The books starts out by with beautiful photographs of Mexican pottery and architecture. As Cheryl says, “Inspiration for quilt designs can be found everywhere,” and what a great idea to translate these into quilt patterns, especially since some of the tiles have corner motifs that result in a secondary design when blocks are put together. Very quilty!

Cheryl shares information about the appliqué method that she used for the motifs in the book, raw-edge fusible appliqué sewn by machine. There’s also a bit of foundation paper piecing instruction for when that’s needed, then a whole section on quilt construction and finishing. Then we’re on to 10 glorious decorative projects reflecting the beauty of Talavera ceramic tiles. There are quilts, placemats, a bed runner, and more. Here are just a few.

Frida's Flowers

Puebla Posies

Floral Fiesta place mat. So cute!

So vibrant! I love folk art. Cheryl helps you translate the solid colors of tilework into lively quilt designs using the array of fabrics at our disposal today.

Courtesy of That Patchwork Place, I have a copy to give away in a drawing. If you’d like a chance to win Quilt Fiesta, leave a comment on this post before 7:00 p.m. California time on Friday, February 10.

The fine print: Open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to your email feed; instead, click over the blog itself and leave your comment at the bottom of the post. Good luck!

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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I’m SO excited to announce a new project! I’ve teamed up with author Terri Thayer, actually she’s the one that approached me with the project over a year ago. She’s writing an 8 month series of stories called Tales of the Quilt Shop, and I’m creating an applique project to go along with it called Sugarplums.

You have GOT to go and take a look at the first block on Holly’s Blog Sprinkles of Thought. If there were anything cuter it wouldn’t be allowed by law. Way to go Holly! Not only that, Holly includes a link to her glue-stick turned-edge hand-appliqué tutorial.

Back soon,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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I met the magazine’s editors while I was in Salt Lake City last May for Spring Market, and we’ve been working on getting a design of mine into the magazine ever since. It’s finally here!

This was made entirely out of one line of fabric, Memories of Provence by Monique Dillard for Maywood Studio. The fabric line was a pleasure to work with and gave me every single thing I needed to make the quilt. It’s hand appliquéd and machine quilted.

Back soon with our featured book for February!

Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Awhile back, Jan Louise wrote,

I watched a quilting program in which the guest said she always uses silk threads to do her appliqué. I use DMC threads because I can always find a matching color. What do other stitchers use, what do you recommend, and why?

Hi Jan Louise! There’s a long answer and a short answer, Being the over-achiever that I am, I’ll start with the long answer .

I’m also a DMC user. We’re talking about DMC 50-weight cotton machine-embroidery thread. I got started with it because it’s available at my LQS and like you say, comes in lots of beautiful colors. I have a whole library of it, and I use it for both hand and machine appliqué. I’ve stayed with it because 1) I like it, and 2) I don’t want to start a whole new collection.

The entire line is available online at Sharla Hicks’ Soft Expressions.

Everything else I know about thread comes under the category of hearsay. Being an avid quilter and appliquér for about 20 years now, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open. I’m happy to pass along what I’ve learned, with the caveat that what I say from here on is not through direct experience.

OTHER BRANDS OF COTTON

I tried out Superior’s MasterPiece Thread in an earlier post. MasterPiece is a fine cotton thread favored by the Piece o’ Cake gals and Alex Anderson.

Mettler’s Silk Finish is widely available at quilting and sewing stores and can be used for appliqué. It’s not silk, it’s cotton, but has a smooth finish, which is why they liken it to silk. It’s also a 50-weight thread, but it’s 3-ply, which effectively makes it a little thicker. You’ll notice I have a few spools of it on the bottom row of my thread rack, and there are a few more in the drawer. I use it sometimes for machine appliqué when I want a little bit heavier edge finish.

Mettler also makes a cotton 60-weight 2-ply that my pal Pam uses. It’s also the thread of choice for Karen Kay Buckley, who offers collections of it on her website.

Pat Sloan likes Aurifil 50-weight thread. You’ll see her on the web page. Pat does machine appliqué, but according to the website this thread is thin and a good choice for hand appliqué as well.

SILK

Lots of appliquérs swear by silk thread. It’s extremely fine, like 100 weight, and sinks beautifully into the fabric edge, effectively disappearing. I’ve heard it said that you don’t need as many colors, because it blends very well and you can get away with just a few basics. YLI and Superior are two brands that I know of.

I’ve also heard that silk thread is so fine and slippery that you tend to lose it out of the needle, and there’s some sort of way of tying a knot on the end to keep it from doing so.

There’s also some urban legend in the appliqué world that silk is stronger than cotton, and over the years will outlast the cotton and chew through it. Bob Purcell addresses this issue in the Silk Thread FAQs on the Superior Threads website.

POLY

Libby Lehman’s The Bottom Line is the thread of choice for many appliquérs. It’s very fine and comes in lots of colors. Again with the urban legend about matching the fiber content of the thread to the fiber content of the fabric. Check out Bob’s Poly Thread FAQ.

OTHER BRANDS

There are many more thread companies and probably types of thread suitable for hand appliqué that I have no knowledge of. If you do, please chime in! If you use Robison-Anton, Presencia, Madera, or another kind, please let us know!

Now for the Short Answer, a quote from my book Inspired by Tradition:

I use 50-weight 2-ply cotton machine-embroidery thread. Others use 50-weight 3-ply or 60-weight thread, and still others swear by very fine silk thread. All of these are good choices for hand appliqué. Use what you can find conveniently.

That’s what it comes down to for me.

Jan Louise, I hope this has helped. Thanks for reading the blog!!

I’m off to Phoenix tomorrow. See you in a week!

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

P.S. Since I showed you my thread library, I thought I’d show you a small portion of my fabric stash, filmed by the DH.

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Another fascinating thing I saw was a video at The Quilt Show by the Bernina educators. Apparently, some new Berninas have what’s called “hover mode.” Oooh, when you’re doing machine appliqué and you need to stop and pivot, if you set the machine on this mode, it’ll automatically raise the presser foot for you! What a concept! I may be the only quilter in the world who has a Bernina with a knee lever, who doesn’t use it. I could really get the wants for the hover mode.

Could’ve used it on this project, that’s for sure!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

The Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival at the Arizona State Fairgrounds is next week. If you’re in that area, I hope to see you there!

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I really need to see a step-by-step tutorial of you working through difficult parts of appliqué: inner curves, outer curves, points, what to do when a curve is pointy rather than curvy, etc. In other tutorials I see the beginning and then the end of a piece without the process in between. Love your blog!!

First of all, thank you so much Daniquilter for your nice words about the blog! I enjoy writing it.

It looks like you’re looking for information on hand stitching. It’s all here already! Here’s a roundup of past posts that address these very issues:

Clipping of inner and outer curves

Stitching smooth curves

Points

Notches

Remember that you can always use the Categories and Keyword Search function to find information about topics in appliqué. If you’re subscribed by email, you’ll need to click over to the blog itself, so that you can see and use the sidebars.

My next quilt show is in Phoenix, Arizona, January 26-28. It’s the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival at the Arizona State Fairgrounds! If you’re in that area, I hope to see you there!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Every year the DH Dana puts some fat quarters in my stocking. (Yes, he’s a very good quilt husband.) This year, as I mentioned, he was in Oslo on a business trip in mid-December, so what should I pull out of my stocking but these beautiful things!

The apple fabric turned out to be an Alexander Henry, which he was bitterly disappointed to learn is a California fabric company LOL! I didn’t care, I love it!

He did better on the other two. I consulted Dr. Google and found that the Tilda fabric is designed by adorable Oslo native Tone Finnanger. Isn’t it gorgeous? Tone has a whole line of things that she has designed and it’s all to drool over.

Dana didn’t remember the name of the shop where he found the fabric, describing it as “sort of a craft store.” Luckily the label on the fabric enabled me to track it down to being Panduro Hobby in downtown Oslo.

And here’s what else I got for Christmas. You remember the Cavalcade of Kittens? And how I said there was a followup? You remember the very last batch, the ones with the sneezy noses?

A few days before Christmas I started getting a queasy feeling… queasy because I was terrified by it but still it was there… of thinking that maybe Max would stay. (He’s the one in the middle with the smush-face.) I brought it up with Dana and he was delighted! He was all for it, but understood my fear of commitment. After losing Willie and before that, three aged cats one by one, I felt like a widow enjoying the dating scene but not ready for a long-term relationship.

But truly, Max had all the qualities we would want in a cat, so I kept thinking about it. On Christmas Eve we turned out the lights at about 11:30 p.m. and Max came and draped himself purring over my neck and laid his face on my cheek for a pillow, and suddenly my heart opened up and the fear washed away, and I knew that he was a keeper. It had to be about midnight on Christmas morning.

Dana named him for his favorite childhood TV character Maxwell Smart. Max is a velvety soft, squishy, floppy five-month-old who loves to be picked up, held, hugged, kissed, turned upside down, draped over the shoulder, etc., purring all the while. He’s ours now, all officially adopted through the shelter, and fits in here like peas and carrots.

This cat knows how to relax.

Did I mention that he's floppy?

Under my ironing board.

Willie used to sleep at the base of my stash.

Max has chosen his spot, about four feet higher.

Face plant in the batiks.

To quote Dr. Seuss (and Anne Sutton, who recently told us the heartwarming story of Bitsy Button Sutton), “It came without ribbons.” I didn’t want a kitty for Christmas, but it’s the very best present I got.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

P.S. BTW the other two kitties recovered well from their colds and I took them back to the shelter. Within 10 minutes of getting them set up and settled in the adoptable area, one of them was already requested for a meet-and-greet. Out the door he went with his new family. About 45 minutes later, the other one went! That’s gotta be a new world’s record, even for the Kitten Flipper (as they call me at the shelter)!

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Pennies From Heaven: Celebrated Quilt and Companion Projects by Gretchen Gibbons.

The title of the book and cover quilt comes from the old term “penny rug,” so called because of the circles, usually wool, that are blanket-stitched onto a base in decorative patterns. As Gretchen says, this style is “primitive, colorful, and funky all at the same time.”

Gretchen enjoys working with wool, and calls it the easiest appliqué technique, for several reasons:

• There are no edges to turn.
• There’s no right or wrong side, so you don’t have to reverse patterns.
• You don’t have to use fusible web (though you can if you want to).
• Cutting on the straight of grain or on the bias works equally well.
• The blanket stitching can be done by hand or machine.
• Hand-dyed wools come in yummy colors.

The book starts out with instructions for felting wool, which is the process that shrinks it, mats the fibers together, and eliminates raveling. Then there are complete instructions for wool appliqué, a color guide for the motifs used in the book’s projects, and information on needles, threads, and beads, and embroidery. There’s good advice on batting, mixing cottons and wools within a project, quilting considerations, and attaching a hanging sleeve.

Besides the cover quilt with its 10 beautiful blocks, there are instructions for eight more smaller projects, each one cuter than the last.

Enchanted Pennies

Joyful Pillow

Pennies Window Valance

Circle of Life Table Mat

I just love their primitive, folksy look. If you admire it too, and would like a chance to win this book, please leave a comment here on this post before 7:00 p.m. California time on Thursday, January 5. Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only, and remember to click over to the blog itself instead of replying to your email feed.

Thank you, That Patchwork Place, for providing the book!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Several of the projects that appear in my book A Merry Little Christmas to Appliqué are on loan to my pal Debby at the Quilter’s Faire in Palm Desert, California.

When a traveling quilt-show vendor specializing in Christmas expressed an interest in carrying the book, I thought I’d make another version of the project that’s the most popular one… Plum Pudding!

The original.

It was loads of fun rummaging for the fabrics, and also a little scary. It’s been awhile now since the book came out, but in the scrap bag I found a few leftover squares of the original fabrics used for the patched background! I also had enough of the red sashing and all three fabrics that were used for the puddings!

In my files, I even found the original pattern and tracing-paper overlay! Since the pattern is blown up 200%, this saved me a step. That’s why I keep stuff. You never know.

Once I’d pulled all the fabrics, I started thinking about the great expanse of white that makes up the ‘hard sauce’ part of the pattern. It would be covering a weensy bit of the brown, and also the patched background, and I didn’t want those to shadow through.

Usually, for machine appliqué I would use a double layer to create a light-over-dark motif by first fusing two layers of fabric together and then using that composed fabric to create the motif. This time, the area was so large, and I didn’t want the stiffness from the extra fusible. I thought I’d try something new.

I started out by making two motifs just the same, both with the inside of the fusible web cut out.

Back

Front

I removed the paper backing from both, placed one on top of the other on a nontick appliqué pressing sheet, and tacked them together with a hot iron.

If there are are inconsistencies in the two shapes, just use your scissors and trim them to match.

A little haircut needed here.

All trimmed and tidy.

Now the motif is double-layer and with no fusible web in the middle to make it stiff! Try it! It worked for me.

Stitched block.

Finished project: Plum Pudding 2

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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Disclaimer: What you are about to see contains images of cute fluffy kitties. It has nothing to do with appliqué, so be warned if you must. Welcome to the Second Annual Cavalcade of Kittens!

In May, the Mackenzie Finishing School for Felines opened its doors for the season. Through mid-December, Dana and I took care of seven consecutive groups of underage foster kittens for the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, 19 little balls of fur all told.

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 teensy little klutzes to sturdy healthy pre-teens who run thumping and banging around the house.

I’ll let you know right now, so that you don’t wonder or worry, that each and every one of the kittens you are about to see has gone back to the shelter, been found by someone who fell in love with them, and adopted into a forever home.

Our first batch of the year. Three black ones just like the first group last year. They were pretty scrappy looking the day they arrived.

Velvet, Cricket, and Bennett. They got along fine with Willie, in fact they even invaded his crate.

Cricket was an especially friendly and snuggly kitty. She liked Willie.

She even helped me sew.

The second group were Bailey, Kelly, and Sweet Pea.

Willie tried to give them lessons on back-of-the-sofa protocol, but Bailey wasn’t paying attention in class that day.

Watching them play and fight is hilarious, and the poses we find them in make us laugh. Had the baby kitty wars actually done Bailey in? Kelly says, ‘I didn’t do it.’

Sweet Pea loves her DirecTV.

And now, gentle readers, it is with great sadness that I must tell you that it was at this point that our darling Willie, aged 16 years and 10 months, left us to go to doggie heaven. Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile know that he was my heart. Despite all this kitten business, I’m really a dog person and it was Willie who made me that way. Dana too. He enriched our lives for many long years and never had a bad mood in his life. We loved him more than words can say.

Bertram Wilberforce Woofster Mackenzie, 1994 - 2011

It actually helped having kittens around, because the house was not completely empty. If you’d like to learn more about our Willie and his long and wonderful life, please visit his dogblog to read all of his stories.

We called our next group of little cats “The Hooligans” due to their spectacular brash athleticism and fondness for body climbing.

Grady, Teddy and Finley. Sure, they look all sweet now LOL!

Grady was the Head Hooligan.

Finley was Grady’s little Mini Me.

Teddy was much more of a sweetie pie. Here he is whispering kitty nothings into Dana’s ear.

Again with the comical poses. You just never know what you’re going to find.

The Cat On The Hat.

Head plant!

The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee.

Next came two single kittens who were put together for foster. Mookie was an absolute love, a calm, pure, sweet old soul in a little body with big ears.

Buff Daddy (that name courtesy of Dana).

This little buff tiger was not at all certain that he was pleased to be put with another kitten. Mookie was very patient with him, and within a couple days Daddy had forgotten all about it, and it was as if they had known each other all their lives.

The next batch was a litter of four fuzzballs. Two looked like seal-point Himalayan mixes and the other two were long-haired brown tigers.

The Himmies are Cuddles and Petunia, the tigers Button and Rupert. There was never a dull moment with this crew around.

Button and Petunia liked to help me in my studio Here’s Button pointing out a needed edit in my Scrap-Appliqué Playground page proofs, while Petunia prepares for a rear attack.

Petunia and Cuddles both have those gorgeous blue Himalayan eyes.

After the Fab Four came the S’s: Shelby, Spike, and Spencer.

Spencer and Spike were tuxedo cats, Shelby a lynx-point Siamese mix. They were all wonderfully nice little guys… sweet, affectionate, and so happy to be at our home.

By this time, kitten season was starting to wind down, but there were still a couple of singles who could go to foster together. First we got Sassy. She hopped out of the carrier and hopped around the living room like she didn’t have a care in the world. A super confident, friendly, and exceedingly cute little girl full of “tortietude.”

Making sure Dana stays in his chair and does his work.

One informal measure of how big our fosters are getting is whether they can squeeze under the dresser. Sassy still fits!

The next day I picked up Jamie, a black/brown smoke kitty who was full of purrs for people, but unsure of the big wide world. You can see it in his face.

The first time he saw Sassy, you should have seen the stank face! Spit, hiss, oh what a pill he was being! Sweet Sassy kept working on him little by little, and by the time three days had gone by he had totally thawed out, and they were chasing, playing, and hanging out together with ease.

This is the first time Jamie came to settle down by Sassy.

They helped us put up our Christmas tree.

By the time they went back to the shelter, Jamie had blossomed into a playful, friendly, very good-natured little man. He had an instant-on purr motor upon being petted, and this also turned him into a talky cat! He did great at the shelter meeting lots of new friends. Just shows you what foster care can do.

I packed up all the kitten gear and put it away for the season. Sad face. It’ll be a long time until May. But then… what should I discover during my regular shift at the shelter last week, but… three kittens in the hospital ward with sneezy noses! The shelter staff gladly sent them home with me to complete their recuperation from their kitty colds.

I’m back in business! I’m so glad, because otherwise it would have been the first Christmas in 23 years without any animals in the house.

Meet Max, Wylie, and Cullen, our current crew. I don’t know if you can tell, but Wylie is about half the size of the other two. Nobody knows quite why. These guys were dumped off in boxes at a pet store. We don’t know if they’re from the same litter, but it matters not, because they all love each other, everyone, and everything. They’re about the nicest cats EVER.

Little Wylie and big Cullen.

The biggest, Max, with his giant white paws.

These guys are still with us now, helping us open our presents. Thank you so much for putting up with my catblogging. I vow to keep it to once a year! Happiest of holidays to you and yours.

Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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