Karen Kay Buckley

I’ve listened to and read several good books recently and thought I’d share them with you.  The first one I listened to was “Stay Close” by Harlan Coben. If you read my blog you know that Harlan Coben is one of my favorite authors.  This is another one of his mystery/thriller books which I like the best.  The three main characters, Meg, a suburban mom with 2 children, great husband and the white picket fence house; Ray, her high school boyfriend who has had some difficult years and even though he was a talented photographer he is now working for a fake paparazzo company and Jack, the detective who cannot let go of a cold case.  Each person has secrets and as the book evolves the secrets creep out.  There were some good twists in this book.  I liked it a lot.

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A friend of mine, Laura, recommended a book to me, “Whistin’ Dixie in a Nor’Easter” by Lisa Patton.  Thank you Laura.  I really liked this book.  It was light reading.  This would be a great beach read.  The main character, Leelee Satterfield has two young daughters, is happily married and living in the south where Leelee has lived her entire life.  Her husband has this wild idea that he would like to own and operate a B&B.  He finds a B&B in Vermont and Leelee agrees to move.  After living in the south her entire life this is a very big adjustment.  Leelee leaves behind her 3 best friends and finds herself working long and hard to make a go of the B&B.  I liked this book so much and was so invested in the characters that I purchased her next book.

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This past week I was lucky enough to be invited as the guest artist/speaker for the annual show held at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio.  My entire experience there, from beginning to end, was wonderful.  Jeffery and Rebecca picked me up at the airport.  Two nicer people you will never meet.  The drive from Fort Wayne to Archbold was one large, beautiful farm after another.  The fields are all plowed and the surrounding area is so green.

My first evening Linda, who owns the quilt shop in Sauder Village, came to pick me up and take me to see the quilts.  There were 400 quilts on display.  The show had a great variety..from traditional to contemporary.  And there were a lot of large quilts.  Here are just a couple of my favorites.

Diana Trost made this fabulous quilt.  The applique and quilting were phenomenal.

This cute quilt was made by Kathy Vermillion.  The name of the quilt is “Happy Hauntings”.

This very nice traditional quilt was made by Dorothy Jones.  The name of the quilt is “Churn Dash”.

Another quilt made by Diana Trost called “Sue in Pink” was really well made and just a sweet quilt.

This eye-catching bargello style quilt called “Diamonds Jubilee” was made by Rita Trumball.  Love the black and white combination.

Talk about an eye-catching quilt.  “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” was made by Joan Reber.  This is a very impressive quilt.

I loved the border treatment.

Ruth Royer made this wonderful scrap quilt called “With A Little Help From My Friends”.  I understand Ruth’s friends gave her some fabrics to offer more variety in her quilt.

Sue Gruber made “Sunset Reflections”.  This was a very nice pictorial quilt.

Every winner at this show receives a commemorative plate.  This year the plate had one of my block designs from the “Japanese Garden” pattern on it.  How cool is that?  The story behind the plate is that in Sauder Village they have a potter and each year he makes plates to be given to each winner. Each year the plates have a different design.  Great idea.

So, what is Sauder Village?  In 1976 Erie Sauder opened Sauder Village.  His vision was to educate children and families about the hard work and determination of their pioneer ancestors.  On the grounds there are around 35 different buildings.  Many of the building have a person inside, dressed in pioneer attire, talking about what is in their building.  For example, I stopped in the glass works building and the herb shop.  I also stopped in the basket shop to see how they made their baskets and the potters shop.

There is also a working farm on the location which was one of my favorite stops.  Check out the baby pigs.  So cute.  (In case you wonder about the bright light in the background.  It is a space heater.)

I loved the chickens.  They are beautiful.

And the sheep.

Here are some photos of the ladies hard at work in one of my four workshops.

And here are my students from the Ocean Sunrise workshop with all of their blocks on the wall behind them.  This group had the most finished blocks of any previous Ocean Sunrise workshop.  There were some real overachievers in this workshop.  My kind of people. This was a very talented group of ladies.

One day in class I had a student who had taken the Garden Medley workshop with me a while ago.  She brought her finished quilt to share.  I think her name is Betty.  I hope I got that right.

And then two ladies from the Maple Leaf Quilters Guild from Goshen, Ohio brought their raffle quilt top to share.  They used my “Japanese Garden Quilt” pattern.  It took my breath away.  I love it.

I not only loved the quilt but was so excited when I saw what they used for their stems.  I used soutache trim which is becoming difficult to find.  These ladies used rick-rack and hand couched it on for their stems.  Great idea.  I loved it.

I think from all the photos in this blog you can tell that I had a fabulous time in Archbold.  I owe a great big thank you to Linda Rufenacht from the quilt shop at Sauder Village, Threads of Tradition Quilt Shop.  To find out more about the shop and see photos of the shop go to http://www.saudervillage.org/Shopping/quiltshop.asp  The shop is really, really nice.  If you are ever in the area plan to spend a good part of the day going to the shop and then going through the village.  You won’t regret it.

I’m off to Maryland tomorrow.  Talk to you when I return.

Before the seminar started I had a free morning.  Many years ago Joe and I had been to the Monterey Aquarium and I remembered how incredible it was so I decided to spend my free time at the aquarium.  It was better than I remembered.  If you are ever in the Monterey area this is a stop you don’t want to miss.

Joe said my photos were just like what he sees when diving in the kelp beds off the Monterey Coast.  But, I did not have to get wet to see mine!

This leopard shark does not look too big, but I still would not want to pet him.

The prawns made me hungry for lunch!

This is the first time I have seen live sand dollars.  I’ve found their shells on the beach at the Outer Banks many times.  But never before had I seen them live.

Tube annemonies and red star fish

Hard coral, blue tangs, anthias, and pennant butterfly fish.

Brittle Star below.

Oh, these penguins were so darn cute.

The jelly fish exhibit was one of my favorite exhibits.

And the sea horse exhibit was another phenomenal exhibit.  The large object in the center of the photo below is not seaweed.  It is a sea horse.  Boy does he have good camouflage.

What a great time at the aquarium.  I loved every minute of it.

This week I am off to Ohio.  I’ll fill you in when I get back.

Suzanne Cox, one of the seminar organizers for the Empty Spools seminar, offers a wonderful tour on 17 mile drive to some of the newbies in the group, of which I was one.  So, I took advantage of Suzanne’s generous offer.  It’s much better to view it as a passenger and Suzanne had the scoop on the good stuff like ……where Brad Pitt’s house is located in Carmel, (bummer that he was not home) and where Clint Eastwood lived, etc.  We were lucky to have a sunny afternoon for our drive along the coast.  In the photo below, I know they are hard to see, but there are seals all over the lower portion of the rocks.  I could hear them talking as I took the photo.

The next two shots are on the Pebble Beach golf course.  Nice place to golf if you can afford it.  I was told it costs about $500 to stay at the hotel per night and maybe $1,000 for a round of golf. I don’t know that for a fact…just rumor.

I understand this Frank Lloyd Wright design house is for sale.  I’m pretty sure I could not afford it.  I think I’d be short many millions of dollars.

As is clear from the photos, the drive was one fabulous view after another.  I am so thankful Suzanne offered to drive and that we had such great weather.

We completed classes on Friday at lunch time.  Since I had all afternoon to play it seemed like a good time to visit the local quilt shop in Pacific Grove, Back Porch Fabrics.  I know different people judge a quilt shop on many things but my main things are service and appearance.  From the moment I walked into the shop I was welcomed and the shop had a glow and energy about it that was captivating.  And on top of that the owner, Gail Abeloe, was just an absolutely wonderful and bubbly person.  You can find out more about the shop at www.backporchfabrics.com.  Below are photos from the shop.  I loved the high ceilings and the displays were very eye-catching.

Next week I have some photos to share from the Monterey Aquarium.  Now that place is just full of inspiration.

On my way to the Empty Spools seminar I had to change planes in San Francisco.  Going from one terminal to the next I found this wonderful exhibit of antique sewing machines and old tools used for sewing. Check out this beauty.

Check out this exhibit of old scissors, threads and holders.  I loved the holders.  Birds seem to be a popular choice.

I loved seeing all of the old sewing machines.

And look at this amazing antique chatelaine.

OK, the planes were all on time and an exhibit of sewing items at the airport……..I’m off to a good start.

The Empty Spools Seminar in Asilomar, California was an incredibly wonderful experience. During my travels over the past many years other quilting teachers have told me this is one of the very best venues.  Every single thing I was told was true but it was even better in person.  The location along the coast is breathtaking.  The organizers were fabulous.  My students were kind and appreciative.  The food was very tasty. I had a truly amazing week.

Asilomar State Beach and Conference Center covers 107 acres along California’s Monterey Peninsula.  The buildings have a rustic feel.  Here is the front of the dinning hall.

But inside you’ll find all of the modern amenities.

And even though the exterior of our lodging buildings were rustic in appearance we had very clean rooms and very comfortable beds.  The rooms were very similar to those at a hotel except for one major electronic device was missing.  There were no televisions!  Glad I have TVo at home!

I walked around the conference grounds early every morning.  Here are just a couple of things I saw in the morning.  It really was worth getting up for my morning walks.  The views were far different from what I see when I walk at home in Pennsylvania.

Nice start to my days, don’t you think?  I only forgot my camera one day.  And of course that is the day I saw a herd of deer.  As I was walking and the sun was just below the horizon I heard a loud noise/movement very, very close to me.  After I peed my pants I saw a herd of deer.  They were inches away from me.  Oh, I wished I’d had my camera that morning.  After we each startled each other was just stood still and looked at each other for awhile.  Ahhhh.

I’ll be blogging about more of my adventures in California in my next blog.  Stay tuned.

I just returned from teaching for the quilt guild in Annapolis. If you live anywhere near the Annapolis area you’ll want to check out this guild http://www.annapolisquiltguild.org/index.html.  What a great group of ladies.  And the program chair, Carla, was such a wonderful and well organized person which always makes my job easier.  Carla and I celebrate the same wedding anniversary, right down to the year.  It’s a small world.

One of the things I love is being asked back to a guild.  That is always a good sign.  Here are a couple of photos from our second day of workshops.

We took several of the blocks and taped them on the wall, even if they did not all look great together, to show what each person made during class.

Thank you ladies for making it another memorable trip to Annapolis.

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The middle of the week I was at Everybody’s Quilt Guild in Westminster, MD. Another fabulous guild which I have previously visited.  It was really, really nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd.  One member had her quilt finished from a previous workshop “Folk Art Fantasy” and shared it at show and tell.  If you read my blog you know how much I love showing finished projects.

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Book Review

On the ride to Annapolis I finished listening to “Cross Fire” by James Patterson.  A very good James Patterson book.   I like the reoccurring character, Detective Alex Cross.  Alex is plagued by his old nemesis, Kyle Craig.  Kyle is a very bad person.  How Kyle comes back into Alex’s life is very interesting.  The other main story line has Alex trying to find some assassins.  Your attention will be held with all the action and suspense in this book.

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This week I am off to Asilomar, CA to teach for the Empty Spools seminar.  This seminar has been on my so called bucket list for many years.  I was so excited when they invited me to teach.  I have heard nothing but good things about this seminar.  I am certain it is all true and it is on the BEACH.  Until next week…..

On Saturday I taught for the Friendship Quilters in Hagerstown, MD.  This is another guild that if I lived just a little closer to Hagerstown I would want to be part of this guild.  Over the years,  I have lectured and presented workshops to this guild on several occasions and their members work so well together.  The person in charge of programs has been dealing with a family illness and the other ladies from the guild jumped right in and took care of everything.  That’s what I love about being part of this community…we care about each other and always seem to find time to lend a helping hand.  It warms my heart.  Thanks ladies for making my trip to your guild a very enjoyable experience.  And I hope to share some photos of the ladies finished projects in a future blog because several of them were very close to finishing their tops by the end of the day.  For for information about the Friendship Quilters Guild in Hagerstown visit their website at http://www.fqgmd.org/

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I have just a couple more photos to share with you of some quilts I saw while at the AQS show in Lancaster.

This quilt was made by Susan J. Cane of Connecticut. She won second place in the Wall Quilts sewn on a home sewing machine category.  Susan made this quilt after taking a class with Katie Paquini and based it on a photograph taken by her husband.

Christine Wickert from New York made “Monticello Baskets”.  It won second place in the Wall Quilts-Hand Quilted category. Hand quilted!  It’s been a while since I have seen a quilt this size hand quilted.  And it was very nicely done.

And it was heavily quilted along with trapunto.

“Fusion” was made by Patricia Lamfer from Colorado. I like the unique shape of the quilt and the fabric choices were wonderful.  It had great contrast.

And the rest of the quilts I wanted to share are just a few from Karen K. Stone’s special exhibit at the show.  I have been a fan of Karen’s quilts for a very long time.  Seeing so many of her quilts in one exhibit was inspiring and breathtaking.  You can find out more about Karen at http://www.karenkstone.com/

This first quilt of Karen’s is called ‘Summer Nights” and was made in 1992.  What a fabulous layout for a Log Cabin block.

“Ranella’s Surprise” was made in 2011.  Fabulous border treatment.  Karen carried the use of many elements from the center to the border which created a beautifully balanced quilt.

“Prickle Fish” is a play on the block called Pickle Dish.  Karen made this in 1996.

A nice close-up shot.

Karen has a real knack for using a very large variety of fabrics and creating wonder quilts.  Thanks for sharing your quilts Karen.  I loved the exhibit.

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My friend loaned me her audio book, “Private” by James Patterson.  If I was giving this book stars, from one to five, I’d give it a three.  This is one of James Patterns books that he co-authored with Maxine-Paetro.  It is certainly not the normal James Patterson style so if you read many of his books, as I do, you might be a little disappointed.  If you go in with the attitude that it’s not a James Patterson book I think you will like the book more.

Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company.  Jack gets involved in several different investigations including the death of a friend.  Another case involves a gambling scandal in the NFL.  On another story line Jack has some issues with his brother.

This week I am off to Annapolis, Maryland and then Winchester, MD.  Should be a fun week.

On March 16 while Karen Comb’s was in New Braunfels, Texas her car was broken into and several of her quilts were stolen.  The more eyes looking for them the better the odds are of Karen getting them back.  If you would be so kind as to click on this link you will be able to see photos of the stolen quilts http://karencombs.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/quilts-stolen/
My heart goes out to Karen.  For a traveling teacher this is one of our biggest fears.

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Onto some better news.  This past week I was lucky to work with the Red Rose Quilters from Lancaster, PA.  If you live any where around the Lancaster area and are looking for a really nice group of people to socialize and quilt with, this would be a great choice.  The program person, Susan Ammerman, is one of the most organized program chairs I have had the pleasure of working with.  I was treated like a queen.  If I lived in this area I would definitely join this guild.  They are offering a lot of interesting speakers and workshops in the upcoming months.  You can find out more about this guild at http://rrqg.wordpress.com/

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I just received an email from another one of my students who took my Garden Medley workshop on the recent cruise in February.   Here is a photo of Jenny’s finished project.    I especially like the fabric choices.  Great job Jenny and thanks for sharing.

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Here are some more of my favorite quilts from the AQS show held in Lancaster this past week.

“Pennsylvania Hearts & Hands” made by Kelley Cunningham from Maryland was another stunner.  Kelley said this  quilt is a reproduction of an antique quilt from York Co., Pennsylvania.  Kelly won an award for the Best Longarm Workmanship.

And you can see why.  You can find out more about Kelley at http://sunporchquilts.com/default.aspx

“Reflections of the Past” was made by Linda Bergmann from California.  Linda made Judy Niemeyer’s 4th of July pattern using Civil War fabrics which turned this New York Beauty block into a nice traditional style quilt.  I liked the entire quilt but especially liked the scrappy border.  Using scraps on the border carried the theme from the center and made a very nice finish.

And then there are some quilts that just put a smile on your face.  V’Lou Oliveira from Oklahoma made “Digger’s Dream Date”.   I always wondered what my dogs were dreaming about when I hear them making little sounds in their sleep…..  Now I know.

“Circles In a Square” was made by Nancy Hahn from St. Peters, MO.  Nancy’s quilt was inspired by a Jacqueline de Jonge pattern called  “Circle of Life”.  I loved the use of color in this quilt.

And the intricacy of the quilt was impressive.

Ann Horton from Redwood Valley, CA made “Southern Borders”.  She said she used Guatemalan fabrics and Central American embroideries.  It was a very bright and cheerie quilt.

And I was very happy to see a great quilt from one of my own guild members, Debra Lohman.  The name of Debra’s quilt is “Happy Birthday Johnny”.  The quilt was made as a dedication to Debra’s grandfather who was born on the 4th of July.   I like the entire quilt, especially the border treatment.  Great job Debra.

And then as I was walking down the isle another quilt caught my eye, ‘Bird in Paradise”.  It was made by Laura Cunningham from Mifflintown, PA.  I know Laura from the Mifflintown guild and have been admiring her work for several years. Very nicely done Laura.  Congratulations on a wonderful quilt.

I’m off to Hagerstown, MD for another adventure.  Until next week…..

Erin Chick who is the daughter of one of my quilt buddies, Marty Jones, is making some beautiful scissors’ fobs for me to sell on my web site.  For those of you unfamiliar with a scissors’ fob…. you attach it to the handle of your scissors.  It identifies the scissors as yours.  For those of you who take workshops you find there are often other students with the same scissors (hopefully the Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Scissors!!) and by placing a unique fob on your scissors handle you always know which ones are yours.  And besides that….they are just fun and fancy hanging on your scissors handle.

Below are some of the new fobs Erin just gave me for the web site.  They would make great gifts for your quilting friends and secret pals.

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I received an email from Janet Brown.  She asked for my permission to exhibit a quilt she made using some of my designs from my “Magical Medallions” patterns.  Janet’s quilt has been juried into Paducah this year.  Of course I said yes….if she allowed me to share a picture of her quilt with you.  The photo of the quilt actually took my breath away.  Imagine what it will do when seen in person.  Jan, I wish you all the best and hope you come away with a grand prize.

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The American Quilter’s Society held their annual show in Lancaster, PA this week…..only about an hour from my house….nice.  You can find out more about the show and see a full list of the winners on their website http://www.americanquilter.com  I thought I would share some of my favorite quilts.

“Homage to Provence” was made by Andrea Perejda from California.  According to the information I read it took Andrea two years to create this hand made masterpiece.  Stunning.

You can out more about Andrea at http://www.andiperejda.com/

This next quilt, “Let’s Start”, was made by Ikuyo Kitada from Japan.  Ikuyo won a third place in the Wall Quilts-Hand Quilted category.

I loved everything about this quilt..the design, the quilting, the fabric choices…everything.

I was impressed with the amount of quilts at this show that were made in a traditional style, using traditional fabrics.  Maybe because of my love for the antique quilts from Pennsylvania I admire the new quilts that reflect our past.

Mandi Burell made “Birds in Hand” which had some beautiful machine quilting.

“Compass No. 6 The Freedom Quilt” was made by Chris Taricani from Connecticut.  Nice patriotic color scheme.  Chris won a second place in the Bed Quilts-Hand Quilted category.

Pauline Warren from Ohio made “Bias Pomegranate”.  I have an antique quilt with this Pomegranate pattern and loved seeing it made in new fabrics.  Pauline won an Honorable Mention in the Bed Quilt-Hand Quilted category.

Jennifer Emry from Virginia made “Radiant Star” which was inspired by an antique quilt she saw in a museum.

Then we come to this amazing quilt called “American, Let It Shine” made by Sherry Reynolds from Wyoming.  Sherry has 5,121 Swarovski crystals, representing the total number of words in the Constitution, The Star Spangled Banner, The Pledge of Allegiance and the # of years the United States has been a country.

Check out the detail.  Sherry won the award for Best Machine Workmanship.

I’ll have more quilts from the show to share with you next week.  Until then…………….

“Moon Over Manifest” by Clare Vanderpool  is classified as children’s fiction.  Since it was highly recommended I thought I’d give it a try and I’m so glad I did.  I really enjoyed this book.  The story starts as Abilene Tucker is on a train by herself going to live with friends of her father while he is working on a train job.  Abilene has been on trains before with her father and knows that jumping off prior to your stop allows you to check out the lay of the land, so she does just that.  She jumps off outside of Manifest, Kansas.  When she gets settled in Abilene finds a cigar box full of mementos.  Abilene meets some young girls her age and they develop a relationship while trying to find out more about the box of mementos.  I too would highly recommend this sweet book.

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My next read was  “Secret Servant” by Danial Silva. It is a mystery/thriller.  Numerous people have recommended Danial Silva to me but I think this is the first book of his that I have read. Gabriel Allon, a reoccurring character in Silva’s novels,  is an officer in the Israeli Intelligence and an art restorer, is sent on what should have been a simple assignment to Amsterdam.  It leads him into the Islamic Underground and to a kidnapping.  I had a little trouble getting into this book as I was unfamiliar with the characters, but once I got into it I was hooked.  I have downloaded some more of his books to read so that tells you something.

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“French Lessons” by Ellen Sussman was next on my list.  The premise of the book is a single day in Paris and how it changes the lives of three Americans as they set off to explore the city with a French tutor.  Josie is a young high school teacher who came to Paris to heal a broken heart.  Riley, an expat housewife is struggling to reconnect with her husband.  Jeremy is the husband of a renowned actress and is accompanying his wife on a film shoot.  The lives of the three tutors come into play also which made this a very interesting read.  There are some sexually explicit parts.  Just so you know.

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Diane Klassen took my “Ocean Sunrise” class on the recent Panama Canal cruise and emailed me these two photos.  She had her quilt finished within a short time of returning home.

And she said her cat, Smudge, loves the quilt!  And Smudge is so darn cute.

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My travels this past week took me to two, Tampa area guilds.  First I visited the Cypress Creek Quilters.  I had taught for this guild about 3 years ago and love it when I get invited back.  First we did a hand applique workshop.  Here are some of the ladies hard at work.

And then the next day I taught a machine applique workshop, Oriental Flowers.

I met Cathleene Tokish when I last visited the Cypress Creek Quilters.  This past fall Cathleene opened her own quilt shop.  Being a previous quilt shop owner I wanted to see Cathleene’s new shop, Sweet Darling Quilt Shop, named after her granddaughter. Looks inviting from the outside.

Here are some views of the inside of the shop. Great fabric selection.

Nice displays all over the shop.

If you are ever in the vicinity of Lutz, Florida I would suggest you make a side trip to Sweet Darling Quilt Shop.

I then made my way to the Heart N’ Hand quilt guild in Crystal River, Florida.  Judy picked me up and we had a very nice drive.  I had a great time and liked everyone from this small applique guild of 27 members.  I was having such a wonderful time that I forgot to take photos. I hope they forgive me as  I hate it when I forget.  So sorry ladies.  Just know that I had a fabulous time and was treated very well and would love to go back again.

Then I went back to Cypress Creek to give a lecture.  The president of the guild, Jeanie, is also the person who picked me up at the airport.  Jeanie is one wonderful and fun person.  Jeanie had the ladies in the guild wear funny St. Patrick’s Day themed hats and had them parade around the room to get the meeting started.  Then the guild voted by applause for their favorite and a prize was awarded.  It was a great way to start the meeting and made everyone laugh.

And here’s…..Jeanie

What a fun group.

Some of the ladies even had their blocks finished from the machine applique workshop.

This coming week is the AQS show in Lancaster, PA.  Maybe I’ll see some of you there.