Jul

18

Sleep Tight

Filed Under Patterns | 3 Comments


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

Mar

19

I Heart You

Filed Under Machine appliqué, Patterns | 4 Comments

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

Oct

25

More Than One Hat

Filed Under Patterns | 3 Comments

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

Jul

7

Oh how pretty!!

Filed Under Patterns | Comments Off on Oh how pretty!!

Becky Goldsmith, who is one-half of the Piece o’ Cake team, has a new pattern booklet coming out soon from C&T.

unicorn-quilt

Swoon!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Jun

28

A new venture!

Filed Under Patterns, Piecing | Comments Off on A new venture!

All the way back in January, I received a call for designers to participate in Checker Distributor’s new pattern company, Cut Loose Press.

CLP takes a new approach to pattern publishing… it put out unique, affordable quilt and project patterns geared toward beginning and intermediate quilters. Each pattern, printed both sides on one 8½x11 page of heavy duty cardstock, also introduces quilters to new tools and notions that will help them with their project and with their quilting in general.

It took me awhile, but I finally got my first design all the way through the process and it’s available now!

Now don’t fall over in shock, but this one has no appliqué! Yes, I can piece when I want to!

Introducing Buttonton Square!

buttonton-square-web

I had a blast making this classic design using the good old-fashioned square-in-square block. I used Civil War-type fabrics together with shirtings for this version, but it would look great in any number of other fabric choices. And since I’ve been mini-obsessed with buttons lately, I added light ones on the colored fabrics and colored ones on the light fabrics. It was a lot of fun.

What made this project even nicer to construct was that I used a specialty tool to make the blocks, the Creative Grids Square On Square Trim Tool. It was such a relief when all the blocks came out the same size and with no points chopped off.

square-square-ruler

The pattern and the ruler are both available in my Etsy shop, as well as the “antique white” buttons that I used plus some embroidery needles for sewing on the buttons with embroidery thread.

Midyear kitten fix:

double-kilroy-sm

Until next time, with some news about another new venture!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Apr

16

AVQ spruces things up!

Filed Under Patterns, Quilt shows | 3 Comments

The Amador Valley Quilt Guild, based in Pleasanton, California, used to have its biennial show at the fairgrounds. Now they’re having it at a spiffy new location in nearby Livermore.

Does Livermore ring a bell? Yes, it is the home of Alex Anderson! And she’s giving two talks on Sunday!

Screen Shot 2017-04-10 at 9.31.53 AM

The show is this coming weekend, April 22-23, at the Robert Livermore Community Center. I’ll be there in my vendor booth in the Ballroom.

If you ever wondered, Robert Livermore was a Brit who jumped ship in 1822 and eventually became an influential landowner who helped shape California. He’s also the Livermore part of the Lawrence Livermore national research facility, and there’s an element named livermorium!

I don’t have any patterns celebrating the Periodic Chart of the Elements, but I do have several new patterns that I haven’t been able to show off due to the temperamental nature of the blogosphere. Here’s one:

cluck-image

Hope to see you at the show!

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Oct

1

New Studio!

Filed Under Patterns | 4 Comments

No, I do not have a new quilting studio. Just the same cozy little one where I probably feel the most at home of anywhere in the world.

But, I did finish my new Studio banner. I’ve made several versions of this project and it’s always a fun and engaging process putting the scraps and strips together into patchwork compositions. I’ve now updated the pattern cover.

newstudio-cover-1000

It’s available from my new Square shop, or Etsy if you prefer. The links to both are at the bottom of the post. Here’s a 10% off coupon if you’re interested: Use the code THANKS at checkout. (It’ll be good on your whole order.)

Oh, and if you already ordered this pattern recently I’ll be sending you a copy of the new cover.

Now that that’s done, I’ll be gearing up for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in about two weeks time. Monster show, love it!! There’s no football game at the nearby stadium this year so everything should be smooooth sailing.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Sep

12

Waitin’ on polka dots

Filed Under Patched appliqué, Patterns | Comments Off on Waitin’ on polka dots

I’m working on a new version of my Studio banner.

studio-image

I absolutely love the black, white, and red version that was in Scrap-Appliqué Playground, but to be honest it looks better in person than it does reduced and printed on a pattern cover. The scraps with the white background seem to fall away and blend into the background too much at a small size.

This time I gravitated toward my beloved palette of red and blue with a touch of green. It’s gonna pop a lot more on the pattern cover!

new-studio

I’ve got my scraps sewn together and the letters cut out. The rectangles will compose the border. Right now I’m just waiting on some fabric that I ordered for the background. You see, I’m slightly obsessed with polka dotted backgrounds, but when I dug through my stash I found out that I had used all the pieces until there wasn’t a hunk big enough! As soon as the fabric arrives, I’ll be ready to go.

In the meantime, my summer hiatus is over and I’m headed to Sonora, California, this weekend for the Sierra Quilt Guild’s show. I really enjoy this annual trip up to gold country.

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

Jul

15

Cluck & Co.

Filed Under Patterns, Photo tutorials | 3 Comments

I’ve been enjoying the ‘black and white and red all over’ color scheme a lot lately. It’s the first thing I thought of when I started developing my new chicken pattern.

You may think of white chickens, or Rhode Island Reds, but I was inspired by a short story I once read about “Dominikers” or black-and-white Dominique chickens.

dominique

cluck-front-cover

Here’s my new pattern, Cluck & Co. Four fancy chicks are stepping out in style!

I used raw-edge fusible machine appliqué for my version. For a refresher on that method, here’s a link to my Raw-Edge Fusible Demo. Of course you can always use your own method if you favor another one. It’s all good!

Another trick that I pulled out of the bag for this one was the double-layer strategy for the heads, to avoid shadow-through when putting light over dark. Just fuse two layers of light fabric together, then use this composed fabric just like the others in your project.

Hope you are enjoying your summer! I have a couple months off from shows and have been knee-deep in foster kittens!

abby-avery

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

Apr

27

Studio

Filed Under Patterns | 1 Comment

In my booth at shows, one of the most universally popular and pattern-requested quilts has been “Studio.”

studio-image

I always say that any sewing room or little nook can be a studio, if you only hang up a sign!

Studio was one of the projects from my book Scrap-Appliqué Playground. If you have that book, then you have this pattern. If not, and you’ve admired the quilt at shows, the pattern is finally here!

studio-front-cover

This is such a fun one. Putting scraps together and then cutting shapes out of them adds a little twinkle to appliqué. And, gentle quilter, you may just have scraps… I mean just possibly… I venture to say it’s not out of the realm of probability… but even if you want to use fabric that has never been cut into, it’s okay! You have permission!

The Studio pattern is available over on my website, or if you like, from my Etsy Shop.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Apr

20

Lovely Hearts

Filed Under Patterns | Comments Off on Lovely Hearts

Two of my books with Martingale have gone out of print. That’s bittersweet. Sad face, there aren’t any more copies of the books. Glad face, the rights have reverted to me and I can now develop and offer patterns using the designs! :)

The very first pattern that I worked on was the “Love” block from Easy Appliqué Blocks. It’s one of my favorite blocks from the book so it was an easy choice to go first.

Here’s the new pattern, Lovely Hearts.

lh-cover-website

It’s a 16 x 16 mini-quilt that can go up on any little wall space, proclaiming your affection for the world’s best emotion. I used raw-edge fusible machine appliqué, but of course you can use your own favorite method.

Until next time, with more!
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Feb

1

Darcy Ashton for real!

Filed Under Designers, Patterns | 1 Comment

While I was on the road to Road to California, I got an email from my longtime friend, fellow designer and publisher Darcy Ashton. If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know how much I admire Darcy’s designs. In addition, for years and years she has been to me a boon companion, consultant, source of support and freely given information, in short a wonderful mentor.

Now I find out that Darcy will be at the show as well! I’m so surprised and delighted! Darcy hails from Oklahoma and this is her first trip west of the Rockies. She’s with the Anna’s Awesome Appliqué Designs booth. Anna digitizes designs so that you can stitch them in the hoop if you have one of those nifty embroidery machines.

I couldn’t wait to see Darcy in person!

me-n-darcyMe ‘n Darcy.

It was thoroughly wonderful to get a chance to meet, greet, sit down, and chat in person. At a show like this, you have to steal the minutes, but we visited as much as we could, and I had a chance to look around Anna’s booth.

owl-quiltThe quilt behind the two of us is “Owls With Attitude,” featuring designs from Darcy’s newest book, Outstanding Owls for Appliqué. I wrote about the book in September.

bunniesI also spied some of Darcy’s other animals, including her famous bunnies and the Darling Little Dogs.

Anna works with other designers to digitize their designs.

talaveraFiesta de Talavera, designed by J. Michelle Watts based on Mexican hand-painted tiles.

pillowThe incredible Jacobean appliqué of the late great Pat Campbell.

I hope Darcy had a great time in California and comes back soon!!

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

Jan

2

New year, new pattern!

Filed Under Fusible web, Patterns, Photo tutorials | 1 Comment

A very happy new year to you! Hope you’re warm and safe, wherever you may be.

I finished a new pattern!

rose-wreath-cover-1000

Four appliqué Rose Wreath blocks, set on point, framed and sashed with the gorgeous prints of your choice. It’s a lovely table runner, or a banner!

I used fusible machine appliqué for the blocks. Here’s a link to a photo tutorial on the method.

Raw-edge Fusible Demo

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

Nov

20

Considering the Stash

Filed Under Patterns | 2 Comments

I made a new version of Love My Stash!

Love My Stash by Kay Mackenzie

It’s really is made 100% from my stash. Can you tell I love blue and red and ivory, florals and toiles and polka dots??

I’ve updated the cover of the pattern and also the notecards.

Speaking of the stash, here’s a blast from the past involving two big kittens and their midnight tippytoe excursion.

normal-stash

And, a Fabric Surprise filmed by the DH!

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

Oct

3

Teapots from the first collection

Filed Under Patterns | 2 Comments

When my first teapots book Teapots to Appliqué went out of print, I created a whole new set of designs and published Teapots 2 to Appliqué. T2 is now in its fifth printing! Yay!

I didn’t want those first 16 teapots to go away, so I put out a pattern pack that includes all the designs plus the sampler quilt pattern, but no additives, preservatives, or appliqué instructions… use your favorite method.


Going a step further, over the summer I produced individual downloadable versions of the first collection. They’re available over on Etsy!


Here’s an example of what they look like!

To see all the single-block downloadables, head on over to the Appliqué Block section of my Etsy shop. (You’ll also see the individual blocks from Baskets to Appliqué.)

To see the 16-block pattern packs that are printed on good ol’ paper, click over to the Quilting Patterns section at Etsy.

Happy teatime!
Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Aug

27

Creatures great and small!

Filed Under Patterns | 5 Comments

I’ve got a couple new patterns!

These were so much fun to work on. I used fusible appliqué to tell these little stories, but of course you can use whatever method you like. They’re are up on my website now, along with all the others, on the Patterns page.


Something wonderful coming soon to the blog from the inestimable Darcy Ashton!

Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Jul

31

Summer hiatus

Filed Under Patterns | 1 Comment

Got a couple months now with no shows. I consider this type of stretch a hiatus, and I make a long list of things to work on. Things get done and crossed of the list (I’m a scribbler), then more stuff gets added on, it’s always a work in progress, and it ends up looking like this.

Good progress!!

One of the things on my list was to publish Spice Pinks. I wrote about this project back in April, when the May/June issue of Quiltmaker came out.

Spice Pinks is an old block that I first saw 25 years ago when I signed up for my Beginning Quilting class. It was included in the sampler we were going to make, and I was captivated. When I started the class, I was slightly disappointed to find out that another block had been substituted. But I never forgot Spice Pinks, and here’s my version of it!

A little appliqué reimagining eliminates curved piecing, and a non-traditional palette gives it a modern zing. Of course you can make it with any colors you like!

If you missed it in the magazine, the pattern is now available on my website, on the Patterns page.

More stuff to come from The List!

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

May

29

Etsy Shop Grand Opening!

Filed Under Admin notes, Patterns | Comments Off on Etsy Shop Grand Opening!

I’ve been working hard on my Etsy Shop!

I just added a new section, Appliqué Blocks. The section contains individual downloadable blocks from my out-of-print book Baskets to Appliqué.

Here’s the Apple Basket
for example.

All 16 basket blocks are available individually for instant download. You can pick your favorites to use in the project of your choice! Use the appliqué method of your choice.

Of course, if you’d rather have all 16 basket blocks in printed form, you can always get the Baskets to Appliqué Pattern Pack from the Appliqué Patterns section.

To celebrate all the work I’ve done in getting the Etsy Shop up and running, I’m holding a Grand Opening Celebration!

Coupon! Coupon!

Use the following coupon code during checkout to receive $5 off an order of $10 or more, before tax and shipping.

GRAND

Have fun shopping! You’ll find my books and patterns, tools and supplies, beautiful button magnets, and a few other fun things I’ve made.

The coupon expires Saturday, June 6, at midnight. Feel free to share with your friends!

Thank you so much!
Kay
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Apr

6

New stuff!

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Patterns | 2 Comments

I’ve been working on stuff. Well, I’m always working on stuff, and sometimes I have something to show for it. :)


A new pattern! I pulled hunks and scraps out of my stash, anything I liked, and put them all together for this important quilter’s statement piece. Your hunks and scraps will be completely different than mine, but your quilt will make the same proud pronouncement.

Also, I made a stand-alone set of instructions for back-basting.


This illustrated guide includes the 9″ Heart and Flower practice block, illustrated back-basting instructions, hand stitching tips, and my guide to points and notches.

Note: If you have Teapots 2 to Appliqué or Inspired by Tradition, you have these instructions built-in.

This weekend I’ll be at the show put on the the Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County in Concord (say that 10 times fast). Hope to see you there if you’re in the area!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Mar

22

My Little Orange Kitten

Filed Under Patterns | 2 Comments

No, I did not get another kitten LOL (though kitten season is beginning and I should have new fosters soon).

No, the fabulous Darcy Ashton got a new kitten, and made the most amazing pattern!

Pumpkin Jr., side-by-side with his fabric rendition.

Darcy is famous for her blanket-stitched appliqués, and this is an example of her more realistic work. I’m blown away.

“My Little Orange Kitten” is available as an instant download at Darcy’s Etsy Shop.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Next Page →