Isn’t it gorgeous? Nancy says,

You can quote me: “I couldn’t remember doing applique before and had avoided it for some time. I wanted to do the teapots, so I read your directions for back basting applique several times and dove right in. I love the technique and am very pleased with the results. I realize I need to practice more to get the tiny curves right, but this sure beats other applique techniques which I have tried since doing the teapots. Thanks for such great patterns.

Yay! Another back-basting convert!

Notice how the teapots are all set up for a left-handed pour. I haven’t seen one like that before, and it’s a refreshing change! Back-basting takes a reversed pattern. Nancy chose not to reverse them, my husband the lefty would be so proud.

So glad you are enjoying appliqué now, Nancy. Thanks for sharing your beautiful creation.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Teapots by Jane Adams

Look at this cheerful gem!! Jane says she used all types of fabrics to depict holidays, different cultures, and fun designs. I love how she added her own little touches to the blocks and put the milk and sugar pitchers in the corners.

Jane used the fusible applique method with a blanket stitch around the designs for this 68 X 68 project. It was quilted by Erin Gonzales at The Calico House in Placentia, CA. Jane crows about Erin’s quilting, saying, ” She did a fabulous and creative job, even quilted different names of teas in the inner border and steam coming out of the teapots!”

Great job, both of you!!

Jane shared that she will be teaching a teapot appliqué class at The Calico House! Check out their Classes page in case you live in the greater Los Angeles area and would like to stitch some teapots with Jane!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

“I worked on the BOM sponsored by Flying Geese Fabrics in Albany during the past year. It was led by Pat Cunningham. I jumped on board in March when two of the ladies who signed up never claimed their first two blocks. So I was a little behind throughout the process. I managed to stick with it and I was able to finish it this past November. Eight months in all.”

Look at this gorgeous rendition of “A Little More Tea” from Teapots 2 to Appliqué!

Pat Cunningham at Flying Geese Fabrics chose the block of the month and coordinated the fabrics. This beauty was quilted by Janis’s cousin, professional quilter Teresa Fabozzi of A&T Home Quilting.

Janis continues, “I did follow your applique tips in your book where by I used a heavy thread to outline the shapes making it easier to turn under and stitch.” Janis is referring to the back-basting method of preparing shapes for hand appliqué, a fabulous method explained in Teapots 2.

“I stitched them with a SIL. I thoroughly enjoyed every step of the way. This is actually my first applique quilt and I’m interested in doing more. I am generally a piecer and won a yellow ribbon last year at the Vermont Quilt Festival. That was very exciting.” Congratulations, Janis!!! And a hearty welcome to appliqué.

“Anyway, I love sipping tea and it is a cherished memory of my mother who passed away fourteen years ago. This quilt is dedicated to her. I am planning on photographing one of her teacups, then scanning it onto fabric and then using it as a label.”

How nice to learn that this quilt has so much added meaning for you. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.

Janis is an art teacher. She gave me the link to her blog, Dream Draw Create.

Janis shares another nugget with us, a little quilt shop in Brooklyn called Fiber Notion that she and her daughter enjoyed visiting.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

For me this looks like jumping up and down while doing the twist. I am not normally much of a morning person, especially before coffee, but I was celebrating the fact that it was the official publication day for Inspired by Tradition: 50 Appliqué Blocks in 5 Sizes!

Here’s the Table of Contents, beautifully presented by That Patchwork Place’s book designer.

Here are a few more blocks.

Six blocks from Inspired by Tradition

Some more very cool news: Pat Sloan has invited me to be a guest on her Creative Talk Radio show on March 21! That should be so fun, as Pat is a relaxed, outgoing person and totally easy to talk to. There will be giveaway goodness associated with this event, so be sure to mark your calendars.

The next day, I’m kicking off Book-A-Round 2, a 10-day tour visiting other quilting bloggers. Each one will feature something a little different about Inspired by Tradition. More giveaway goodness, as a copy of the book will be offered in a drawing at each stop of the tour. Mark your calendars for March 22-31, and stay tuned for more information.

In celebration of this long-awaited day, and to say thanks, I’d like to offer blog readers a coupon for $2.00 off orders from my website. Use coupon code BLOG2 during checkout. Coupon expires March 31, 2011.

Still got happy feet,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I am a member of Feather Princess Appliqué Guild of Tampa, Florida. One of the sewing circles of the guild is “Sewrority Sisters Appliqué Sewciety.” We meet once a month for four hours of sewing and fun at one of the local libraries. We wanted to give something to the library for allowing us to use one of their rooms, so we decided to make a raffle quilt and donate all the proceeds to the Riverview Library.

I contacted you last year about using your basket patterns for a raffle quilt, and you gave us permission. My group has finally finished the quilt and I’m sending a photo of it.

Basket Quilt by the SSAS, 80 x 100

Is this not a masterpiece of a quilt? I am totally blown away. This is a group of gals who are not afraid of appliqué! They enlarged the blocks, designed a new setting, and embellished many of the blocks in a most delightful fashion, I love it!

Rebecca continues:

Each person donated $10 towards the cost of fabric, batting, etc., for the quilt. Sixteen women volunteered to make blocks, one person did the piecing, another the quilting and another the binding. We used your 16 patterns from Baskets to Appliqué, and I designed four more to make a total of 20 blocks.

My friend Shari Gillis and I designed the sashing for setting the 12″ blocks. Some of the women added their own designs to the baskets and one person changed it completely. The quilt is finished, and we are now in the process of selling the raffle tickets. This is a beautiful quilt, I wish you could see it in person. Thank you so much for allowing us to use your patterns. We are hoping to make a large donation to the library.

Oh my goodness, I should think so! Huge thanks to you and your group, Rebecca, for choosing my basket designs for your quilt. I feel honored. You have elevated the designs and you’ve inspired me!

Here are some closeups of the blocks.

I’m so glad Rebecca sent me closeups so that I could see the delightful sewing doodads that were added to these blocks. How fun! My hat’s off!

Here are the four blocks that Rebecca designed herself. As I told her, they’re so lovely and entirely to my taste. Do we see a new pattern designer emerging here?

Here are two labels for the quilt that Rebecca did up in EQ7.

Great job with the computer work!!

Now a word of news about Baskets to Appliqué. Gentle quilters, it’s very nearly out of print. That’s right, there are now exactly 9 copies left in captivity. But never fear, the designs will still be available once these copies are gone. I’ll be offering all 16 designs in a different format, an unbound pattern pack in a baggie. There won’t be any color photos or instructions, just the designs for your appliqué pleasure. The baskets will go on!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Here’s the project from the class, photo courtesy of Quilter’s Paradise.

LOVE the exotic fabrics. Thanks gals for being fabulous neighbors and for using my teapots!!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Teapots 2 to Appliqué!

Tea With Jane, 51 x 43

Isn’t it beautiful? I especially love how Marion mixed scale in the teapots. Dynamic!

Marion told me that the colours in the quilt were inspired by the tiles in Jane’s new kitchen.

That’s my kind of comfortable, lived-in kitchen, complete with funny kid! And does Marion’s daughter not look like Victoria Beckham??

Marion was visiting America at the time of the Lancaster show this year and bought the fabric from those vendors.

Thank you, Marion for choosing Teapots 2 for your daughter’s kitchen. It’s a beautiful project and I hope you all will enjoy it for years to come.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

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. I’ve 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! 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

The story of this bright, beautiful quilt, which uses patterns from my Teapots to Appliqué:

My quilting bee was asked by by son’s girlfriend, Lyndsay Benson, to help her DAR chapter make a teapot quilt. The name of their chapter is the Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

We began this project in October of 2008. My bee, which is part of the Quilters by the Sea Guild of Wilmington, North Carolina, attended one of the Tea Walk meetings to show them how to applique and quilt. Each person in my bee and each lady in the chapter were given a choice of the teapot patterns and then made their block from material that was chosen for the project.

The quilt will be used as a raffle to make money for the projects that the chapter does for the community. As you can see there was hand quilting, machine quilting, hand applique, and machine applique as each person did their own thing. After getting all the blocks back, I then put them together and added the teacups in the corners and the border. It was really a fun quilt to do.

Ann, this bright quilt is brightening your community in so many ways. Your bee took time to teach appliqué and quilting to the chapter, and you all collaborated to benefit the good programs of the DAR. I love the fact that all kinds of appliqué and quilting come together in this way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing my teapot patterns for this wonderful group project. I hope it raises lots of $$ for the cause. By the way, did you know that North Carolina is my home state? I grew up in Chapel Hill.

I think those are picnic ants making off with a chocolate chip cookie.

Teapots to Appliqué, which was my first collection of teapots, is now out of print, but an unbound pattern pack is available on my website. Teapots 2 to Appliqué is still in print.

Still smiling at the cheerful teapots,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie