-covered oreo.

By the time I got back to Santa Cruz it was 66º. I told Dana, “It’s freezing over here!” I was mighty glad to get home.

I hope you are staying cool,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I love my job. One of the best things about it is that I get to see so many of the new appliqué books as they cross my desk on their way to you, gentle readers.

This month, courtesy of C&T Publishing, we have the beautiful Simply Successful Appliqué by Jeanne Sullivan.


When I first saw the cover, I thought there was a lot of dimensional appliqué in that basket. Upon looking closer, I see that it’s really the beautiful shading in the fabric that lends that effect of depth! Very cool.

This book is for appliquérs who prefer a prepared-edge method… that is, the edges are turned prior to the stitching process. Or, for appliquérs who would like to learn more about it!

The book starts with a long list of supplies you’ll need, then goes on to five different approaches to color planning, selecting and auditioning fabrics, and preparing the background fabric. Then comes a comprehensive section on creating the pattern components needed, from making a master pattern to preparing working patterns to making an acetate or vinyl overlay for placement to making and labeling freezer-paper templates.

Then on to Jeanne’s appliqué basics! Accurate cutting of templates is covered, as well as “window shopping” for areas of fabric for your motifs (hence that shaded effect). In the next section, “Making Preturned Appliqués,” Jeanne says, “Hands down, it’s the easiest, quickest, and all-around best way to prepare turned-edge appliqué!”

Jeanne’s method involves ironing the edges of appliqué shapes over freezer-paper templates. On areas that need to be gathered, she uses liquid sizing and heat-sets the creases with an iron.

Now you may have seen this method given before, but I doubt you’ve seen it in the photographed detail given here: exactly how to manage each and every area of an appliqué shape, as well as how to handle unusual shapes and scenarios. Using an overlay to position the pieces is covered next, along with basting the pieces in place.

Part of the Gallery section.

After viewing a gorgeous gallery of quilts made by Jeanne and her students, you’re ready to absorb the sections on hand stitching and machine stitching. Again, there’s way more actual detail of each process than the average bear!

Near the back there’s a section on specialty forms of appliqué, including (yes) dimensional flowers, skinny stems, stuffed berries, reverse appliqué, lined appliqué, needle trapunto, broderie perse, lettering, and basic embroidery stitches.

To cap it all off, there’s an included CD that has nine projects with full-size templates on it!

Just a few of the projects on the CD.

All in all, 128 pages of glorious detail on all aspects of prepared-edge appliqué! Would you like to win a copy of Simply Successful Appliqué? To enter the drawing, leave a comment here on this post before 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 5.

Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to your email feed; click over to the blog on the internet and leave your comment at the bottom of the post.

Good luck all!

Until Friday,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The reader who won Edyta Sitar’s Seasonal Silhouettes is No. 56, Maureen! Congratulations Maureen! I know you will enjoy these beautiful designs.

In other news, my buddy Kim of Chatterbox Quilts has been cooking up some HEAT: “Hand Embroidery Appliqué Technique.” It’s so charming, and be sure to check out the introductory pattern that’s free for a short time on Kim’s blog Chatterbox Quilts Chitchat.

At the Moonlight Quilters show last weekend, I had to stop and fish out my camera on the spot when I saw this:

Mazie of Sonoma County by Sue Gragg

What a cow!!

Sue cites artist Carolee Clark as her inspiration, along with some fancifully decorated cows that are famous in Sonoma County. To me, Mazie looked like Kaffe Fassett fabric.


Until next time,
Kay

Last time I went to Quilt Market I made the pleasant acquaintance of one of the staff members at Landauer Publishing. Recently she emailed me to ask if I would like to share one of their brand-new books with readers of the blog.

Would I? Of course! I’m so excited to say that it’s Edyta Sitar’s Seasonal Silhouettes, hot off the presses!

Subtitled “12 Inspirational Quilt Blocks Featuring Raw-Edge Appliqué.”

Edyta used batik fabrics for their natural hues “touched by nature’s paintbrush” and tight weave. Since she does a form of raw-edge appliqué in which she stitches 1/8″ from the raw edge during the quilting process, batiks are an excellent choice. There’s a two-page spread of “color chips” so you can take the book to the fabric store with you in case you need to round out your stash of batiks.

What I really like is that the author gives an informational roundup of three different kinds of paper-backed fusible web, with the pros and cons of each, to help you make your choice for these projects. There’s also complete information on how she does her raw-edge appliqué and her quilting.

The gorgeous book is slightly oversized at 9×12. I imagine that’s so it can include… yes… full-size pull-out template pages for your convenience! On top of that, you can actually order all of the pre-made laser-cut appliqué shapes, complete with fusible web on the back, from Edyta’s website Laundry Basket Quilts.

January

June

July

Those are just three of the 12 designs… there’s one for every month, and you can stitch up as many or as few as you like.

There’s a short video about the book at the Landauer website. Just click on the “Look Inside” tab.

Thanks again to Landauer for providing a copy to give away to a lucky reader. If you’d like to enter the drawing, please leave a comment on this post before 7:00 p.m. California time on Friday, June 7.

Drawing open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to an email feed… instead come on down to the blog itself on the internet and leave your comment there.

Good luck!!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

When Cathy says so, I pay attention. Go on over to Cathy Perlmutter’s blog GefilteQuilt to see which new book has received this hugely important title! And you’ll have a chance to win a copy!

Cheers,
Kay

The All About Appliqué reader who won a copy of 100 Blocks, Volume 7 in last week’s blog tour is #225, Lovie Ball! Congratulations Lovie! The magazine has already put your copy in the mail. :)

Lovie said that she loved unicorns as a child and that the pony block could be a unicorn with the addition of a little horn. Absolutely! I would love to see that variation.

If you didn’t win a copy during the tour, there’s still a chance! Shayla Wolf, editorial assistant at Quiltmaker, had her first block in this volume and is so excited about it that she’s doing an extra, special giveaway right now. Head on over to Quilty Pleasures to see Shayla’s adorable block “Hootie” and find out how to enter the draw in a couple of different ways.

And, if you’re still not in luck, I’ve added the issue to my website and you can order it there, on the Patterns page.

I made the cover again! Happy dance!

Until next time,
Kay

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the draw for Mimi Dietrich’s beautiful book Baltimore Blocks for Beginners.

Random.org has declared that the winner is No. 16, Suzanne McFadden! Congratulations! Suzanne says she’s always wanted to do a Baltimore Album quilt. This’ll get you started Suzanne!

A few of you pointed out that I wrote March 5 instead of April 5. Fear not, gentle readers! If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know that I am perennially calendar-challenged. Even when I go back in and correct the date, if the email feed has already gone out, those of you who are subscribed by email will not see the fix. So if I ever write anything having to do with a date that doesn’t make sense, just have faith! :)

In other news, I’ve updated the Events page here on the blog and on my website. I think that’s it for 2013! I was a mite surprised when I finished the updates to realize that I have 16 more shows this year! In 2012 there were a number of guild shows that were every other year. I thought I might have some gaps in my schedule, so I signed up for things right and left, and all of a sudden my calendar is more packed than ever! I love it!

Here’s what’s coming up this month!

April 20-21, 2013

SCVQA Show

This biennial show put on by the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association takes place in the same venue as PIQF. Last time we had a great show and I’m looking forward to it once again. This time we have the primo spot, Hall A! The show theme is “Shower of Stars.” www.scvqaquiltshow.org

April 27-28, 2013

Seven Sisters Quilt Show

I love driving down the coast for this show held at the lovely and historic Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. DH Dana just took a day trip down to SLO for an interview and came home raving about how beautiful it was down there. Plus I told him about the Apple Farm and he went and got his favorite, an apple dumpling. All the info about the quilt show is at www.aqgcc.org

In between shows I’ve been working on a new pattern. Here’s a sneak peek!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Happy April! No fooling here at All About Appliqué. :)

Last month, when we looked at
Baltimore’s County Cousins, I detected the Baltimore longing in many of the comments.

I’ve always wanted to do a Baltimore Album but frankly they do intimidate me.

I love applique but I’m not up for the more complicated patterns, yet.

I’m just now deciding that I can actually do some of this…

A Baltimore is on my bucket list…

Haven’t done a Baltimore quilt yet, but would love to.

Oh! I love baltimore album quilts but have never made one.

One of the things that has kept me from making my own Baltimore album quilt is the feeling that I need to wear formal attire!

These wistful reflections made it clear which book I needed to pull out of the cupboard next. May I present, courtesy of Martingale, Mimi Dietrich’s Baltimore Blocks for Beginners.

Subtitled “A Step-by-Step Guide,” this book is designed to to be a gentle and compelling introduction to the Baltimore genre that will get you started on your way at last!

Mimi, who lives in Baltimore, has been teaching Baltimore Album appliqué classes for over 30 years. Her most basic class is called, “My First Baltimore Block,” and this book is that class! It will take you slowly through all the techniques and elements of a basic block.

Rose wreath design.

There’s also a circle wreath and a crossed leaves design, as well as a gallery of different colorways to provide inspiration.

I love what Mimi says in the introduction: “There are many techniques, tools, and patterns for appliqué. All of these are correct, as long as you are comfortable and pleased with the results.” Yes! That’s what I believe too. Mimi presents her own favorite methods for successful beginnings.

The information covers fabrics, appliqué supplies, preparing the pattern and templates, cutting and preparing the shapes, and illustrated information on hand-appliqué stitch techniques, followed by step-by-step instructions for making your first Baltimore Album block.

Are you starting to feel like you can do it? You can!!!

If you’d like to win this book, please leave a comment here on this post before 7:00 p.m. California time on Friday, April 5.

Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not click “reply” to your email feed. That will only send me an email and not enter you in the draw. Click over to the blog on the internet and leave your comment at the bottom of the post.

Good luck!
Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The lucky winner of Baltimore’s Country Cousins is No. 6, Karen Crosby. Congratulations Karen! You’ll enjoy these folk-art influenced designs.

In other news: Right now, on the Quiltmaker blog Quilty Pleasures, they’re having a giveaway contest of the new issue of Quilts From 100 Blocks.

Go on over and enter for a chance to win one of 25 copies! The contest ends Friday so go now.

Speaking of 100 Blocks, I was thrilled to hear that I have a block in the upcoming Volume 7! My block is so very dear to my heart and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. (Yes, it’s an animal, but maybe not the one you’d expect.) I’ll be participating in the blog hop March 29 through May 3 and I’ll show it then.

Last bit of news! Next week author, designer, and educator Margaret Bucklew is celebrating the release of her brand-new book, and she asked me to be in her blog tour! I’m kicking off on Day 1 with a neat guest post from Margaret. You won’t want to miss it… she has a nice surprise for you.

Until Monday,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I’ve had this charming book in my cabinet for awhile now.

Baltimore’s Country Cousins
by Susan McKelvey

If you’re attracted to Baltimore album quilts and also simple, whimsical country quilts, then you would love Susan’s “country cousin” album blocks inspired by both of these forms. The designs in this beautiful book are filled with baskets, blooms, birds, berries, buds, and many more appealing folksy motifs.


The author begins with information on color and fabric selection, then moves to her own personal tips for hand appliqué. Any form of appliqué will work fine for the blocks, and the author recommends that anyone new to appliqué refer to one of the many excellent books available today that give soup-to-nuts instruction.


Stems and stitching sequence are covered, as are inking and stamping on quilts, elements that give album quilts an extra dose of charm. There’s a full pattern for a sampler quilt with a lovely appliquéd border that uses 12 of the 16 designs, also several ideas for other ways of using these utterly charming album blocks.


Published by the American Quilters Society, this gem is out of print but you can look for it on eBay or order from a reseller on Amazon.

That is if you don’t win it in the drawing! If you’d like to win my copy of Baltimore’s Country Cousins, leave a comment on this post before 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6.

Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to your email subscription! Click over to the blog on the internet and leave your comment at the bottom of the post.

Good luck!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The winner of our February featured book is Barbara Burnham of Ellicott City, Maryland, who says “We can never have too much appliqué.” Hear, hear! Congratulations Barbara, and enjoy the book.

The first show of the year that I did was in Modesto, California, a couple of weeks back. The guild was so excited that they had been chosen to host a Ricky Tims Super Seminar! It’s next year, February 6-8, 2014.

I talked with one of my vendor buddies, who attended one of these seminars in the past. She said that you don’t do a lick of stitching, that’s not the idea, and you come away greatly inspired with ideas, concepts, lessons, and information. She loved it.

Watch for full details on Ricky’s website rickytims.com and the guild website, Country Crossroads Quilters.

Fast forward one week to Ontario, California. A super-nice gal, Gina Darlington, stopped by my booth and mentioned that she was the organizer for Celebrate! Quilt Camp & Show this June 12-15 in Flagstaff, Arizona. I smiled when I saw that the keynote speaker is my pal Annie Smith. There are some extremely appealing appliqué classes in there, so be sure to check it out if you’re in the area or will be in the market for a trip to the “cool mountains of Flagstaff” this June.

I met another nice Arizona quilter, Vanessa Fromm (there were several busses from Arizona for the show) who told me about her new designing adventure, Fabric Confetti. These are fun projects that involve raw edges and bits of colorful fabrics to make darling appliqués.

Very high on the cute!

Last tidbit for today: the Martingale blog Stitch This! has seven easy, quick, and free downloadable patterns for Valentine’s Day!


Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

For those who were fans of our December featured book by Janice Vaine, I have another one of her titles!

A is for Appliqué!

Thank you, Landauer, for sending this very lovely book.

For hand appliqué, Janice uses a form of back-basting preparation that she calls “Perfect Placement.” Her method and her stitching information is thoroughly explained and handsomely illustrated with great big graphics… you can’t miss it, every stitch!

She also includes a comprehensive guide to the basics of embroidery and embellishment, with an entire collection of alphabet blocks to practice on.

To see more, go to the book’s page on the Landauer site and click on the tab “Look Inside” about halfway down the page to watch a lovely video.

If you’d like to win Appliqué and Embroidery Fundamentals, please leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Wednesday, February 6. Open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only.

Important note: I always get a few who reply to their email feed. This won’t get you in the drawing. Click on the title of the post and that’ll take you to to blog on the internet. You can leave your comment there, at the bottom of the post.

Good luck!
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Ack! I found a draft post from October that I never posted! Here’s what I meant to say back then.

My buddy Kim Jamieson-Hirst recently put up a wonderful roundup of paper-backed fusible web brands and types. Check it out at her blog, Chatterbox Quilts Chitchat.

Sorry Kim!

Okay, now back to present day. I’m packing for this weekend’s Heart of the Valley show put on by the Country Crossroads Quilters of Modesto, California. Full info on the CCQ website.

Then I’m home for exactly one day before schlepping down to SoCal for Road to California. It’s at the convention center in Ontario, California, and if you haven’t been to this one you should. It’s big and bustling and full of quiltish energy!

Got the oil changed and the well-baby checkup for the Vibe, so we’re ready to roll!

Until next time,
Kay

By popular demand, the very first volume of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks has been reprinted!

This was the issue that started it all, and it proved so popular and sold out so fast that the editors at Quiltmaker jumped on the speeding train and turned the idea into a twice-yearly series.

We’re now up to Volume 6, but readers who missed out on the chance to get Volume 1 have been begging for it to come back, and now it has!

And, very cool, they’re giving away a bunch of copies and some of the mugs too!


Hurry over to Quilty Pleasures and read the post there about how to enter.

Please note: You’ll leave your comment over at Quilty Pleasures, not here, to enter the giveaway.

Here’s my block that was in Volume 1. Hey, remember those tulips I showed you yesterday? Funny how things go… they just happen to have something to do with this Watering Can block, which I will be showing you later!

Good luck in the drawing for the magazines and the mugs!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Happy New Year!

It’s an momentous day in the Mackenzie household! It was exactly 10 years ago today that I stepped a foot into the professional side of quilting and published my first book.

Even though I’ve always been an appliqué person, I started with something that was all piecing, all the time. Dog Cabin was a huge endeavor. I had to relearn everything I had learned in my sprinkling of digital-media classes, and climb a mountain of details that ranged from procuring ISBNs to learning about distribution channels to approaching catalogs and a million more things. I was on fire, and I loved every minute of it. Dog Cabin was picked up immediately by Checker Distributors and placed in Connecting Threads, and all of a sudden I had a career.

Dog Cabin is a great little book. I really flexed my illustration muscles and included tons of graphics showing everything from:

How to straighten up the grain of the fabric to…

How to measure and rotary cut…

To the dust bunnies that will accumulate in your house when you finally bust out that novelty fabric you’ve been “saving.”

It’s a fantastic book for the beginning quilter and also, I might add, a very fun project for quilters of any flavor as you rest your right brain, engage your left brain, and sew sew sew!

To celebrate the anniversary of this classic book, read on to the end of the post to see how (if you’re in the U.S.) you can get a copy of Dog Cabin, free!

In the last 10 years I’ve published eight more of my own books, and had three books published by Martingale. I still love it and I still feel like going strong!

In the last part of 2012 I started on a new endeavor, producing a line of stand-alone patterns. It’s really exciting to be doing something new. I’ve put out some few patterns in the past, but now I’m getting organized about the whole thing. UPC codes! How long I’ve known o’ ye, and finally we meet!

My two new patterns:

This little quilt appeared in my book Easy Appliqué Blocks, now available exclusively as an eBook from the publisher. When the print copies were all gone I received the go-ahead from Martingale to publish this design on its own. It’s been the most-requested pattern in my booth, so I’m so delighted to be able to offer it now!

Sandy Klop of American Jane is a buddy of mine. I LOVE her fabric from Moda! When I heard she was coming out with a new line called Savonnerie (Soap Factory) I kept an eagle eye out for it. As soon as the images went up on the Moda website, I knew it would be perfect for this pattern that I had in mind for a classic Dresden Plate. Moda graciously sent me some cuts of fabric, and I’ve been industriously working on the wall quilt ever since. I went all old-school and hand-quilted it! It really is like riding a bike and it felt good to go back to my roots as a quilter.

Okay, back to Dog Cabins and 10-Year Anniversaries. In celebration of this milestone, for the next week, through January 7, 2013, if you order one of these patterns… or anything at all… from kaymackenzie.com you’ll receive a copy of Dog Cabin absolutely free. That’s right, you can order a package of needles and you’ll get the book, and I’ll even cover any extra shipping. Limit one, U.S. customers only, while supplies last.

Happy 2013!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Janice Vaine’s beautiful book The Art of Elegant Hand Embroidery, Embellishment, and Appliqué goes to Lea Rae Kuntner! Congratulations Lea Rae! Enjoy.

Happy holidays to you, all the other commenters, and to everyone who reads All About Appliqué. I appreciate sharing an enthusiasm for appliqué with you so much!

Quiltmaker magazine is having a fun Countdown to Christmas over on their blog, Quilty Pleasures. It started on December 3 so be sure to scroll back and catch all the very fun articles they’ve posted full of quilty holiday goodies. I’m pleased to report that you’ll see my Plum Puddings in the countdown!

After I posted Goofy Santa, many of you commented that you felt Dana could have a second career as an appliqué artist. I’ll share with you that back in the day, before I learned computer illustration, I used to ask Dana to draw things for me sometimes. He drew the scene that won me an Honorable Mention in the 1996 Keepsake Challenge!

It’s the one in the middle, with the cat on the sofa. It reads, “Quilts are the next best thing to cats” and “Cats are the best thing next to quilts.” That’s a Dana-ism. :)

Dana also drew the plum pudding for me. There’s a story there. Dana’s mom always made plum pudding for the holidays, the kind you steam on the top of the stove. Dana never thought he liked it because it had hard sauce on top of it. A few years went by and then he found out that hard sauce was “frosting.” All of a sudden plum pudding wasn’t so bad!

Holiday cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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