I’m resting up from a week in Long Beach. The trip went well despite a dead battery on the way down. I handled it (I am woman, etc.) and after that everything went as planned, within normal operating parameters.

You may remember me posting about some random hunks of patchwork I had dug out of the UFO pile.

I had an idea! I thought of the fusible interfacing method for turned-edge appliqué! I felt this was a natural for making something appliqué with all those seams.

I marked the hearts on the smooth size of the interfacing and pinned in place over the right side of the patchwork.

patchy1

I did a whole tutorial on this method over at the Show & Tell Center. Check out The Anatomy of a Lollipop for a refresher.

Shortened up the stitch length a bit and sewed all the way around each shape, on the drawn line.

patchy2

Cut out the hearts, leaving a 1/8″ seam allowance. Clipped the notches.

patchy3

Cut a slit in the interfacing and turned the hearts. A quick run along the seam with a craft stick and a poke at the tip with a stylus and that’s it! They look like a stack of fluffy pancakes.

patchy4

I know from making gobs and buckets of lollipops that these will smooth out and flatten when they’re fused to their backgrounds.patchy5

I thought I was now done with those hunks of patchwork. However, as the project went along, I found myself pulling the bigger scraps back out of the trash. Will this never end!!!?

patchy6

Now what am I going to do with the hearts? Hmmm…

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Pup Art by Nancy S. Brown A couple years ago I put up a post about Pup Art, one of Nancy Brown’s quilts.

The Quilt Show has posted a whole slideshow of Nancy’s work. OMG you have got to go and see this. It will make you smile.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

P.S. I’m headed to Long Beach tomorrow for the summer edition of International Quilt Festival. Hope to see some of you there!

Interview with the Winterthur

Filed Under History, Magazines | Comments Off on Interview with the Winterthur

Collectors Weekly recently published an in-depth interview with Linda Eaton, textiles curator at the Winterthur museum in Delaware.

The interview includes lots of information about the museum and about quilt history, and shows some beautiful examples of appliquéd quilts from the past. Linda explains what quilts from the 18th and 19th centuries tell us about the lives of the American women who made them.

Do you have old quilts? Collectors Weekly also wanted me to let you know that they’ve started a Quilt Show & Tell page for collectors to share pictures and stories of items in their collections.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The height of summer seems like a great time to enjoy a book about rose quilts. A Dozen Roses by Jennifer Rounds and Catherine Comys offers a beautiful blooming set of twelve projects including bed quilts, wall quilts, pillows, and shams, using appliqué, piecing, knitting, and even velveteen! So many ways to bring a bouquet into your creative life.

dozen-roses

I was particularly intrigued to read about how Jennifer embellished a purchased cotton matelassé coverlet with beautiful sprays of red roses. The method she used is prepared-edge faced appliqué, which she steps you through in detail, and which gives a bit of dimension to the appliqué pieces.

matelasse

Both the coverlet and the method were new ideas to me so of course I filed them away in my appliqué bag of tricks forthwith! Besides faced appliqué, there’s information on split leaves and inset leaves, folded bias strips, and folded-petal roses.

Martingale & Company / That Patchwork Place has provided a copy to give away, so if you’d like to bring a little rose culture into your quilting, leave a comment by 7:00 p.m. California time on Sunday, July 11. U.S. and Canada only, please (unless you’ll pay the shipping). If you’re subscribed by email, click over to the blog itself and scroll to the bottom of the post to leave a comment and enter the drawing.

Until next time,
Happy gardening!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie