Jul
4
Teapots in the Central Coast!
Filed Under Show & Tell | 5 Comments
At the recent Seven Sisters Quilt Show in San Luis Obispo, California, I was met with a delightful surprise!
The board members of the Central Coast Quilters have been busy!! Close to a year ago, they contacted me to ask permission to use the designs from Teapots to Appliqué for a fundraiser opportunity quilt for their guild. I told them I would be delighted.
As it happened, the quilt was hung directly next to my booth! All weekend long I was treated to the admiring comments of passersby and those who bought tickets for a chance to win. I almost got a swelled head, but really, it was the fabulous creative work and design of the board members who pulled off this wonderful quilt.
Teacups danced around the borders. And notice how teabag labels were scanned and used for the sashing posts! What a great idea!
Thank you, Central Coast Quilters, for choosing my designs for your opportunity quilt. I hope it raises lots of funds for your good works.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Nov
4
Home, sweet home
Filed Under Blog hops, Magazines, Show & Tell | 7 Comments
Just finished one of the most hectic times ever. Palm Springs, followed by PIQF, followed by a visit from the in-laws, followed by a guild show. All I can say is, I lived through it, and am mighty glad to be home amid peace and quiet and down time. Happy rabbit. :)
Over this last weekend I was in Roseville, California, for the Pioneer Quilt Guild show. A quilter stopped by to let me know that she had a quilt in the show made using my Teapots 2 to Appliqué patterns. What a treat for me!
Asian Teapots by Karen Price
Thank you for the shout-out, Karen!
Beautifully hand appliquéd.
And hand quilted!
On another note, Volume 10 of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks comes out later this month.
I have a block in there once again, I’m happy to say. The kickoff blog tour is November 17-21.
These blog tours are lots of fun, with many prize-winning opportunities along the way. My day is Monday, November 17. See you then!
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Jan
19
New year, new teapots
Filed Under Quilt shows | 2 Comments
First of all, thank you so much for all of the nice words about the brochure. The encouragement is highly appreciated, and I’ll let you know how it goes over!
Those of you who have visited my booth have seen the nine-block teapot sampler that I hang to show some of the designs in Teapots 2 to Appliqué.
That quilt has been universally loved. People exclaim over it, and those who get the book want to take photos of it, so they can “remember the colors.” (I point out that it’s red, white, and blue LOL.)
In the last little while, those teapots have started to whisper to me. “Mackenzie,” they say, “We’re tired. We want to stay home.” It’s true they have done a yeoman’s service. So over the holiday hiatus I made a new nine-block sampler. Here are a couple of the new teapots.
As you can see, they’re still red, white, and blue, but in a richer scheme. The white is now ivory, the 30s and toile prints now French and Civil War. I hope this new collection will hit the spot for viewers.
The quilt will make its debut at the upcoming Road to California show. If you’re planning on attending this quilting extravaganza, come on by and see it! I’ll be in the ballroom.
I’m on the road to Road on Tuesday, for a week. See you when I get back, if not before!
Sep
14
Tea Ceremony
Filed Under Books, Freezer paper on the back, Machine appliqué, Show & Tell, Starch | 3 Comments
Before the lights went out in San Diego, I was tromping up the aisle, and someone was taking a picture of a quilt. Naturally I turned my head, and then I put on the brakes hard. I can spot my teapots at 50 paces! There was the most glorious oriental teapot quilt. I stood there with my jaw on the floor.
 Tea Ceremony by Marjorie Kilcrease, 109 x 120 |
Most of the teapots are from my Teapots 2 to Appliqué. I got the chance to talk with Marjorie a couple times during the show. She was beaming with pride over her quilt and so was I. Here’s the story of this masterpiece, from Marjorie herself.
When I saw Kay’s book on teapots, I fell in love with it. However, I kept thinking “Are you crazy? This is applique!” I collected oriental fabrics for about two years while I was trying to figure out how to display the teapots. Then I found the center panel with the Geisha holding the teacup.
Next, I found the block pattern called BQ2 by Maple Island Quilts and it looked very oriental to me. I was ready to sew!
This was my second appliqued quilt. I used the directions in the book to enlarge the patterns by 150% so they would fit on a 12″ block. I used a freezer-paper method (ironed to the back) with spray starch to anchor the edges down. Then I used the liquid basting to adhere the teapot parts to the block. The final step was machine-stitching the teapots. My husband designed three blocks for me too. The whole project took about four months.
The quilter, Wendy Knight, did custom quilting. In the black horizontal strips are names of tea or words like ‘happiness’, ‘peace’, etc. The vertical black strips have bamboo quilted in.
I had bought a large backing but still needed to enlarge it to make sure there was enough for the quilter. My husband helped me mimic the front design and we offset the black strips (instead of centering them) and then I used another panel that I found to add a decorative touch.
The quilt is for us and will take its turn on our king-size bed. However, all of my friends want me to put it in our will and leave it to them! They’ll need to discuss that with our two daughters though! :)
What Marjorie didn’t mention is that her quilt won First Place in Viewer’s Choice!
Congratulations Marjorie!!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Nov
9
Sharon’s roses, Helen’s teapots
Filed Under Prizes, Quilt shows, Show & Tell | 3 Comments
The winner of the Rose of Sharon Block Book and note cards is… Jen! Congratulations! Enjoy these beautiful items, courtesy of That Patchwork Place.
I’d now like to go back two weeks in time to the Delta Quilters Guild show in Antioch, California. I was there as a merchant, and after I finished setting up my booth I took a tour of the show buildings. I came around a corner and was flabbergasted to see a beautiful quilt made from my first collection of teapot designs on special display against the wall.
As I drew closer, I saw that this was a memorial area for two of the guild’s members who had passed away during the year. My heart filled up and I felt so honored that the daughter of the lovely lady who had made this teapot quilt had chosen it to represent her mother in the display.
Helen Holoch, quiltmaker.
Her are some closeup shots of individual pots. This lady had a very special collection of fabrics, I’d say!
Thank you, Helen, and thanks to your daughter Nancy, and also to guild member Terry Matejcek, who helped me round up the information about the quilt and gave me permission to post the photos and the story.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
May
11
“A woman is like a tea bag.”
Filed Under Articles, Patterns | Comments Off on “A woman is like a tea bag.”
That’s the way a fantastic tea-themed blog post starts out, over at Quilt Inspiration! Find out why Eleanor Roosevelt thought so in this comprehensive article all about tea, teapot quilts, and teapot fabrics.
Oriental Teapot by Verona Flint and Kay Mackenzie
Quilt Inspiration is written by Marina and Daryl, a team of quilt lovers and “idea collectors.” There are many other fascinating themed articles as well on their exceedingly nice blog, so fix a cup of tea and relax awhile.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Nov
11
Awesome Asian Teapots
Filed Under Books, Fabrics, Fusible web, Patterns, Raw edge, Show & Tell, Topstitch | 2 Comments
I came across this entry on longarm quilter Nancy Gambrel’s blog, where she shows off her customers’ quilts and the beautiful quilting she’s done on them.
Lo and behold, there’s an absolutely beautiful teapot quilt made by Pat Besenhofer, and I recognize it as being from my Teapots 2 to Appliqué.
What an internet find! Pat and Nancy both graciously agreed to let me use the photos and put up a Show & Tell of my own.
Asian Teapot quilt made by Pat Besenhofer, quilted by Nancy Gambrel.
Pat writes,
This is so cool. My quilt is indeed based on your book Teapots to Applique 2. I would be thrilled to have my quilt shown on your website. And to think it isn’t even bound yet! I’m glad that Nancy and I spent so much time exchanging ideas about the quilting, I think the frame she did works beautifully with the teapots and the corner diamonds.
I’ve been a tea person all of my life, and I get so tired of patterns featuring coffee, espresso’s and latte’s, etc., so I snatched up this book (as well as the first one) when I saw it at the all-the-quilt-books-in-the-world vendor at the Rosemont, Illinois, Quilt Festival a a year or two ago.
This is the first quilt I’ve made with a definite location in mind; it’s going to go in my kitchen. I’ve been second-guessing myself on the pattern, wondering if I should have placed one or more teapots going the other way, or adding a teacup in one spot for a bit of whimsy. I’m happy that you like it as is.
Pat told me that the quilt was done with fusible raw-edge applique. In order to get the teapots facing the ‘correct’ way, she copied the positive images, then flipped the paper to create a reverse image to draw on the fusible web. Pat, that’s just the way I do it. Nancy stitched down the edges of the fusible applique with clear thread.
A beautiful job, both Pat and Nancy!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
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