Karen Kay Buckley

All of the books in this review I read via audio.  And in each case not only did I like the book but the reader was perfect.  I’ve been home for several weeks working on a new quilt and during the sewing process I love to listen to audio books.  When I fell in love with quilting I gave up a lot of my reading time.  But, with audio books I can now do both at the same time.  Excellent.

I kept hearing students in my classes talking about the books by Stieg Larsson, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”.  From what I read, at the rate these books are selling most everyone has already read or is reading this trilogy.  So, I decided I’d better check it out.  The first book in the series had me captivated.  One of  the main characters , Mikael Blomkvist, is a journalist at the wrong end of a libel case.  He is hired to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Harriet Vanger.  Mikael meets our other main character, Lisbeth Salander, who is so very different than him.  Lisbeth has tattoos, piercings, is very petite and a computer wizard.  You will have a hard time putting this book down.

As soon as you finish reading the first book you will want to have the second book in the series in your hands. “The Girl Who Played With Fire”.

And as soon as you finish the second book you’ll want to have the third book in your hands. “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”.  Very interesting characters.  It is so sad that the author, Stieg Larsson passed away before he saw how appreciated he is as a writer and how well his books have been received.

Onto another author.  I do enjoy reading Patricia Cornwell’s book with her character Kay Scarpetta.  Scarpetta is a former medical examiner and forensic analyst.  In this 17th Scarpetta novel Kay finds herself in a plot that includes a famous actor and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess.  All of our favorite characters from the Scarpetta series are joined again to solve the case.

A book I read years ago that I would like to suggest for your reading enjoyment is “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid”.  The author is Bill Bryson.  I listened to this book on audio. The author read his own book.  I love his dry sense of humor.  You will find yourself laughing out loud.   The thunderbolt kid was born in the 1950’s when the author was 6 years old and found a mysterious, scratchy green sweater with a thunderbolt across the chest.  If you like this book you’ll also want to read, by the same author, “A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail”.  Again, you will laugh out loud.  Bill Bryson tells about his walk on the trail with a friend.  Very, very funny.

I just finished reading Clive Cussler’s book “Corsair”.  I think this is the 5th novel by Clive Cussler with this same group of characters.  I like books that have that basic good and evil concept but where there are a lot of incidents to make the journey extremely interesting.  This book takes us to Libya where the U.S. Secretary of State’s plane crashes and she is kidnapped before making it to the summit meeting.  The crew of the Oregon gets caught in some scary places in their rescue attempt.

And my final installment for this book review is one of my very favorites, Janet Evanovich.  I am telling you that you might need to wear Depends while reading this as you could pee your pants.  We are once again treated to Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, and her crazy family and friends, and hot and sexy menfolk.  I don’t know how Janet continues to comes up with these hilarious ideas, but so happy she does.  You will love Lula’ss diet!!

I’m off to Midland, Texas this morning and then to Victoria, Texas the middle of next week.  I’m sure I’ll have some reading time as I fly and wait in the airports.

This past week my travels took me to the eastern shore of Maryland.  Not only do I love the area but I love working with the Bayside Quilters of Eastern Shore.  They are located in Easton, Maryland.  The guild members are all happy because they found a new meeting place at the local fire house.  The large, open and airy room was great for both meetings, lectures and workshops.  This is the 3rd or 4th time they have invited me back.  I thought they would be sick of me by now!  This guild has always been so warm and welcoming.  It makes me want to keep going back, and back, and back….   Now, the fact that on my way to the guild I have to pass, or not pass, the outlets in Queenstown, MD doesn’t hurt at all.  I made my stop at the Chico’s outlet store on the way to the guild.  Not that I needed anything, but that seems to be when I always find good stuff.  When I arrived in Easton on Tuesday evening my guild contact, Janie Kelting, had arranged for the two of us to join some other guild members at a restaurant called “In Japan”.  The chef prepared our food right in front of us on a large open grill and the food was excellent.  It was a very enjoyable evening.  Good company.  Good food.  What more could you ask for?

Before I show you these next 2 pictures I must apologize.  I always get the quilters names before I post their photos.  But, when I took these two photos I forgot to get their names.  So, if you know either of these ladies would you please email me so I can add their names to the blog? I would greatly appreciate it.

This quilter brought her finished project from the last time I was at the Bayside Quilters.  It looked fantastic.  I just love knowing people finish the projects they start in my classes.

And this quilter brought her project that she finished from a class she took from me at Michelle’s Quilt Shop in Hughesville, MD in March.  If you have a spare moment go to my website under the workshop section and look at the colors I used for the “Folk Art Fantasy” quilt.  They were very traditional.  Now, look what this quilter did with the same project.  Amazing how different they look when you use different fabrics. I love these fabric selections.  And both of these quilters did very nice work.

And so, I’ve had another successful and gratifying trip.  Here’s looking to the next adventure which will take me back to Texas.  But, places I have never been before.  I’m always up for a new adventure.

Cheryl Degan from the Austin, Texas area purchased my pattern “Midnight Floral Fantasy” when I taught for her guild.  Cheryl and her twin sister made the quilt together.  I’d say they did a fantastic job and I appreciate them sharing it with me and those of you who view this blog.

In addition to sharing Cheryl’s quilt I wanted to share some more photos I took in my backyard.  Last year we added a patio area to the side of our house.  One of my requests was for some butterfly bushes.  When I was growing up my mom had a butterfly bush planted right outside the bathroom window.  It is a beautiful memory for me.  Since the bush was right on the other side of the glass I could watch the butterflies while they pulled the nectar from the flowers.  They are so delicate and so beautiful.  They work with such gentle grace.  This year I’ve been able to enjoy my own butterfly bushes along with the amazing butterflies.  Here are just a few photos I took this past week.

It does not surprise me when butterflies end up in my quilt designs.

This week I am off to the eastern shore of  Maryland to teach.  I’ve been in this wonderful area several times and look forward to going back.

The visitors I’m talking about are not the kind you might think.

There have been some interesting birds, animals and insects around my house this summer.  And thank goodness they have all been outside!  This spring the vultures had their babies in the vacant barn behind our house.  These are some really big birds.  One Saturday morning Joe and I watched as the mother bird was attempting to get one of her babies to fly.  The mother and baby where on the roof of the garage, close to the edge.  The mother was very gently pushing the baby towards the edge in an attempt to get it to fly.  The baby would take a very tiny step over, then another very tiny step over towards the edge, look down and push the mother back to where they had started.  This continued for over an hour.  It was very entertaining.  We’d not seen the vultures much during the summer but all of a sudden they started coming into the birdbath to drink the water. My dogs, Sasha and Tillie, do not like these backyard visitors because they are bigger than my dogs!

We might have to think about a bigger bird bath!  It seems like the line of a joke could be forming here…How many vultures does it take the fill a bird bath?

Our next group of visitors moved in under our front porch.  There are a lot of people who advised that we kill them, but Joe and I think they are too cute and could never kill them.  As I work in my computer I see the little groundhogs out on the porch, almost every day.  They are so darn cute.  Just look at that cute face peaking over the edge of the porch.

And sometimes the family hangs out together.  Come on…really…I could never kill them.  They make me smile every day when I see them relaxing or playing on the porch.

Now, from Joe’s window he sees this.  Joe calls me from the kitchen when the hummingbirds come in and I walk very slowly over to the window and with the glass between us I am only inches away from the hummingbirds. Nature never ceases to amaze me.  We get some of the biggest and some of the smallest birds in our yard.

People always ask me what influences my work and where do I get my ideas.  It’s all around me.  I just need to see it.   I can honestly tell you that I don’t think the vultures or the groundhogs will end up in one of my quilts.  But, who knows….

My husband, Joe, just returned from what he described as an excellent week of fishing in Alaska.  They fished 15 hours a day because it was light all but 4 hours every day.  So, why waste time sleeping when you can fish!  I really wanted to share with you some of the photographs Joe took. The views are breathtaking.

This whale came right up beside the boat!

Check out the little baby bear.

And of course momma bear.

And the main reason for the trip.

The halibut and salmon that Joe brought home taste fantastic.

Here are some of my recent reads.

In Lisa Scottoline’s recent book, “Think Twice”, Bennie Rosato, who is a reoccurring character in Scottoline’s books, falls into some difficult times.  Bennie has her own law firm in Philadelphia, PA.  In this book Bennie’s identical twin sister, Alice, drugs her, buries her alive and then tires to take over her life.  Now that is what I call “Having a bad day”.  I enjoy reading Scottoline’s books with Bennie and several other reoccurring  characters to see what new challenges they face.

Another of my favorite authors is Lee Child.  He also has a reoccurring character, Jack Reacher.  I love Reacher.  Reacher is the kind of person you want as your friend.  Reacher is an ex-military cop and in my opinion he really takes care of the “wrong doers”.  In this book he ends up in South Dakota in the freezing cold protecting a retired librarian who is a witness in a major trial.  What I enjoy about Lee Child is that he knows how to keep me wanting more.  I always have a hard time putting his books down.  I can hardly wait to see what Reacher does next.  If he hits you, you are going to know it.  So, don’t make Reacher mad.  The world really needs more men like Reacher.

It had been many years since I read one of Pat Conroy’s books.  And then I read that this was his first book in 14 years.  Now I know why I had not read one of his books in awhile!  I enjoy Conroy’s use of the English language.  He has a way of describing things that is different, interesting and perfect.  In this book Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist Leopold Bloom King narrates his story about his hometown of Charleston, S.C.   Leopold learns a lot about himself, his family and friends through his journey.  This character had some very difficult issues to face.

David Baldacci is definitely one of my top 20 favorite writers.  This book is a sequel to “The Whole Truth” which Baldacci wrote in 2008.  Shaw, from the previous book, meets a new character, Reggie Campion as they are trying to rid the world of evil people.  I listened to this book and thought the reader, Ron McLarty was the perfect choice to read this book.  This book was cleverly written.  Once Baldacci had me pulled into these characters I had a hard time taking breaks from reading as I wanted to see who survived and who did not.  If you ever see me just sitting in my car it could be because I am waiting to find out what is happening or going to happen next.

Here goes…another of my favorite authors, seriously, is Harlan Coben.  Someone recommended his books to me many years ago.  He wrote a series of books with a reoccurring character named Myran Bolitar, who is a sports agent.  I like that character and enjoy reading that series but I have to admit I like Coben’s other books better.   He keeps my interest all the way through his books.  The title of his most recent book is “Caught”.  The main character in this book, Wendy Tynes is a TV reporter on a mission to identify sexual predators using sting operations.  As Wendy traps Dan Mercer, who she thinks is a sexual predator, things take a major turn.  This book kept me in suspense.  I like it when the author takes a turn that I was not expecting.  This is a book I really did not want to put down and when I arrived in Maine on my most recent trip I sat in my hotel room on the first night and finished reading this book which I had started in the airport.
One of the best gifts my husband ever gave me is my Sony Personal Reader.  It’s great because I can load tons of books on it and not add a lot of weight to my carry-on luggage.  And as the years go on I’m finding that I like the fact that I can enlarge the print size.  Great feature.  It also had a back light in case everyone else on the plane wants to sleep but I still want to keep reading to find out who done it!  I do find that using the back light uses the battery much faster than if I don’t use the light.  At first I thought I would miss the feel of the paper pages, but you know, I don’t miss it at all.

My most recent adventure took me to Augusta, Maine.  I was invited by the Pine Tree Quilters Guild to teach at their show in Augusta.  The Pine Tree Quilters Guild boasts 2,268 members.  That’s a lot of members.  These members come from 76 Chapters throughout the state of Maine.  The purpose of this non-profit group is to introduce people to the art and craft of quilting, educate people about quilting and to raise the standard of quilting in Maine.  And with their show they have achieved their goals.  The show offered a vast number of quilts to view, many wonderful vendors and of course my reason for being there….lots of great classes and lectures.  I received the honor of having the first ever sold out lecture.  That made me feel very good.  Thanks to everyone who attended.

During preparation for the show and at the show most of my dealings were with the show coordinator, Nancy Zienkiewicz.  What a lovely woman.  I love people who are organized and Nancy is one of the most organized people ever.  She does a fantastic job.  While at the show I also worked with the president of the guild, Karen Keeler.  I never saw either Nancy or Karen without a smile on their face.  And I never saw them sitting down.  They were always on the move helping do a multitude of things.  Thanks to Karen and Nancy for all of their hard work and I’m sure they had tons of help from volunteers and their committees.

Below are some of my favorite quilts from the show.

This first quilt, made by Jo Bunker of Auburn, Maine, had some fabulous hand applique and it was hand quilted.  The most impressive piece of information I learned about this quilt is that it was quilted on a 14″ hoop!  Amazing.

“Star Bright, Make a Wish Upon a Star Tonight” was made by Diane Dixon of Palermo, Maine.  It is paper pieced and machine quilted.  I do love a black background.

“Robinson Point” was made by Bonita Ware from Delaware, Ohio.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  Maine was the perfect show to exhibit this quilt, or any show really.

“Falling” was made by Janet-Lee Santeusanio of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.

The quilting is what really caught my eye.  Beautiful.

I take the month of August off from traveling so I can get some of my own sewing done.  Here’s hoping I get lots done.  I’m starting on a new quilt and also working on a new pattern.

A couple of weeks ago I taught a workshop I call “Oriental Garden”.  The block design I taught is from my pattern called “Japanese Garden Quilt”.  One of my students, Ann Walls, decided to turn hers into a pillow which she named “Florida Garden”.  In this workshop we learned machine applique that looks like it was sewn by hand.  It’s very hard to tell it was sewn on the machine unless you get really, really close.  And we also learned to make a covered cording, which Ann has sewn along the edge of the circle.

Ann wanted to use her pillow in the room where her “Florida Quilt” is displayed.  The wall quilt was designed by Judy Hansen.

Thank you Ann for sharing your finished project.  I love to see finished projects.

Quilt Odyssey, held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and only 45 minutes from my house, is one of my favorite quilt seminars and shows.  One of the reasons I love this show is because of the show’s organizer, Missy Molino.  Missy is one of the nicest people I have ever met.  And she takes great care of her teachers.  From the luxurious hotel rooms, to the large, well lit classrooms, to the help provided by her and her staff and the unending supply of Hershey’s chocolate…..it all makes for a great experience for the teachers and the students.  One of the highlights of this show is “Show and Tell” on Saturday evening.  I am fortunate to be able to travel and attend a lot of fabulous seminars but I think the Saturday night event at Quilt Odyssey is the most highly attended “Show and Tell” of all.  One of the reasons it is so highly attended is because of the hostesses/M.C.s, Mimi Deitrich and Norma Campbell.  They are so entertaining.  There are lots of door prizes and Mimi and Norma keep everyone laughing.  This year Norma brought a few photos of her new grandchild for everyone to see.

Below you can see some of my favorite quilts exhibited in the show.  The first quilt is called “Pennsylvania Palette” and was made by Wendy Caton Reed from Bath, Maine.  It really did remind me of the antique Pennsylvania quilts and the circles were “perfect!”

This pictorial piece is called “Pass it On”.  The maker is Kathy McNeil from Washington.  The quilt you see on the bottom right warps around from the back. (The entire back of this pictorial project is this quilt design. Awesome idea!!!)  The depth perspective on this quilt is wonderful and it had many fun details. This quilt won the Best Pictorial by Machine award.

This next quilt, Heron Happiness, was also made by  Kathy McNeil.   Great fabric choices on this quilt and the workmanship was wonderful.  Maybe that is why it won 1st place in the Appliqued Wall Quilt category.

The background quilting on this wall quilt was incredible.

This quilt just made me smile.  It is called “Marblemania” and was made by Linda French from Centerville, Ohio.

All of the marbles had cute little faces.

This wall quilt was awarded my judges choice award.  The name of this quilt is “Aunt Hettie’s Doily” and the maker is Becky Weiland from King of Prussia, PA.   I loved the fabric choices and the designs.  Nicely done Becky.

If you are looking for a great seminar to attend next summer check out Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA.  While you are looking at amazing quilts, taking classes and shopping in the vendors mall your family can see the sites in Hershey.  Hershey Park can keep the kids occupied for days!  For more information about next year’s show go to www.quiltodyssey.com

My most recent adventure took me to the Laguna Beach and Huntingdon Beach areas in California.  When I arrived at the Orange County airport Pam picked me up and took me on a wonderful tour of the Laguna Beach area.  After lunch we stopped at the Sawdust Festival.  www.sawdustartfestival.org This was my second time to walk through this festival.  I was lucky enough to go to this art festival last year when I taught in Long Beach.  It is a large show that features only local artists.  If you live in or visit this part of the world, the Sawdust Festival is definitely worth a stop.   We then proceeded to the coast.  We stopped at the Montage hotel and walked through their fantastic gardens.  Here are some of the things I saw on my walk.

The flora in California is very different from that which I see in Pennsylvania.

This is an amazingly intricate metal gate designed by a local artist.  It is so beautiful and located in the rear grounds of the Montage hotel.  You can see more amazing photos of the Montage at www.montagelagunabeach.com

And of course another thing you cannot see in Pennsylvania is the ocean and  I love the ocean.  I once had a lady ask me when I was in North Carolina at the beach why I did not go to the beach in Pennsylvania.  I guess she did not know her geography!

The two guilds I visited were the Flying Geese Quilters in Irvine www.flyinggeese.net and the Orange Grove Quilters Guild located in Garden Grove, California www.orangegrovequiltersguild.com

At my first workshop with the Flying Geese Quilters one of the students, Kathy Tamosaitis, came up to me and asked if she could show me a project she completed in a workshop she took with me when she lived in Delaware.  Of course I could hardly wait to see it.  We don’t need to mention how long ago because Kathy and I are not that old!  Thanks for sharing Kathy.  Very well done.

My visit with both guilds was wonderful.  I have not received so many fantastic compliments on the workshops and lectures ever.

One of my favorite stories is about some of the ladies from the Orange Grove guild.  When I was teaching last July for the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach five ladies from the guild took one of my workshops.  When these ladies came in to the classroom they moved one chair in the row of 4 seats so all 5 of them could sit together.  I did not realize they all knew each other and told them they did not need to squish together as there was plenty of room for just 2 people per table.  But they told me they all knew each other and wanted to sit together.  At the end of the class they came up to me and said we voted during class today.  And I said, “About what?’  They told me they were all on the board of the Orange Grove Quilters Guild and they voted to have me come to their guild!  Since I was already scheduled to teach and lecture for the Flying Geese Guild in Irvine they asked if I would also come to their guild. They told me the guild did not normally meet in July, but if I would agree to come they’d happily make an exception.  That made me feel really good.  It was a pleasure to work with everyone involved in this adventure.  I am already dreaming about my next trip to their little piece of heaven.