Dec

1

Goofy Santa

Filed Under Holiday | 13 Comments

Some years ago when I was working on a Christmas book, my DH Dana drew a sketch of Santa.


From the look of him he was dubbed Goofy Santa. G.S. didn’t fit in and never found a place to be. He was filed away.

A couple weeks ago, I told Dana, “We’re pulling out Goofy Santa!”

His face lit up.

“You’re going to pick all the fabrics and I’ll show you how to make the fusible-web templates,” I continued.

“Um…. oh… kay….”

I finished rendering his pencil sketch in Illustrator and printed it out. I turned him loose on my fabric stash and he started pulling out traditional Christmassy reds and greens.

I was working on something else, quietly enjoying the fact that Dana was having a good time in my world. I looked over and saw this.

Cue the Alfred Hitchcock music.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the purple orange, and chartreuse anomaly.

“I thought that would be good for the hat,” he said.

“It doesn’t go,” I said.

“What doesn’t go?” he asked.

“That,” I repeated.

“It’s all just wavelengths,” he countered.

“It’s not gonna work,” I maintained.

“But… I really like it,” he wistfully replied.

Okay! It was at that juncture that I tossed all the traditional reds and greens aside and told him, “We’re making a non-traditional Santa!”

Then he was like a kid in a candy store, quickly assembling other fabrics to go with the purple and orange hat. Then I showed him each step of the fusible appliqué process, and he did everything except the sewing.

I give you… Dana’s Goofy Santa.

Happy holidays!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Jul

22

The Universe in Zero Words

Filed Under Books, Quilt shows | 1 Comment

With all the hubbub about my new book, I’ve not yet bragged about my husband’s new book, which came out right about the same time!

DH Dana Mackenzie is a science journalist with a number of books to his name (plus myriad magazine articles, glossy brochures, conference proceedings, etc.) but since he’s a PhD mathematician he’s particularly excited about The Universe in Zero Words.

Some of our friends have said that based on the title, they expect there to be no words in the book LOL! The subtitle is The Story of Mathematics as Told Through Equations. I explain that mathematicians don’t need words to express the universe, they have equations. But when we talk about the equations, we need words, so yeah.

Dana describes the book as a history of 24 important and beautiful equations throughout the history of thinking mankind. It starts with as simple as 1+1 and goes from there, all written for the general reader. He loved writing it and we are so happy that it has finally come out.

Dana, me, and some of our North Carolina friends. I’m not sure, but I think we may be trying to explain the universe in zero words.

On another note, I’m packing for International Quilt Festival in Long Beach this coming weekend, July 26-29. I’m in the first row of the vendor mall, next to the exhibits, so if you’re headed for this big bustling quilt show and conference, I hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie