Jul

18

Sleep Tight


Longtime readers may remember this design from Volume 6 of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks. Now I’ve made it double size and released it as a pattern!

This such a fun one. The piecing is super simple. The bed, the quilt, and the sky are put together in a specific sequence that make the design look intricate, but really… oh so easy.

Sleep Tight is available now from my website or Etsy shop, links below.

Cheers!
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

July 18, 2018

Filed Under Patterns | 3 Comments 

Jun

30

Completed teapot top!

Here they are, the teapots all joined together! I used scraps of the fabrics as small snowball corners on each block, and yardage of my favorite blue print for the borders. It’s already been delivered to the AllStar Quilters for Kids, who will use it as a fundraiser for supplies in support of their worthy efforts. They have amazing volunteer longarmers who do their quilting, and then I’ll put the binding on.

The designs are all from my Teapots to Appliqué Pattern Pack, available from my website or Etsy shop, links are below. I did these by hand but of course you can use whatever method is your favorite!

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

June 30, 2018

Filed Under Show & Tell | 9 Comments 

Jun

28

Teapots 13, 14, 15, 16!

And that’s all of them!! Next time, the finished quilt top!

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

June 28, 2018

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Jun

17

Teapots 9, 10, 11, 12

Getting there!!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

June 17, 2018

Filed Under Show & Tell | 4 Comments 

Jun

8

Teapots 6, 7, 8!

Speeding up now, more on the way!

The designs are in the Teapots to Appliqué Pattern Pack, which can be found on my website or Etsy shop, links below.

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

June 8, 2018

Filed Under Show & Tell | 2 Comments 

May

3

Teapot No. 5!

Enjoying the lovely paisleys in the Ann’s Arbor line.

Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

May 3, 2018

Filed Under Show & Tell | 1 Comment 

Apr

1

Teapot No. 4!

Happy Easter and AFD!!

Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

April 1, 2018

Filed Under Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Leave a Comment 

Mar

26

Teapot No. 3!

This fabric is a pillar print. I fussy-placed the large bouquet in the center of the teapot so you can’t even tell!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

March 26, 2018

Filed Under Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | 2 Comments 

Mar

19

I Heart You

Back on Valentine’s Day, I showed some four-patch hearts that I had been working on. The project is all finished up now!

The hearts are made from four-patches (and the backgrounds too). Gives them a little zing!

The pattern for I Heart You is available in my Etsy shop or on my website, links below.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

March 19, 2018

Filed Under Machine appliqué, Patterns | 4 Comments 

Mar

12

Teapot No. 2!

I’m using a layer cake of the gorgeous Ann’s Arbor line by Minick and Simpson for Moda. It has lots of scrumptious prints for the teapots!

Instagram • kaymacquilts
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

March 12, 2018

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Leave a Comment 

Feb

19

Elegant Vine Appliqué

Over on the Martingale blog Stitch This!, they’ve put up a video showing how master appliquér Yoko Saito stitches the most narrow little stems and vines. The technique is not new, but what astonished me upon watching the video is how she rocks in the first set of stitches all at once. Prepare to be amazed!

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

February 19, 2018

Filed Under Photo tutorials, Stems/vines | 2 Comments 

Feb

14

It’s Heart Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

I’m working on something new. :)

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

February 14, 2018

Filed Under Holiday, Patched appliqué | 1 Comment 

Feb

7

Teapot No. 1!

I’m posting a teapot a week for 16 weeks over on Instagram. Here’s the first one!


Made with Ann’s Arbor fabrics by Minick and Simpson for Moda. I hand appliquéd it using the back-basting method of preparation. It feels great to be going back to hand work for awhile. You can click Back-Basting in the Categories for a visual tutorial of this fabulous method.

Until next time,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram: kaymacquilts

February 7, 2018

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Leave a Comment 

Jan

6

Teapot Appliqué-Along

Greetings fellow appliqué enthusiasts! I’m planning a project this year appliquéing new blocks from my first collection of teapot designs. I’m kind of excited about it!


When the top is done, it’ll be donated to a charitable kids’ quilt group in my guild, to use as a fundraiser for supplies.

A few months ago I joined Instagram and have been having a wonderful time over there. I’ll be “insta-gating” a Teapot Appliqué-Along and posting photos of the new blocks once a week starting Sunday, February 4.


If you’re on Instagram and want to follow along, the account is kaymacquilts. I posted all the info about the #teapotaal on December 29. Would love it if you joined in the fun, and spread the word!

I’ll show the blocks here on the blog as well, so if you’re not on IG you’ll still see them.

Here are the fabrics for my first teapot, from the Ann’s Arbor collection by Minick & Simpson for Moda.

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram = kaymacquilts

January 6, 2018

Filed Under Hand appliqué, Instagram, Show & Tell | Leave a Comment 

Dec

25

8th Annual Cavalcade of Kittens

Another year of foster kittens! Not as many this year, explanation to follow.

We work with the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter to provide foster care for kittens that are not yet old enough to be adopted out. The kitties we take in are big enough to eat on their own, generally five to six weeks old, and we keep them until they’re at least eight weeks, two pounds, and in good body condition. It’s so much fun, and so rewarding to watch them grow from sometimes shy, teensy little klutzes with short stubby legs to sturdy confident pre-teens who sprout legs and run thumping and banging around the house. Then in general they go back to the shelter and get adopted immediately if not sooner.


Our first batch of 2017 were the Z3: Zane, Zack, and Zoë. Zane, of course is the gray tuxedo; Zack is the lynx point in the front, and Zoë is the black-and-white cow cat.

These guys came to us all the way back in January… a rare winter litter. From these photos it looks like all they did was take life easy, but Zane will show you his pouncy side.

Next we had the C3. Hilarious! These were their intake pictures from the shelter. So tiny!

Left to right are Courtney, Chauncey, and Casey.

This is how 3 kittens can share a small cat bed.

Some friends were enchanted with Courtney on my husband’s Facebook and came over for a visit. Chauncey crawled into the guy’s lap and did not leave the entire visit, so he got himself a home too!

In the windowsill of their forever home, they are now Simone and Garfunkel.

Next were what my husband called the Gasoline Alley Gang.

They were two singletons that I took together into foster. The one on the left was called Forklift. Sigh. A guy found her under a forklift and decided to call her Forklift. He made noises about coming back to adopt her so they kept the name. The other cutie had the loudest, readiest purr, so I called her Purr Motor.

They became fast foster friends.

Next up were Cassie, Kirby, and Parker.

I called Parker “Lord Buffington Crankypants of FluffyCat Manor” because he was a very grumpy, growly little man. Come to find out, it was because he didn’t feel well.

We then entered into one of the scary scenarios that every foster home takes on as a risk. Parker was acting ill and tested positive for panleukopenia. That’s a bad disease for kittens to get and honestly it’s often fatal.

BUT my boy was kind to me, the little dear, and SURVIVED.

Panleukopenia is a strong virus with no cure, only supportive care. Once he made it through the first night, the shelter vet and I nursed Parker back to health, and when he recovered he was the sweetest, most affectionate and loving little kitten ever! Maybe it was all that syringe feeding in my lap…

The other two never got sick at all, thank goodness! Here are Cassie and Kirby, with their I’ve-never-seen-that-before-in-my-life eyes on.

Once Parker was fully recovered, they could all go back to the shelter (after a quick bath) for regular adoption. There are no long-term effects from the disease, in fact now he has a built-in lifetime immunity!

Cassie had caught the eye of another friend via Facebook, and home she went to live with a couple of our former graduates!

I’m flyyyying!

However, the Mackenzie Finishing School for Felines was then out of commission. Panleukopenia is highly contagious and lives in the environment for a long time. Some serious measures were going to have to be taken before we could receive kittens again. It was quite a process. Let’s just say, I either threw it out or bleached the living daylights out of it. :)

Finally, months later, we were once again kitten-approved, and I brought home one very shy snowshoe singleton and two completely social tabby kitties from another litter to be her friends.

Marshmallow, the snowshoe Siamese mix, had been alone at the shelter for a period of time before coming into foster care. She was scared and undersocialized, both towards people and other kittens.

Scurry and Chase, on the other hand, were completely relaxed and friendly. They were from a litter of five so they were used to being around other kittens, and did not think anything of it when Marshmallow acted all grumpy and growly the first day. By the second day, she started to play with them. By the third day, she had forgotten all about it and was part of the crowd, playing and tussling as if she’d known them all her life. It was both hilarious and very touching to watch the transition.

In addition to learning how to be a kitten, Marshmallow learned that humans are pretty okay too. She was flighty, but it got so that we could go right up to her when she was relaxing, pet her, and be rewarded with a loud purr. She never quite overcame her flight reflex when she was up and about, though, so I had the shelter put an advisory in her record that her adopters would need to be patient. It didn’t take long before both she and Scurry had forever homes.

Chase has a different story. I noticed the first time he was let out of the kitty hotel that he went right up to Daisy and made friends. Did you know that kitten ears are delicious? Chase had the cleanest ears in town.

I texted the photo to one of the shelter’s vet techs, who was in the market for a kitten for her daughter. “That’s a dog-lovin’ one, just sayin,” was the caption. They have two big, sweet dogs in their family and also a couple cats.

It just so happened that Chase made friends with our large resident cat as well!

My dastardly plan worked! Chase is now a part of their family, He fits in like peanut butter and jelly, and they are completely in love with him.

Which brings us to our current foster, Chantelle. She came into the shelter with a broken leg but you would never know it now. After several weeks of rest the vet sent her home with me for some further recuperation time. Now she runs, jumps, plays… she is a busy kitten!

One does occasionally have to charge up one’s batteries.

Another volunteer originally named her Chantrelle, but I was like, who would name a cat after a mushroom? So they took the R out. Chantelle started to sound more and more familiar… then I remembered! Ricky Tims’ Chantelle Tulips! If I recall the story somewhat correctly, he was teaching in England and one of the students mistook his American southern accented “Show and Tell” for Chantelle! Ever since then he has called his “Caveman Style” tulips Chantelle Tulips.

And Chantelle is starting to be more and more of a “caveman kitty!” As her confidence grows, so does her feistiness! She loves the Christmas tree… taking the ornaments off, climbing the branches, lurking underneath to jump out on Daisy or Max. She’ll be with us for a couple more days, then back to the shelter where someone will give themselves a furry post-Christmas gift!

Very happy holidays to you and yours!
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

December 25, 2017

Filed Under Kittens Off Topic | 12 Comments 

Dec

12

Soft ornaments!

I had a table at a holiday gift fair last weekend. There were a few handmade Christmas ornaments left over.

I put them up in my Instagram Instashop. If you’re on Instagram, the account is kaymacquilts.instashop. Or, here’s a link to the desktop version: www.instagram.com/kaymacquilts.instashop .

If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can just email me if you see something you like. kay at kaymackezie dot com.

Hope you are enjoying this holiday time!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

December 12, 2017

Filed Under Holiday | Leave a Comment 

Nov

14

Dots and Dashes

The new issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks hits the newsstands today. Here’s my block!

dots-dashes

I think it’s my 14th time being in the magazine. Super fun!!

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

November 14, 2017

Filed Under Magazines | 2 Comments 

Nov

11

Once again secure

Greetings fellow appliqué enthusiasts! My IT guy has investigated the blog, updated everything, and installed extra security measures. Thank you Jordan Iversen!!!

Rest assured that the long, strange post did not come from me and that things are back in order.

A little holiday eye candy from the Christmas to Appliqué Pattern Pack.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

November 11, 2017

Filed Under Holiday | Leave a Comment 

Nov

10

Hacked!

I apologize for the unauthorized post that you have recently received if you are subscribed by email. I have removed the post and also what I hope is the fake admin account of the hacker. I will continue to keep an eye on things.

Again, my apologies. It’s not the first time the site has been hacked, and I’ll consult my IT professional.

Kay

November 10, 2017

Filed Under Admin notes | 2 Comments 

Oct

25

More Than One Hat

As I was working on this little quilt, I was thinking about the expression “wearing many hats,” as in serving many functions in life. We all wear many hats in the course of our busy lives.

hats-only
In my home life, I’m a domestic engineer, chief cook (but thankfully not bottle washer), dog cuddler/care overseer, cat lap provider/care overseer, foster kitten mom, vet clinic assistant, quilter, and the list goes on.

In my professional life, I’m a designer, quiltmaker, illustrator, writer, page layout, typographer, editor, publisher, marketing department, paperwork shuffler, accountant, stock room supervisor, fulfillment services, the entire packing and shipping department. For my booth at shows I’m the schlepper, setter upper, public relations, the information desk, educational department, sales representative, customer service, cashier, and whatever else I need to be.

I called this quilt More Than One Hat to represent all the hats that each one of us wears every day. I know your list is just as long as mine. :) How many will you wear today? Here’s hoping they are your favorites!

Pattern available in the Etsy shop or the website, links below!
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

October 25, 2017

Filed Under Patterns | 3 Comments 

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