Last October I received the following note from Lynne Kontz in Michigan:

“Hi, I am not a member of any group. I am just the mother of sons serving in the military. Every year when I visit their current duty stations my young granddaughters and I make a quilt. Several years ago I made them a ‘daddy’ quilt. It’s a small quilt with a pocket for daddy’s picture for them to snuggle with during his deployment. Now I make then for their friends on each new base when there is a deployment. The kids love them and it helps my granddaughters adjust to new friends. The patterns you showed look great for my adding a picture pocket and the star design looks perfect for a few of the kids who are older and may like one.”

Right away I sent Lynn a copy of the giveaway book, In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs. Imagine my delight when I heard from Lynne again and she sent me pictures of some of the quilts she has made!

Lynne says, “I have made several but kept forgetting to email you a picture because I am usually on a tight schedule; but this time I actually did. My sons are in the military. I make them for my granddaughters’ friends who have a parent deploying. They saw the ones for my girls and liked the idea so now, four years later, I’m still at it. These two are for kids whose parents are being deployed to Guam for 10 months. I put vinyl over a star to insert a photo and made up a different verse. I did the same thing with the ‘Star of my Heart’ pattern. Thank you very much for fun, simple patterns. The kids seem to love your designs, so they will be traveling the world with these families. I’m working on a lollipop one next.”

OMG did I get a lump in my throat when I saw the quilts.

In a Twinkle for a girl

In a Twinkle for a boy

Daddy picture

Lynn's poem ~ how beautiful

Wow, that’s powerful. I can’t imagine a better use for these books and I feel like the universe has sent me a hug.

I still have more Twinkles so read up on the Giveaway and remember, email me (instead of leaving a comment) and don’t forget to include your mailing address!

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

“I am a big fan of all things Quilt Puppy! Our small quilting group in Spicewood, Texas, is making a quilt to be raffled for the Highland Lakes Animal Shelter this summer. The center square is the icon for the shelter.
I hope you will enjoy seeing that your patterns are put to good use.”

Opportunity quilt by Donna and friends

Are you kidding? I LOVE seeing my patterns put to good use. In fact, great use! I myself am a volunteer at the Santa Cruz County Animals Services shelter here in my town so I can doubly appreciate the effort that Donna and her friends have put forth to benefit the animals in their community. A round of applause!

In this quilt top I see designs from both Easy Appliqué Blocks and Home: A Heartfelt Nap Quilt (center row, either side of the shelter logo).

Thank you, Donna, for sending me the picture to share and for caring about dogs, cats, fish, mice, and all their cousins.

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

I still have more copies, so before the postage goes up May 11, check it out and let me know about your group.

Cheers,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Toni is receiving my collection of kid-quilt patterns, In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs and my pattern Courtyard Squares.

In a Twinkle:
Youthful Quilt Designs

Courtyard Squares

When told she had won the prize, Toni responded, “Woo hoo!” If you register you can be eligible for the monthly prize drawings and go ‘woo hoo’ too. See the sidebar.

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

This is what Quilts for Comfort does: “Our quilts are delivered to at-risk babies and young children in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. And we have decided that you are never too old for a security blanket, so we are expanding our program to include adults in need of comfort. Quilts for Comfort are being delivered to the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Hospital, and patients receiving dialysis at Christiana Hospital.”

Wow, that is really something. Edna Kotrola, the coordinator, told me that some 4,000 quilters participate. Quilters are just the best.

Delicious Lollies by Quilts for Comfort

A couple of days ago Edna sent me a picture of a four-pack of darling lollipop quilts, and told me, “Every year we display quilts at the Newark Municipal Buildings and this year your quilts have a prize spot in the display.”

I think they like candy in New Jersey, don’t they? Keep up the great work Edna and others!

Edna’s message came just after I put up the previous post about the Quilt Puppy’s Giveaway for Kids. If you’re a member of a small quilt group that does good deeds for children, be sure to check it out.

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Cheers,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

If you’re a member of a group that makes and donates quilts for kids in need, email me at “kay at kaymackenzie.com” and tell me about your group. I’ll send you 6 copies (as many as I can stuff in a bubble mailer) by the “slow boat to China,” Media Mail. If you feel like paying me back for the postage, you can PayPal a couple bucks to the same address.

If you’re not a member of such a group but you know somebody who is, feel free to spread the word.

This book includes step-by-step. illustrated instructions for five easy quilts and a comfy cozy flannel blankie, plus detailed instructions on the fusible-interfacing method for machine-appliquéing big, simple shapes.

Until next time,
Kay

This is a form of appliqué that requires neither skill nor experience for great results. It’s a good technique for big, simple shapes. And it’s very durable, with turned edges, so it’s highly appropriate for kid quilts. The fusible interfacing is the key. I use the sheer-to-lightweight variety. This product only fuses on one side and you want to be sure you are using fusible interfacing, not fusible web.

Here we go with a lollipop. Cut an oversized square of fabric and an oversized square of fusible interfacing. Trace a circle onto the smooth side of the interfacing. Place the marked interfacing square smooth (marked) side up on the right side of the fabric square. Pin in a couple places if you like.

Shorten the stitch length on your sewing machine and sew all the way around the circle just inside the marked line. Pivoting should not be necessary once you find the right combination of stitch length and sewing speed. Go ahead and stitch over the first few stitches when you come all the way around.

Trim the seam allowances to about 1/8″. Pull the interfacing away from the fabric and make a nip through it. Lengthen the slash just enough to turn the pop right-side-out through the opening.

This illustration shows the interfacing side, after the slash has been made and before turning the pop.

Turn the pop. Insert some kind of pointy implement through the slash and run it along the stitching line, fully extending the seam. The pop will look a little puffy yet, but don’t press with an iron yet.

This illustration shows the pop after being turned but before being pressed. Puffiness is normal at this stage, do not fear!

The stick for the lollipop is made the same way, by sewing a fabric-interfacing tube and turning it right-side-out. In this illustration, the stick has already been fused to the background and stitched. Now we’re ready for the pop. Place the pop in the desired location. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, fuse the pop in place. (I find that 10 seconds with steam does the trick.) Don’t move the iron back and forth, just set it down on the pop.

This is where Miracle #1 occurs. The pop flattens out and becomes beautifully round. It’s fused in place for your favorite form of machine appliqué. A simple topstitch is shown here, which I use a lot for these, with the same shortened stitch length.

Once the stitching is complete, here comes Miracle #2. Because the interfacing only fuses on one side, it is only fused to the background fabric and not to the lollipop. You can pull apart the layers and trim away the fused background, removing most of the product.

Here’s the back of a block, after the fused layer is trimmed away. Leave about 1/4″ inside the stitching line. These blocks are soft and supple.

So, appliqué fans (or appliqué fans to be), fusible interfacing is another one for your bag of tricks.

Patterns for kid quilts with detailed instructions and lots of illustrations on this method can be found throughout my book In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs over at Quilt Puppy.

A couple of darling Lollipops, Candy Bars & Jujubes quilts can be seen on the Lots of Lollipops post here on the blog.

Did it ever! I was wonderful to hear that the gals enjoyed the process and that the instructions conveyed well. The lollipops are machine appliquéd using the fusible-interface method introduced to quilters by Eleanor Burns. The pops are turned-edge and come out round and flat with no skill required. The candy bars are rail-fence blocks, and the jujubes are nine-patches. A simple pattern and a tasty confection of a quilt.

But you may be wondering, why on earth did they undertake to make three?? The answer is, because Guin has twin granddaughters!

This is one of the twin quilts that Guin made. She used 30’s reproduction fabrics. The inclusion of the black is great and makes me think of licorice all-sorts. Guin’s granddaughters are five years old now, and Guin says that the quilts were well used. I like that. When I make a baby quilt for a friend, I want it to be used, not hung on a wall!

Here’s Debra’s LCBJ. Look at those luscious citrus colors! This quilt hung in a shop as a sample for a long time, and was universally admired. Debra now reports that “The quilt was given to my nephew’s new baby girl. I was so happy to send her one of the special ones from my collection.” How nice! Thank you, Debra.

Guin and Debra were a huge help in getting LCBJ ready to publish. They asked very good questions and suggested several improvements. Thanks gals! See you at the Pinnacle Quilters show later this month!

Springtime in the Pinnacles April 28-29, 2007, downtown Hollister.

In preparation for the interview, I sent Maria a copy of Dog Cabin and In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs, which were my books thus far. I was delighted when Maria wrote to say that she had showed them to her youngest daughter, who was then expecting a child. Knowing that her mom would soon be starting a quilt for her, the daughter fell in love with the quilt called “In a Twinkle” from the book of the same name, and asked for that one.

It just so happened that she had also been eyeing a star-covered blue fabric in Maria’s stash, and requested that it be used for the entire background (as opposed to a pieced background as I had used in my version). Maria set out making the quilt, and presented it to her daughter at the baby shower.

Maria says, “I was especially grateful to Kay when I heard all of the oohs and ahs of the guests. They especially loved the little verse at the bottom.”

It’s my pleasure, believe me, when quilters choose my designs and go on to make them their own.

Here’s Maria’s Twinkle. That background fabric could not be more perfect. The whole quilt sparkles, and glitters!

If you can’t read the verse, it says, “In a twinkle, covers crinkle. Snuggle deep, off to sleep.” I’m glad you like my little poem.

Visit Maria Michaels Designs to sign up for her fabulous, free newsletter/magazine. Once you do, you can also read all of the back issues, which contain a wealth of information of interest to quilters.