Karen Kay Buckley

One of the comments I always make in my hand applique classes is that even though I recommend a certain needle I think you should keep testing needles and I will do the same.  Well, I came across a new one I really like.  I found this new needle when I was walking the isles at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall and it has taken me this long to track them down to make them available on my site.  This new needle and threader are made by the Tulip, Co. from Japan. Getting them from Japan to the U.S. took some doing.  But here they are. I love the way they go through the layers of my fabric with such ease.  They even go through batiks easily.  I love it when I find something that makes what I do that much easier.

And of course I had to get some of the needle threaders from the Tulip Co. as well.

Both of these items are available on my website in the store section.

I needed to purchase a baby gift for my best friend, Barb’s, daughter-in-law.  I asked Barb what her daughter-in-law might need since I know she is blessed with a very giving family. And I know that she is going to receive quilts from at least two family members if not more.   The answer I got was “diapers…they can always use diapers”.  I knew the mother-to-be likes daisies and the color orange.  I thought, OK, but wrapping diapers in colored gift wrap seemed kind of boring.  I have given toilet paper for gifts over the years and formed the rolls of toilet paper into a cake.  I have done this for people who turned 50 and when my grandfather turned 90.  Really.  What do you get someone who is 90?  You want to give them something they can use and who does not use toilet paper?  You can easily take the rolls of toilet paper and form them into a cake.  Wrap some ribbon or lace around the “cake layers” and even use some silk flowers here and there.  It always makes people laugh but trust me they use it.  I gave a friend from the gym a sock cake one year.  I purchased 20 pairs of socks since it was her 40th birthday.  I rolled each one and placed them in a cake pan.  I put a candle in the middle of each roll.  For someone who works out in the gym everyday this calorie free cake worked well.  And of course a gym rat can always use more socks.

So, back to the diaper dilemma.  My friend, Wanda, told me she had a picture that she kept for just this very problem.  It was a photo of diapers formed into a cake.  Well, why didn’t I think of this.  What a great idea.  But of course I had to dress it up a little bit.

For the base my husband cut me a piece of thin plywood which I covered with a heavy paper.  (I did not want anyone to get splinters.)  I then covered the base with a baby blanket by tying it in place with ribbon.  I found the world’s softest bear and purchased a bib to put around it’s neck.  To form the diapers into a circle I placed them in one of my kitchen pots, pulled them slightly upward, wrapped the orange ribbon around them and removed them from the pot.  The top layer is formed in a smaller pot.  Since the mother-to-be loves daisies  I used the stem from the daisies to hold the two layers together.  And then for color splash I added more flowers. The new baby will have diapers, the softest stuffed bear in the world, a really soft baby blanket and one awesome bib.  The art of gift giving can be as much fun, if not more, for the giver as the receiver.

Miss Hilary at her shower shaking hands with the softest bear in the world.

One day during our recent trip to Mexico we left the compound and went to Isla Mujeras.  It was a very hot day and I whined a little that the taxi driver, Jose, did not use his air-conditioning!  Even though it was hotter than hot I really enjoyed our trip to the turtle farm.  As the people at the turtle farm explained it these turtles were becoming extinct because they have so many predators.  Apparently when the babies are born and have no way of defending themselves they are prey to many attackers.  So there are groups on some of the islands that are raising the babies until they are big enough to defend themselves and then they are being released back into the ocean.

Here I am riding the ferry to Isla Mujeras.  We are just approaching the island.  I knew we were going to the turtle farm and I was anxious to get there.

I loved getting close enough to really study the shell and skin textures and designs.  Absolutely amazing.

Look at all these little guys.  How amazing that there are people who are willing to care for them to ensure their existence.

This is my final installment of critters from Mexico.  That does not mean there won’t be more critters from some place else later.  Love the critters.

I promised to follow-up with more critter pictures from the trip to Mexico.  I saw this egret along the waters edge and I watched him catch a fish and eat it.  You can just barely see the fish in his beak.  Survival of the fittest… as they say.

Right next to the Egret was this sign.

And right beyond the sign was this….

Nice teeth buddie!

My favorite critter on this entire trip is in the next several photos.  Between my husband and myself I think we took at least 150 photos of this guy.  He was amazing to see.  One of the biggest Iguanas I have ever seen.  He was hanging out with one of his smaller buddies on the under side of the bridge.  The big Iguana was around 6 to 7  feet in length.  (I did not get close enough to take an exact measurement!)

The spiked pieces on his back looked like pieces of leather.  It reminded me of a dragon quilt I stitched many years ago.  I might have sewn the spiked pieces on the back of my dragon differently had I seen this guy first.

Joe took this fantastic close-up shot of Mr. Iguana’s leg.  Look at the textures and how the scales form and how they fit together.  I was very intrigued with this guy.  Joe and I must have stayed there for 2 hours just photographing and watching him.

On my next and final installment of critters from Mexico I’ll take you to the turtle farm.

While we were traveling around Mexico in December we found some very interesting “critters”.

See if you know what this is?  I had never seen one of these little guys before and had to look it up when I got home.

His actions were somewhat like a cat.  He was very good at begging for food.

What a cute little guy.  He also reminded me of a raccoon….

The name of this little guy is a coati.  That was a new one for me.

Later that day we came across this flock or flamingos.  (Say that fast ten times! Flock of flamingos,  flock of flamingos…..)   I must have taken 40 photos of the flamingos.  But, I’ll spare you all 40 and just give you a few.

The colors of the flamingos against the green background was so beautiful.  Makes you think how fantastic these colors would look together in a quilt.

Have you ever watched a flamingo drink?  Well, I  never had.  It was captivating for me to watch how they dip their beak into the water, filling it with water.  You learn something new every day don’t you?  Me…I learn a lot more than one thing everyday.  And that is a good thing.

I’ll show you more critters in my next post.  Still to come are Iguanas, crocodiles and more.

During many of my classes we end up having discussions about good books that my students have read and liked. I have received some excellent recommendations from students of authors who I otherwise would have never read. The book that I would like to recommend to you came to me in a little different manner. I was in Florida, the Tampa area, teaching in September and we talked about books we liked. I was at the same guild for 3 days and we talked about books on day 1. On day 2 one of the students from day 1 brought me a signed copy of “Father’s Quilt” by Ed West. The author is her father. I was thrilled to get a signed copy. My schedule was a little crazy through October and November but while I was on vacation in December I read six books and one of them was “Father’s Quilt.”  This book kept my attention throughout.  I felt a connection with the characters due to Ed’s style of writing.  It is a heart warming story with some nice surprises.  This book will take you on a enjoyable journey as one quilt touches the lives of many people.

If you would like more information about Ed West and his books go to http://www.fathersquilt.com/