Karen Kay Buckley

Zena Thorpe from California made “Renaissance”.

The details on this quilt were impressive.

One of the top prize winners was “Gift of Appreciation” by Kyoko Yamauchi from Japan.  She won $7,500 for the “World of Beauty” award.

Karen Stone won 1st place in the Traditional Pieced category for “Reptile Wisdom”.

“Madame Butterfly” was entered in the Group Quilt category.  The makers names are Robin Gauseback, Pam Collins, Karen Grover, Cindy Larsen, Stephanie Nardlin and Conny Picard.

Another Group Quilt is “Amazing Aztec-nicolor Dream Quilt” by Carol Moellers, Dana Lynch, Mary Holman, Mary Kay Runyan, Cindy Neville, Wanda Myers, Bridget Lilja and Karen Fitzpatrick from Iowa.

They won first place in the Group category.

“Glory” was made by Cindy Robinson from Alabama.

I always enjoy a good Log Cabin quilt.

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BOOK REVIEW

While driving to Delaware and Maryland, I listened to an audio book my girlfriend gave me last year, Merry Christmas Alex Cross, by James Patterson.  I like the reoccurring character of Alex Cross.  Detective Cross is pulled away from his family on Christmas Eve to assist with a hostage situation.  A well known attorney, who has fallen on bad times, takes his family hostage.  Then another major case pulls him in on Christmas Day.  I liked the pace of the book and it kept my attention while enjoying the traffic around Annapolis and Baltimore.

Thanks for visiting.  Until next week……

“Persian Panoply” was made by Jan Frazer from Australia.

“Magnolia” was made by Sylvia Gegaregien from California.  She won first place in Innovative Applique.

Pat Holly won second place in the Innovative Applique category for “Saffron Splendor”.

I am in awe of anyone who can sew such little pieces with such accuracy.

“Oriental Puzzle” was made by Hitomi Kanazawa from Japan.

She won an honorable mention in the Innovative Applique category.

Until next week…..

This is the first of many blogs where I will share some of my favorite quilts that were displayed at the International Quilt Show in Houston.  To find out more about the show visit http://www.quilts.org

Before I start to share quilts that were exhibited at the show I wanted to share one of my students pieces.  Nancy Ault from California took my Magical Medallions-Block One workshop and brought her finished piece to show me.  Nancy added an outline embroidery stitch around each piece of her applique.  Great idea.  And she created a complimentary border for her block.

In the miniature category “Tempest” won third place.  This quilt was made by Kumiko Frydl.  She is from Texas.  I included the ribbon so you could see just how small her quilt is.  Amazing.

George Siciliano from Pennsylvania won second place in the miniature category.  George’s quilt is named “6522” because there are 6522 pieces of Dupioni silk in his small quilt.  There were five winners from Pennsylvania this year.  Way to go Pennsylvanians.  To find out more about George visit his website at http://www.georgesiciliano

“Bohemian Rain” won honorable mention in the innovative pieced category.  It was made by Sandra Peterson from Indiana.

“Magical Moments of Time” won second place in the innovative pieced category.  It was made by Lois Podolny from Arizona.

In the Innovative Pieced category “Georgetown” won first place.  It was made by Ann Peterson from Colorado.

Michael Michalski from New York made “Put a Ring on It”.

In Innovative Pieced Karen Eckmeier from Connecticut won third place.  For more information on Karen visit http://www.kareneckmeier.com/

And the final quilt for this blog was made by Becky Goldsmith from Texas.  Becky received an honorable mention in the Innovative Applique category.   To find out lots of fun things about Becky visit http://www.pieceocake.com/

There will be many more quilts to share in the upcoming weeks.  Stay tuned…..

Here are a few more photos we took on our travels through New York.  This is the Barcelona Light House built in 1829.

Below are some of the views we enjoyed.

This old section of boat houses in Canandaigua were fascinating.

Karon took my Garden Medley workshop during my recent visit to Chatauqua.  She brought her finished top to the retreat at “Needle In A Haystack”.  Nice job Karon.  I really like the background fabric choice.

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BOOK REVIEW

My girlfriend loaned me this audio book,”The Fault In Our Stars”. I knew absolutely nothing about this author or this book.  Words of caution….you are going to need some tissues.  I liked the book.  I don’t mind when an author writes that well and makes me like his characters so much that it makes me cry.  To me this is the sign of a good writer.

Until next week.

On our journey to New York our first stop was “Needle In a Haystack” in Findley Lake, New York.  Judy Findley is the owner.  She and her husband have converted an old barn into a retreat center. They also live there.  The classroom holds 20 students and there is lodging for everyone.  The place also boasts a full kitchen.  If you are looking for a great place to hold a retreat you really should consider it.  http://www.millcreeksew.com/needle-in-a-haystack-retreat.htm

I had a full workshop of 20 students and the work space was fantastic.

Judy also has a nice quilt shop on premises…..just in case you did not bring enough fabric.

I stopped on Sunday morning to check on the ladies before we headed to our next stop.  Several ladies had to leave Saturday night or early Sunday morning before I got there to take this photo.   But, you see how much they got done in the Majestic Mosaic machine applique workshop.

We had a very nice drive through the beauty of fall in southwestern New York.

Here are some fun photos .

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BOOK REVIEW

On the drive up we finished an audio book we stared just prior to our trip.  We read the most recent Janet Evanovich book called “Top Secret Twenty-One”.  We were laughing as Stephanie and Lulu got into some more interesting situations.  The book we started listening to on the way home is making me cry……I’ll fill you in later when I finish it.  So, laughing on the drive up and crying on the drive home……

Until next week……enjoy your fall, winter is coming.

I see this view a lot from the airplane. However, on this day it was so beautifully cloud covered.  I thought I’d share this photo.  I was on my way to teach in Muskegon, Michigan for the Patches of the Lakeshore Quilt Guild http://www.patchoflakeshore.com/

The guild holds its workshops at Quilted Memories in Montague, Michigan.  The shop is owned by a lovely woman by the name of Jill. Find out more about Jill’s great shop by going to her website at http://www.quiltedmemoriesmi.com.  The classroom space was fantastic.  Each person had her own table with plenty of room to work.  If you are any where close to this area, you really should stop and check it out.

Montague boosts the world’s largest weather vane.  And I think they may be right.  It’s really big and actually works.

Here are some things we saw around the Montague and Muskegon area.

We don’t have what I call Oreo cows around where we live so I am fascinated with their coloring.

And Lake Michigan is so, so beautiful

We were so happy to find an unpicked pumpkin patch!

An unpicked vineyard….

And, some phenomenal lighthouses.  I’m betting the state of Michigan has the most lighthouses of any of the 50 states.

I had a great visit to Michigan.  I’ve been in Michigan before and I will go back again whenever I am asked.  The people, including Kathy who was my guild contact, are always so pleasant and wonderful to work with.

This week I am off to the Empire State and the leaves in western New York should look like a bowl of Trix!

Each summer I usually give you a report on our vultures.  For those of you who don’t know we have vultures that live in the vacant barn behind our house.  Some people think they are ugly.  But they are harmless and really fun to watch.

I missed the summer update so here is the fall update.  We have a baby vulture.  Check her out.

Here is momma in the bird bath.  As always, I expect she will show the youngster the bird bath as soon as it can fly.  I think we’re going to need a bigger bird bath!

Check out the rabbit under the shrub.  I was sitting looking out the window here at my desk and I thought it was injured.

Glad I was wrong.

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BOOK REVIEW

On our drive last weekend we started listening to the new Lee Child book “Personal”.  It is the 19th in the Jack Reacher series.  I love Jack Reacher.  He is one of my favorite reoccurring characters.  I always look forward to what he will do next.  Jack Reacher is a retired U.S. Military police officer.  He puts his toothbrush in his pants pocket and boards a bus to…….you just never know where he’ll end up.  He is a drifter. He is Sherlock Homeless.  But, you can be assured sooner rather than later he will kick some butt and make the world a better place.  Reacher gets pulled back into a military assignment because he arrested the suspect years earlier and is familiar with some of his habits.  I not only like the character I love the whit of Lee Child.  There are a lot of great (funny) lines that you could miss if you don’t listen closely.  And the reader for this series, Dick Hill, is simply the best.

This weekend I was invited to teach for Judy Fenton at the “Quilting Around Chautauqua” seminar.  www.quiltingaroundchautauqua.com . The event is held at the Chautauqua Institution www.ciweb.org  and I believe it was the eleventh anniversary. It is an absolutely beautiful area along the massive lake.

Day one I taught my Garden Medley workshop.  I had a great bunch of students.  Here they are packing up at the end of the workshop.

The lecture venue was wonderful.  Joe snapped this picture as the attendees were making their way into the lecture hall.

In the mornings it was a bit foggy as we walked around the area.  I am not a big fan of spiders but the webs with the dew are truly incredible.  There literally were thousands of webs…..

We took the girls with us and the Athenaeum Hotel had some pet friendly rooms. This grand hotel had a massive lobby area with fifteen foot ceilings and some of the vendors were set up inside this area.  This impressive old building had a super large wrap around porch with many, many rocking chairs on which to pause, relax and lookout on the grounds and lake.  The hotel rooms themselves could use some updating but the building and views are incredible.

There were around 800 quilts displayed throughout many buildings within this historical community and shuttle buses were busy taxing quilters from place to place because there is very limited parking.  The vendors were scattered around in different buildings and the day was great just to stroll around finding new treasures.  In the building below was a great display of the quilts from Merna Hilbert.

Below are some photos we took as we walked around the Chautauqua Institute.  Some of the houses are privately owned and some are summer rentals.  This will give you a taste of the area.

I’m giving this house the award for the best outside stairway ever.

If you get a chance you should book a trip to next year’s event as you will love it!

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I just received this photo from Judy Wolff who took the Majestic Mosaic workshop this summer at the Creativity Center.  Thanks for sharing Judy.  Your block looks so good.

FYI…the full pattern for the Majestic Mosaic quilt is at the printers.  It should be ready to ship in the next 4 to 6 weeks.  Yippeeee!!

This coming week I am off to Michigan…….

This weekend I had the great, good fortune of teaching at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.  If you have never visited the museum you should make plans to go and if you’ve been there you should make plans to go back.  http://www.quiltmuseum.org

I had a great group of students.  Good looking group…don’t you think?

The workshop space is fantastic.  Lots of light and plenty of table space.

The museum offers different workshops throughout the year.  You really should check it out and treat yourself.  It’s great one-on-one time with your instructor for three days.

While visiting the National Quilt Museum, the staff was hanging a new exhibit “The Quilts of Pat Campbell.” This exhibit will run from September 19 through November 18. Pat had a great influence on many quilters.  I love her work and truly miss her.  The exhibit of her work is fun to see.

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The Charlottesville Area Quilters Guild asked for permission to use my “Midnight Floral Fantasy” pattern (now out of print) for their raffle quilt and of course I said yes.  The quilt is finished and they shared this photo.  They named it “Posies and Pineapples”.  I like the name change and the quilt looks amazing.  I hope you make lots of money ladies and gentlemen.  Thanks for sharing your photo.

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BOOK REVIEW

On my flight to Kentucky I finished reading “One Plus One” by Jojo Moyes.  This is the third book of hers that I have read this year.  Kind of get the idea that I like her?  I won’t rate this as my favorite of her books but I did like it.  It held my interest.  Even though I sometimes think I know where a book is going I cannot stop reading in case I am wrong.  I was right on this one.  Jess and her two kids are on their own.  Her husband left them because he was having trouble adjusting.  Jess cleans houses and works part-time at a local pub trying desperately to make ends meet as her husband sends no support.  Her daughter is a math wiz and her stepson is always getting bullied.  I would recommend this if you like a nice romantic novel.

This weekend I had the privilege of working with the Kenan Quilters Guild in Lockport, New York http://www.kenanquiltersguild.org/  I have worked with this guild before and it remains one of my favorite guilds.  Donna took exceptionally good care of me while I was visiting the guild.  I was treated like a princess.

Since I had previously taught for this guild several members brought their finished projects to share.

Pam Labushesky brought her finished Garden Medley.

Judy also brought her Garden Medley.

And Judy brought her Folk Art Fantasy.

Barb hid behind her finished Folk Art Fantasy.

We had two great days of hand applique classes.

After going out for great food each evening we finished out last evening at Lake Effect Artisan Ice Cream.  It is a fabulous local ice cream shop.  If you are ever in the area make plans to stop.  It was an excellent finish to a great trip.

I would welcome another invitation to go back to Lockport.

This coming week I will be at the National Quilt Museum.

Until next week…….