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

Teapots 13, 14, 15, 16!

Filed Under Show & Tell | Comments Off on 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

Getting there!!

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

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

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

Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

Teapot No. 4!

Filed Under Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Comments Off on Teapot No. 4!

Happy Easter and AFD!!

Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram • kaymacquilts

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

Teapot No. 2!

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Comments Off on 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

Teapot No. 1!

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Comments Off on 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

Teapot Appliqué-Along

Filed Under Hand appliqué, Instagram, Show & Tell | Comments Off on 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

I recently received an order for my book Teapots 2 to Appliqué from a quilter living in New Zealand. She told me she had see a quilt made from the designs in a show in Orewa.

I was intrigued!! I asked her for a little more information, and she sent me a photo of the gorgeous quilt. It’s made with all Liberty fabrics!!

liberty-tpots-450

liberty-label

The Hibiscus Coast Quilters of Whangaparaoa, New Zealand, put me in touch with the maker, Julie Davis. Julie shared the following about her project.

“I would be very happy for you to use my quilt on your blog. It is such a lovely pattern and I thoroughly enjoyed hand appliquéing the teapots. The Liberty fabrics I purchased from a Liberty club at my regular quilting shop. There were six different Liberty fabrics in a pack for six months. I couldn’t wait out the six months so I purchased them altogether. I am going to use this as a tablecloth when I have a High Tea for my quilting friends.”

Those are some lucky friends! Thank you Julie, for allowing me to share, and I’m so glad you had a good time with the designs. And thank you Tish for letting me know about the beautiful quilt. Will look forward to seeing your teapot creations as well!

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Well quilting friends, the blog was down for awhile there, and beyond my capacity to fix it. But then, our ISP moved our websites to a brand-new server, the blog updated itself when I wasn’t looking, and presto! It works again!

I’d like to celebrate by presenting a fabulous Show and Tell. I received the following message from Leslie Duran of Rocklin, California.

“Hi Kay! I met you at the Road to CA quilt show, and showed you my finished project using your Studio pattern from Scrap-Appliqué Playground. Here are my photos. Feel free to share and post if you would like! It was a fun pattern, and I really enjoy how it turned out. I see it everyday in my office/sewing room.”

duran1

duran2

duran3

How fun! I really enjoy this fresh, modern version, with the linen-y background. It’s perfect in its space. Leslie, thank you so much for taking the time to share. It’s moments like this that lend me the support that all designers need in order to carry on.

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Show & Tell!

There’s an outreach group within my quilt guild, The Allstar Quilters for Kids, who meet every two weeks and make cheery snuggle quilts for kids in need in our community. I’m sort of an honorary member; I don’t regularly attend the sew-ins, but I do try to support them however I can.

One of the members sent out a call for help making blocks for a quilt that will be used as a fundraiser for the group. I took a couple that had appliqué… because… well, you know :).

Here are my blocks, hot off the needle!

star-block

bunny-block

They’re part of the Spring Garden Sampler Quilt designed by Lydia Quigley, offered as a block-of-the-month by many quilt shops. Here’s one, Stitchin’ Heaven.

Can’t wait to see the whole quilt! It will most likely be part of the quilt auction that takes place during our guild’s annual quilt show in February.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Many thanks to those who enjoyed my musings on the holes in a button. If I get any more with fascinating hole configurations, I’ll be sure to share.

I’ve spent some time moving my “Author’s Gallery” from the old website over to the blog. Along the way I found some more projects and stuck them in there too. It was a fun trip down memory lane for me.

blast-past

If you’d like to take a look at my personal projects, show quilts, and published quilts, please visit the new “Author’s Gallery” page here at All About Appliqué.

If you’re subscribed by email or on a blog reader, you’ll need to click over to the blog itself on the internet. The tab is in the navigation bar at the top. Or, here’s a direct link to the Gallery page.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Christmas Sweater finds a home!

Filed Under Holiday, Show & Tell | Comments Off on Christmas Sweater finds a home!

A year ago, I put up a post entitled, “Anybody want this block?”

ugly-xmas

It was my 100 Blocks reject, Ugly Christmas Sweater.

I am so grateful to those of you who stepped up and said you would be willing to give this poor orphan a home. The randomly drawn winner was Beverly Schueneman.

Recently I received the following message from Beverly:

Dear Kay,

I have not forgotten you and your cute sweater block.

I had planned to be finished for Xmas, but I had to have surgery on my right hand on Nov. 9. That was the end of sewing for me. I wore a cast until the day before Xmas eve.

As of today the Christmas quilt has been completely quilted. Each block is one of your creations from your book. I have added buttons and bears, so it is unique. Sort of scrappy. And of course, the sweater block takes up most of the space. You had signed my book, so I copied that and placed it under the quilt.

Well, I just wanted you to know I had not forgotten my promise to turn it into a quilt.

Sincerely,
Beverly Schueneman

bev-mainHere’s Beverly’s creation!

How fun! I see designs from my book A Merry Little Christmas to Appliqué, and I even see a little doggy from another book of mine, Home.

In the Ugly Christmas Sweater tradition, Beverly has added embellishments to enhance each design.

joy

And how very cool that she copied my signature and incorporated it into the quilt! That is just so sweet!

stockings

Thank you, Beverly, for giving this block a lasting life. Glad your hand is better, and may your family enjoy the quilt next Christmas and many more to come.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

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

At a recent quilt show, Maryann Maiorana stopped by and told me about a banner she had made using the Studio pattern from Scrap-Appliqué Playground. Maryann enlarged the size of the project to hang in a big communal sewing space that is actually known as “the studio.” :)

Maryann chose to keep this one simpler by using just one fabric for the letters in this bright and cheerful version. I told her, “I always say, you can make any little sewing room or nook into a studio, if you only hang up a sign. Your studio was always a studio, and now it is officially proclaimed!”

At another show, I met fellow appliqué enthusiast Louisa Postier, who showed me the sweetest little wall quilt that she made using one of my blocks.

louisa-berries
Louisa added heart-shaped buttons to the stems! Adorable! They look like hearts that are just about to bloom. And the border fabric is perfect.

Heartberries is one of the designs in my book Growing Hearts to Appliqué.

Thank you, Maryann and Louisa, for taking the trouble to stop by and show me your projects. I love seeing what other quilters do with my designs.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

P.S. Another personal Show & Tell: my little teddy bear dog.

Whew! It’s been awhile. I was gone for quilt shows back to back… first a guild show in Modesto, then home one day and on the road to Road. Road to California in SoCal is a quilt show and conference on steroids. What fun to be there and experience the excitement and positive energy of 35,000 quilters gathered in one spot to enjoy their common interest. On the way home I visited the fabulous Cathy for our annual schmooze.

Before I left for Modesto I was able to finish the super secret piecing project, which I can now reveal!

Last fall, my super smart nephew Stephen, just finishing his master’s at Stanford, expressed that he would like to give his treasured girlfriend a quilt, something on an oceanic theme, since in her studies she does things like get on a cutter and sail to Antarctica with other students to do research on the waters and sea life there.

Fish quilts. I’ve seen tons of them, I admire them, but to be honest they are not in my wheelhouse. My brain was spinning. But this kid is the nicest guy in the world and never asked me for anything in his life, so I was determined to make it work. Instead of literal fish or sharks or other watery fauna, I tried to think of ocean-related patterns. At first I thought of Storm at Sea, but I get kind of seasick looking at Storm at Sea. Then I thought, Storm at Sea is based on Ocean Waves, and I like Ocean Waves! I pitched the design and coloration to Stephen, who approved it enthusiastically.

I knew I would be seeing Tammy, the dyemistress of Always Unique Hand-Dyed Fabrics, at my next show, so I pitched that type of fabric. I felt that the use of hand dyes would bring the quilt more toward the modern aesthetic for this young ‘un. Again, a hearty approval.

The Always Unique booth

I found the perfect tutorial to make the quilt in exactly the size needed… queen size. Yes people I said queen size. I was putting on my big-girl panties for this one. Thank you *so much* Janet Wickell for posting the Free Ocean Waves Quilt Pattern on about.com.

I read the pattern, studied the pattern, double checked the pattern, made a list. Invaded Tammy’s booth, picked out the colors I liked, secured the fabric for the project. My buddy Alicia the Batty Lady was at the show too. She’s a Wonderfil rep, so I asked her what thread I could use for general piecing. (The DMC I use is too light for sewing a bed quilt.) Alicia led me right to the Tutti.

The Batty Lady booth

Okay, got the pattern, got the fabric, got the thread. When I got home I took a deep breath and started cutting squares.

It was right about this time that Stephen emailed to say that he would somehow like to help with the quilt, if there was a way he could do it without any trips to the emergency room. I was flabbergasted and very pleased. How many computer science grad students want to help with a sewing project? He came down to the house, and I set him and the DH up with marking stations. They sat and marked squares to be sewn into half-square triangles, whilst visiting with Grandpa from back east who just happened to be visiting at the same time. Whew. That was some weekend.

So now I’m making half-square triangle units by the hundreds. There are to be exact 800 of them in the quilt. I did say 800 in case your eyes didn’t believe it. Dana and I sat and marked again one night, and I finally got them all sewn, cut apart, pressed, and trimmed to accurate size.

Stephen wants to help some more. Awesome! I threw a block party. I sewed a sample block, set up a couple of my booth tables in the living room, laid out all the units and triangles, and told them to have at it. They laid out (18) 20-inch blocks on top of taped-together cardboard, with pieces of ancient humongo sketch paper that had been behind my desk for 15 years in between. Now I could pick up the blocks and move them upstairs to the studio.

The beloved nephew.

The boys hard at work in the salt mines.

The fabric is so beautiful.

The background fabric is not actually white… it’s a very pale misty grey, which I thought was oceany. Now I commenced a period of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, sewing a block or a block and a half a day, until hallalujah! they were all done and pressed. Dana and I laid them out on the floor.

It only took one more day to sew the blocks into a quilt top, 80 x 100, and it was ready to go to the quilter.

After consulting with my friends, I took it to Barbara Heno in Gilroy, California. Stephen and I chose a panto called Waterworld to go with the watery theme. Barbara had the quilt done for me in just a few days, and it came out exactly how I wanted, with big overall swirls and eddies.

I bound it in the same mist grey to give it a more modern-y look.

Barbara doesn’t have a website but if you’d like contact info, just shoot me an email.

I left for Modesto with Dana in charge of the quilt transfer. Stephen came that night and took it away, very pleased with his super secret surprise.

Along with the quilt went a small bottle of Synthrapol that Tammy gave me for the initial washing.

Sigh. I did it ya’ll. I, the appliqué enthusiast and specialist who makes wall quilts, I pieced a queen size Ocean Waves quilt. Boom!

Next time, back to appliqué and the critter who popped into my head and wouldn’t go away.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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

In Sonora over the weekend, Susan Florez mentioned to me that she had a dollhouse quilt in the show. I went to take a look, and OMG!

Pocket Dollhouse Quilt by Susan Florez

What a dollhouse wonderland! It’s the kind of quilt where you just stand there and look at every square inch of it, discovering delightful details at every turn.

The sewing room.

The kitchen.

The sweet girly bedroom. Wish mine looked like that.

I loved this little domestic microcosm. Here are links to the information on the label.

Designed by Jan Leifson for The Apron Lady Designs and purchased at Bearly Quilting (in Sonora).

What lucky kids!! Congratulations, Susan, on a true heirloom.

This weekend, I’ll be in Brentwood (the one in northern California, not the one near UCLA) for the Delta Quilters show.

Back one day, then headed to Palm Springs for the brand-new Quiltfest Oasis, put on by the same folks as PIQF.

See you when I’ve got time to breathe! :)
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Next Page →