Jan
13
Inspired by Tradition
Filed Under A story of another book, Back-basting (no-template), Books, Hand appliqué, History, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | 16 Comments
Last night Brown came and delivered the most beautiful book. I’m holding it in my hands, I see my name on the cover, and I can hardly believe it’s mine!
It’s been just over a year since I was given the green light from That Patchwork Place for this new book. I’ve blogged about the process a little bit from time to time. (If you look at the Categories in the left-hand sidebar you can click on ‘A story of another book’ to read those posts if you like.)
Inspired by Tradition: 50 Appliqué Blocks in 5 Sizes is presented in the same format as Easy Appliqué Blocks, my first book from TPP… 50 blocks shown in a thumbnail library so you can choose your block, and a CD that you stick into your computer, choose any one of 5 sizes, and print right at home! No figuring of percentages or folding, copying, and matching back up crooked sections! We even give reversed versions of each pattern, since you need that for some forms of appliqué.
The designs in this new book are all vintage and old-timey in look and feel, hence the name Inspired by Tradition. The publishers did an amazing job on the pages within… graceful, colorful, and pretty, and so well suited for showing off these blocks with traditional appeal. I couldn’t be happier with how it looks.
In addition to the blocks, there’s a Little Gallery of Ideas to get you thinking. We’ve included the dimensions of all the blocks, sashing, borders, etc. in case you’d like to make something similar. There are also extensive illustrated instructions for back-basting hand appliqué and raw-edge fusible machine appliqué, and a section of appliqué questions and answers compiled from what quilters talk about when they come into my booth at shows.
What I have right now is my advance copy. The book ships to quilt shops March 7. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon now, and at a great price too. And, if you go look at it on Amazon and click on ‘see all product images,’ you can see all 50 of the blocks! That’s right, the publisher uploaded beautiful images of all 50 blocks, stitched by moi!
If you’d like to wait for a copy signed by me, I’ll have it on my website March 7 as well.
Thank you for taking a look at my new baby. I’m just a little bit excited. :)
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Mar
3
Tile Quilt Revival
Filed Under Books, Fabrics, Fusible web, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Needleturn, Prizes | 39 Comments
At the Road to California show in January, I had the excellent fortune to sit at the breakfast table with Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley. Several friends of mine were staying at the hotel, and they were also friends of Carol and Bobbi, so introductions were made–on a first-name basis–and Bobbi was flabbergasted when I asked her, “Are you Bobbi Finley??” That was a very familiar name to me after years of hanging around with active members of the American Quilt Study Group.
Carol and Bobbi had a special exhibit of their tile quilts in the show. Passing these at warp speed as I did the first time, these beautiful pieces have a stained-glass look, but lighter and airier. Bobbi says that a lot of people compare them to stained-glass quilts, but they’re not. Construction-wise, instead of “leading” applied over the raw edges of the shapes, these shapes are finished with turned edges, and the background is left exposed to create the spaces between shapes.
Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form is Carol and Bobbi’s fascinating, educational, and inviting book that reintroduces this “unique and somewhat obscure” form of appliqué quilt.
Tile quilts are explained this way:
Traditional tile quilts… are constructed with small pieces of cotton fabric appliquéd in a random manner to a white background, leaving a narrow space between the pieces; this white space serves as the “grout” between the tiles or “mortar” between the pavers or stones.
The books starts out with a brief history of tile quilts, with great photos showing examples from the past. Then comes a section on how to make a tile quilt, reinterpreted for today. When I read the following, the heavens opened up and I heard the heavenly choir!
The tile quilt technique, with its large and simple shapes, creates an ideal showcase for bold, contemporary fabrics. Interesting, large-scale prints are will suited for the tile pieces. If you’ve ever found yourself admiring some of the daring prints now available but wondering how to use them, a tile quilt is an idea project for putting them to good use.
Hallelujah! I have a tub of fabrics in my stash labeled “Modern” that has been… well… sitting there.
Now my “daring” prints have a destiny!
The techniques used in the book are so simple they’re ingenious! No need to consider seam allowances, to reverse patterns, or to figure out where to place the pieces. Another really great thing about this book is that it has fantastic appliqué instructions… needle-turn by hand, turned-edge machine-appliqué and fusible machine appliqué too, all expertly explained and illustrated. If you’re reading this blog, you probably like appliqué already, but how about this section where the authors say:
Even if you don’t love to appliqué or don’t consider yourself to be skilled at it, chances are you will enjoy the tile quilt process because it is not exacting. The tile-and-grout form is quite forgiving, and the inevitable deviations from strict uniformity in the grout add to the visual interest and appeal of a piece.
How cool is that?? Get your A-word friends to take a look!
After the appliqué information, there are instructions for several projects with full-size pull-out patterns.
Then there’s a Gallery of Contemporary Tile Quilts. These are fun and inspiring to look at as you see what quilters of today are doing to reinvent the form.
C&T Publishing is graciously sponsoring a giveaway of a copy of Tile Quilt Revival! Leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on Friday, March 5, to be in the drawing. U.S. and Canada only, unless you’d be willing to pay the shipping.
Those subscribed by email, click over the the blog itself and scroll to the bottom of the post to leave a comment.
I wanna start a tile quilt right now, but dang I have deadlines!
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Feb
12
The dolls are here!
Filed Under Books, Patterns | 5 Comments
Even though this is the ninth time, it’s still so exciting when I get that call to come pick up cartons of new books, hot off the presses.
Dolls & Dresses to Appliqué is officially in print!
There are a dozen dolls and cute dresses, plus instructions for a sampler quilt to show off the entire collection.
Doll Shoppe by Kay Mackenzie
Dolls & Dresses is available at By Kay Mackenzie. As my Valentine for you, gentle readers, I created a coupon just for readers of this blog and my newsletter (but feel free to tell your friends). If you’d like to appliqué some dolls, or order anything else from the website, put 2OFF in the coupon code area of the shopping cart and you’ll save $2 bucks off your next order! Coupon expires 12/31/10. Plus, the current company special is a free copy of Home: A Heartfelt Nap Quilt with any book order. Such a deal!
Oh yeah… as if pushing out a new book from my company and working on a new book for Martingale weren’t enough, I decided to put out a new pattern too. Meet Sweet!
Available on the Patterns page at the website.
Until next time,
Doin’ the happy new-book dance,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Sep
23
A journey to a book ~ Part 3
Filed Under A journey to a book | Comments Off on A journey to a book ~ Part 3
Being the 3rd in a series of posts about a book proposal, from concept to print.
On December 31, 2006, I retired from my pesky day job. Yay! I battled my way through to the other side, and now my time, not to mention my mental energy, was my own!
By June 2007, the blocks were ready, and it was time to decide which publisher I wanted to submit to first. (Just in case you don’t know this, you cannot send simultaneous proposals. You have go one at a time, and wait until you hear back before submitting to the next one.)
I took a look at my bookshelf and what I saw was that I had more
That Patchwork Place titles than any other. Plus, I had heard very good things from other authors about working with the editorial staff there. I made That Patchwork Place my first choice.
Awhile back I had emailed them to ask for a proposal packet, which came promptly. I also asked what I considered to be a crucial question… did they use Adobe Illustrator? The response was, “Yes, we do,” with a little smiley face. Hot dog, I thought. I can hand them my files and it’ll be such an easy workflow!
I set to work on the manuscript and the proposal. A book of appliqué designs needs some appliqué notes as well, so I thought I would include my “Kay’s Hand Appliqué Tips.” I had a set of notes for both the freezer-paper-on-top method and the back-basting method already. Plus, I figured if the book was actually accepted, I could write up some notes about raw-edge machine appliqué too without too much trouble. I had used all three methods in stitching up the blocks.
I followed the instructions in the proposal guidelines as carefully as I could. The hardest part was filling out the “Author Background Questionnaire.” I had to include a bio, my qualifications for writing the book, my previous writing experience, and gack! personal references. I prevailed upon Tracey Brookshier of Bento Box fame and well known quilter and author Bettina Havig, whom I know through a mutual friend. Both these ladies consented to let me list them as references. Thank you!!
I also had to write a 300-400 word description of my book, then a 20-50 word version for punchier copy, as well as describe the three most important concepts, why I thought quilters would be interested in the book, and what inspired me to write it.
It’s a fact that in 1981 I kissed the Blarney Stone, so I put my best foot forward and wrote up all of the answers to the best of my ability. I pulled the designs, photos of the stitched-up blocks, and the appliqué tips into a draft manuscript. I sent the entire package, including the blocks themselves and a sample quilt, to Martingale & Company (parent company of that Patchwork Place) in July 2007.
Within a week I received an email confirming that the package had arrived. They advised me that the review process could take up to 90 days. Stay tuned!
Kay
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