Karen Kay Buckley

When I travel to teach my husband rarely travels with me.  You see….. he has kind of a normal job.  So, he cannot just pick-up and hit the road with his traveling wife.  But, there are times when he does hit the road with me.  And the Vermont Quilt Festival is one of those trips.  Joe loves to fish.  He has fished in Vermont many times over the years and thinks it is one of the best places to trout fish.  Vermont is full of fish filled streams.  We saw loads of wildlife: deer, a mink, a bear cub and a moose! Too bad we didn’t have our camera up in the front seat, but here are some of the sites we were able to photograph on our way to the show.

Vermont has over 50 covered bridges.  Some are still in use, some are not and some are privately owned.

As we were driving on Route 7 we came upon this visually beautiful sight.  This very large pond of blooming water lilies was right before our eyes.

These would be great colors for a quilt, don’t you think?

As I have traveled over the years I have never seen as many water falls as in Vermont.  One falls is just a beautiful as the next.

This weekend is our 29th wedding anniversary.  I’ve learned a lot of good things from Joe during our 32 years together but probably one of the most valuable lessons is to enjoy the ride.  It’s not just about getting there.  But, how you get there that matters.

In my next blog I’ll share some photos from the Vermont Quilt Festival.

I’ve been a little remiss in my book recommendations.  Sometimes I have too many other things to blog about and forget to tell you about the books I’ve been reading.  And there have been some very good ones.

A friend of mine, Laura, recommended a book called Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan.  It is the author’s first novel.  As good as this book is, I’m certain we’ll be hearing more from her.  Each chapter is a character in the book telling their part of the story.  The book is about a school teacher who marries and moves to a farm.  She envisioned her life in a town, not on a farm.  It is about the struggles  in the early 1900′s for both the blacks and the whites living in the south.  Hillary made the characters very interesting so you want to keep reading to find out more.  There were parts of this book that were difficult to read because of the extreme racial issues encountered during this time.  But, I enjoyed Hillary’s style of writing. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to each character.

Right after finishing this book another friend of mine loaned me an audio book written by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo.  Odd, that this book was based in the same time period and many similar issues as Mudbound.  Alex Cross’s Trial revisits the time of the Klu Klux Klan.  As a lawyer in turn-of-the-century Washington, D.C., Ben Corbett represents the toughest cases.  Fighting against oppression and racism, he risks his family and his life in the process.  This book is a gripping story of murder, love and bravery.

While teaching classes I’ll often ask if anyone has read any good books lately.  Well, this past year I think at least ten people said,  “You have to read “The Help”.  If that many people highly recommend a book I know it is going to be good.  The book was so uplifting.  You might think that statement is hard to believe based on the subject matter.  It is set during the civil rights movement in Jackson, MI.  “The Help” are the black women who raised their employers white children, cleaned and cooked for their white employers but were not allowed to use the toilet in the house.  This  is Katheryn Stockett’s first book and if we are lucky she’ll write many more.  This book shows both sides of the racial divide.  I loved the way the story is told.  I did not want to put this book down.  I just wanted to keep reading and reading…..

And my final book recommendation is one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult.  The name of the book is “House Rules”.  This was another book that was hard to stop reading.  Just a little history on reading Jodi Picoult.  About six or seven years ago when I was teaching a 3 day seminar we talked about books while the students where sewing.  One student asked if I had ever read any of Jodi Picoult’s books and at that time I had never heard of her.  This student decided to make a trip to the local book store prior to the end of our three days together and presented me with a copy of one of Jodi’s books at the conclusion of our class.  Over the past several years I have read everything she has written.  As I stated when I started this paragraph…one of my favorite authors.

Her newest book is about three main characters….the mother, one son with Asperger’s syndrome and a second son.  I read this comment in an Amazon review and thought it summed things up very well.  “Emotionally powerful from beginning to end, “House Rules” looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way–and fails those who don’t.”

I’m currently reading a Pat Conroy book and will report back when I finish.  I love a good book whether audio or hands on reading.  There is nothing like a good book.

This week my journeys will take me to the Vermont Quilt Show.  I’ll tell you all about it in my next blog.

When I am visiting certain parts of the United States on my travels I am not sure the people in the area really appreciate where they live.  But, in the case of the ladies from the Little Traverse Bay Quilters Guild they truly do appreciate their beautiful surroundings.  I have to tell you Northern Michigan is one of the most beautiful parts of the United States.  This was my second trip to the area.  After arriving in Traverse City, Judy, my wonderful hostess, drove me north to Charlevoix.  We made a very quick stop at the hotel before heading to the lecture.  On the way back from the lecture this was the view along Lake Michigan.

The hotel was right on the water and this is what I saw from my balcony the next morning.  Thank you Little Traverse Bay Quilters for putting me at one of the best hotels ever.

And then on my morning walk I saw this.

And this.

And this.

If you visit or live in this area I think your quilts would be strongly influenced by the water and the sunsets.  And of course the lush green surroundings. These are some of the blocks the students made in our “Ocean Sunrise” class on Friday.  I can hardly wait for them to send me photos of their finished quilts.

One of the most interesting things in Charlevoix are the Mushroom houses.  The builder/architect of these houses was Earl A. Young 1889-1975.  Each stone house is very unique and was designed to fit the site it occupies.  They have unusual stone fireplaces, unique chimneys and cedar shake roofs.  If you would like more information about these houses there is a fabulous book, which my hostess Judy bought for me, called “Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix”.  It was published by Boulder Press in 2009.  I liked this statement from the book.  “Young designed and built 21 unique stone houses that look like they came from fairy tales”

Oh, I almost forgot.  Unbeknownst to me this part of the world is one of the largest cherry producers.  Judy and I stopped and got some dried cherries that were sweetened with apple juice.  Awesome.

I really felt a bond with the ladies from this guild.  They made me feel very welcome and appreciated.  I told them my dad had just had a stroke but was doing pretty good.  It was like they pulled me under their wing and really cared for me.  Thank you ladies for everything! If you want to know more about the Little Traverse Bay Quilters Guild go to http://www.quiltguilds.com/michigan.htm and look under Petosky.  The guild meetings are held in Petosky, just north of Charlevoix.  If I lived in this area I would definitely be part of this guild.

My guild, the LeTort Quilter’s, has been in existence since 1983 and I have been a member ever since it’s inception.  I have been the guild’s president and in spite of my busy teaching schedule, I continue to be active in some way.  I think it is important to give back to something that has given me so much.  Over the years I have attended hundreds of lectures and many workshops with my guild.  I have learned many new things by being part of this guild.  I have many life long friends as a result of being active in this guild.   I have always felt part of this group and no matter my skill level, from when I first started until my current advanced level, my guild has always been there supporting and encouraging me along the way.  For this I am very grateful.

Every two years my guild hosts its show along with a local juried artist show called Foundry Day.  It is always the first weekend in June.  At this Saturday’s “Quilt Festival” I was amazed at the quality of the quilts and the abundance of different designs.  The skill level in my guild is phenomenal.  The quilts that I wanted to share with you in this blog mean the most to me because they were started in my classes.  (I’m not going to tell you what year they started!)

I am so proud of Donna and Debra Lohman.  Both of them have shown a skill level that makes me proud to know them and to have been a small part of their growth as quilters.  Donna started this quilt during the year long Baltimore Album classes.  These classes met once a month for one year.  The students objective was to complete one of these hand appliqued blocks each month.  Donna’s finished quilt is a thing of beauty.  I love the border treatment and the overall balance of this quilt.

In this close-up shot you can see how beautifully hand quilted it is.

Not to be out done,  Donna’s daughter Debra is just as talented.  Not fair that so much talent ended up in one family!!  Debra also had her quilt from the Baltimore Album classes finished and displayed in our show. Great colors and a very complimentary border design.

And again, fantastic hand quilting.

And yet another student had her finished quilt on display at the show.   Jackie Kreitzer made this quilt after taking my Beginners and Intermediate quilting classes.  This is Jackie’s first quilt.   It was made in a quilt-as-you-go method.  Jackie made her quilt completely by hand.  This is impressive workmanship for a first quilt. 

The Lohman’s also had two pieces from a class I taught for my guild in January.  This is one of the blocks taken from my larger quilt pattern “Japanese Garden Quilt”. It is machine appliqued and machine quilted.  Great workmanship and great color choices.

I am so proud to be part of the LeTort Quilter’s and to have shared in a small way in promoting quilting in my area.  Thanks to my students for finishing and for sharing.  You make me proud.

I received an email from Kathie with a question on how to remove lines that she marked using a Bohin maker.  I thought this might be something worth sharing with more than just Kathie.