Karen Kay Buckley

‘”When Flowers Bloom” was made by Linda T. Cooper from Virginia.  She won Judge’s Choice.  It’s hard to appreciate this quilt in a photograph.  The flowers are suspended inside the circles.  As the air moves, the flowers rotate.  Very interesting concept and very unique.  To find out more about Linda visit her website http://www.lindacooperquilts.com/

“Breaking Wind” was made by Peggy Kragnes.  She won Best Innovative Quilt.

“Tulip Serenade” was made by Barbara Clem from Illinois.  She won 3rd place in the Large Mixed Techniques category.

“Exuberance” was made by Marilyn Badger.  She won 2nd place in the Mixed Techniques category.

“Space Wonder” was made by Beth Nufer and Clem Buzik.  They won 2nd place in the Two Person Group category.  To find out more about Beth visit her website at http://www.bethnufer.com/

“Dragon Dynasty 1” was made by Nancy LeBow and group.  It won first place in the Group Quilt category.

“Stars on Mars” was made by Gail Stepanek and Jan Hutchinson.  They won Best Artistry in Longarm.

Until next week…..

Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA took place a couple of weeks ago. https://server7.pacecomputing.com/quiltodysseycom/www/ I’m finally getting around to blogging about some of the beautiful quilts that were hanging in the show.

The first photo is of my friend Nancy Simmons’ quilt called “My Retirement Compass”.  Nancy won the Best Traditional Quilt category.  I am so proud of her.

The second photo is also a friend of mine, Kathy McNeil.  Kathy made “Jingle Bells” which won Judge’s Choice and Viewer’s Choice.  Way to go Kathy.

Joanne Webb made “Heralds of Spring”.  She won first place in the large applique category.

“Murdererskill Crossing” was made by Janet Atkins.  She won an honorable mention in the Large Applique category.

Barbara Korengold made “Zeruah’s Legacy”.  She won third place in the large applique category.  I found this interesting site if you would like to find out more about Barbara’s work http://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/barbara-korengold-on-applique-quilts/

The Best Machine Quilting award was given to Cindy Seitz-Krug for “A Splendid Display”.  To find out more about Cindy visit http://quintessentialquilting.com/about-cindy/about-cindy.html

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BOOK REVIEW

While sewing this week, I listened to “Buried Prey” by John Sandford.  This is one of the Lucas Davenport series.  When the bodies of two young girls are found buried……Lucas knows exactly how long they have been buried.  It relates to a very early case he worked in Minneapolis as a young cop.  He was part of a massive effort to find two kidnapped girls…bodies were never found and the case was closed.  With the finding of the bodies, Lucas can now uncover the truth.

Until next week…..

There were just so many good photos from the Colorado trip I needed to share some more.

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BOOK REVIEW

I am a David Baldacci fan.  The two main characters, Will Robie and Jessica Reel, are skilled assassins working for the government.  Their paths have not crossed often.  Then Reel goes rogue turning her gun sights on their agency.  Robie is assigned the task of bringing Reel in…dead or alive.    It held my interest as I was preparing applique edges at the iron for hours.  It makes the applique preparation time seem to go faster and is a great distraction.

On September 18-20, I will be teaching a three day workshop at the National Quilt Museum.  I am teaching Fiesta Mexico Block Six, from my pattern “Fiesta Mexico”.  Come join me.  To find out more go to http://quiltmuseum.org/Buckley.html

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I have so many great photos from the Colorado trip. I wanted to share some more with you.  Enjoy!

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BOOK REVIEW

I think I am a little behind on the Janet Evanovich….. Stephanie Plum series.  I think there is one more in the series after this one.  I need to get my act together and get caught up!  Do you ever have a day when you just want to listen/read something that you don’t really need to think about but will make you laugh?  Well, that’s the mood I was in today.  So, I decided to listen to “Takedown Twenty” and I actually laughed out loud several times while I was sewing and listening.  All I am going to say is….giraffe poop!

Here are some photos I took while in Colorado.  There is so much beauty.  It takes your breath away.

We stopped at this fantastic quilt shop.

Best door knob ever!

I still have more from Colorado to share with you next week.  There was a lot to see and do in the short time we were there.

Until next week……

“Sew Silly City” was made by Barbara Rowe and The Sew Silly Sisters.  This quilt won second place in the Group Quilt Category.

“Gazania Mania” was made by Colleen Harvey.  Colleen won first place in the Pieced Small category.

“Birthday Star” was made by Debra Geissler.

Debra won Best Long/Mid Arm Quilting, Free Motion.  For more information on Debra visit http://www.debrageissler.com/index.php

“Vintage Memories” was made by Jan Hutchison.  Jan won second place in the Two Person Large category.

Sharon Schlotzhauer made “Almost Squared Away”.

She won first place in the Modern Quilt category.  To find out more about Sharon visit her website http://www.sharonlschlotzhauer.com/

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Mary Ramsey took my Fiesta Mexico-Block Nine workshop and sent me this photo.  It is her first ever hand applique project.  I am very impressed.  I wish I had started off this good with my hand applique.

See you next week…..

Before I even started teaching Pat Edsall came walking into my classroom to share her finished “Around the Garden” quilt.  Pat used my pattern but made a few changes.  She did a lot more embroidery where I did some painting.  Great job Pat.  Love it!!!!  That was a lot of work…this I know.

Here are some quilts from Quilt Colorado.  There were a lot of great quilts.  Just so you know…the backdrops at the show were blue.  So, you will see blue around the outside of many of the quilts….it’s just the backdrop.

“Sunlit Circles” was made by Ann Peterson.  She won the Best Home Machine Quilting award and first place in the Pieced Large category.  If you Google Ann Petersen quilter you’ll find lots more information on Ann.

Ellen Palmer made “Palmer Lake Cabin”.    Ellen won second place in the Modern Quilt category.

Phoenix of Rising Hope” was made by Joan Musick.  To find more about Joan visit her website http://www.joanmusick.com

Teresa Rives made “Hosanna in the Highest”.

“Military Career Quilt” was made by Busaba McDermott.  I think it is the best memory quilt I have ever seen.

The quilt was at an add spot to take a photo so I did my best. The photo transfers were amazing.

It was made for a retirement for a brave Navy Seal Team member. Thank you so much to a true American hero for your service!

“Second Encounter” was made by Shirley Gisi.  She won first place in Mixed Media/Art Innovative and she also won Best Use of Color.  If you would like to find out more about Shirley Google her name and you find out lots more.

Next week I’ll have more quilts to share from the show  See you next week.

Carla Byrom sent me this photo of her finished block.  She just took the Majestic Mosaic class when I taught at the Creativity Center in La Grange, TX.  Great job Carla!  I love the machine embroidery that you added to the block. Excellent idea.

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Here are some photos from our garden.

See anything interesting in the photo below?  He blends in nicely.

Joe and I were fascinated by this caterpillar on the tomato plants.  If you are a gardener you are thinking, really, you are fascinated by this.  Well, truth be told, we have two tomato plants and we don’t know a lot about gardening.  We are thinking this caterpillar will turn into a beautiful butterfly or moth.

I googled “tomato caterpillar” and come to find out this is a “Tomato Hornworm”.  The name alone does not sound good to me.  As I read more….I find that this caterpillar eats the plants and the tomatoes leaving us with nothing.  Well, now I am not liking this little guy so much.  We removed them from the tomato plants and placed them far away from the plants.  Hopefully they will survive and turn into beautiful moths.

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BOOK REVIEW

I REALLY, REALLY, LIKED THIS BOOK.  Sixteen year old Laurel witnesses a crime committed by her mother.  About 50 years later Laurel has become a successful actress.  She lives in London.  The family is all coming back to the farm, where she witnessed the crime, to celebrate her mother’s 90th birthday.  This incident, explained away by her parents when she was a child, has haunted her for years.  She searches for some answers.  I loved the character development and I always like when unexpected things happen.  You won’t regret putting this on you reading list.

During my visit to Texas, while teaching at the Creativity Center, we took a road trip in the middle of the afternoon.  This is something I don’t usually do in the middle of a workshop.  But, I have to tell you it was one of the best road trips ever.

We went to the Texas Quilt Museum.  www.TexasQuiltMuseum.org

The museum is located in La Grange, Texas.  The museum was an idea and goal of its founders for decades.  The founders took thousands of great quilts to International Quilt Festival (www.quilts.com) in Houston each year since 1974.  Since the annual show only allowed people to view a small collection of their quilts for a short time they wanted a place where more people could view the quilts for longer periods.  They found this wonderful 19th century building.

It took two years to restore the building.  During my visit the back room had a small collection of antique quilts.

The main exhibit was in the front of the building.  I love the old original stone walls.  What a great backdrop for the quilts.

During my visit, it was the final day of the Butterfly exhibit.  There were fifty some artists’ work exhibited in this collection of magnificent quilts.  When you visit the museum website you can find more information and about the book of this exhibit which is now available.

This is one of Velda Newman’s amazing quilts.  To find out more about Velda go to www.veldanewman.com/gallery.html

What a fabulous mural on the side of the building.

Right beside the museum is the most amazing quilt and yarn shop.  www.thequiltedskein.com

As you walk in the door it is a color explosion.  I thought I died and went to heaven.

Best quilt shop sign ever.

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BOOK REVIEW

My girlfriend gave me James Patterson’s book “Unlucky 13” on audio.

Good book to listen to while driving.  It held my interest but was not too involved that I missed any of my turns!  Detective Lindsay Boxer and her Murder Club friends are always finding trouble.  This time they are being stalked by a killer.  There are three story lines, none hard to follow.

Hope you find some good summer reads.

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Vicki Mangum took the two day workshop at the Creativity Center and sent me this photo.  She is just about finished with her machine applique.  Way to go Vicki!!!!

Until next week…..

It’s true what they say about Southern hospitality.  Linda picked me up from the airport and she had a very nice gift for me as I got into her truck.  She presented me with two of her handmade scarfs.  She could not decide on a color so she made me two!  What a great way to start my trip.  We drove for a little over two hours to get to our destination.

I had the honor of teaching at the Creativity Center in LaGrange, Texas this past weekend.  This is the building where the workshop was held. In addition to the large, fabulous classroom there are also some sleeping quarters and a small kitchen area.

About 20 steps away was this cute building where there were more sleeping quarters.  It was like a really nice bed and breakfast.  And I got the green room…my favorite color.  I consider green a neutral!

I like to go out for a walk in the morning.  Each morning the neighbor’s dogs made me part of their herd.  They were really sweet old girls.  Great walking buddies.

What a great place to walk and clear your head.

Look at this fantastic classroom.  Lots of space to work.

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BOOK REVIEW

I recently finished listening to Sue Grafton’s’, “W is for Wasted”.

It had been a while since I read/listened to a Sue Grafton book.  This is the 23rd in her alphabet series and I am pretty sure I have read all of them.  Kinsey Millhone is a comfortable character to come back to.  The book starts off explaining how the death of two men changed Kinsey’s life.  One of them she knew and one she met in the morgue.  It’s good for me to have a book to listen to that is enjoyable but not too intense when I am driving.  This fit the bill perfectly.  (If the book is too intense I miss my exit!)

Next week I’ll share photos from the road trip we took in the middle of the day Saturday.  It’s unusual to take a road trip during a workshop.  And this was one of the best road trips ever.  You’ll have to come back next week to find out more.