Karen Kay Buckley

The first thing I want to share with you is my friend Barb’s finished block from the class she took from me in July.  This is from the Fiesta Mexico Block 9 workshop.  Nice job Barb, and thanks for sharing.

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Joe took some more wonderful photos of the hummingbirds while they filled themselves before making the great big trip to the Yucatan.  When I think that these tiny little creatures make such a long journey every year it amazes me.  And just think if your wings had to move back and forth that many times to keep you going and going and going….  It is exhausting just thinking about it.  I wish them all a safe journey and will look forward to seeing them back here next year.

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Finally….the pendant lights have arrived and our electrician, Jim, installed them today.  I am beyond excited.  They look amazing in the room.

OK, I may have mentioned this before….but I watch way too much HGTV.  I kept seeing the designers use these interesting white textured lights and I always love them; however, thought  they would never work in my house.   But, in my studio they work perfectly.  I love them.  They are made by a company called Nuevo Living.  My local light store, Yale Lighting, was able to order them for me.

Jim was able to place them on an adapter so they hang from my track lighting.    I used three of them in the room.  One over the sewing machine tables.  One over the sofa.  And one over my ironing board.

Another task light I added to my room is this one I placed beside my sofa.  It is made by Craftlite Dublin and is called a Magnfi Light.  I got mine from Keepsake Quilting www.keepsakequilting.com  This light could be used as a table light, clip-on light or as I have mine, a floor light.  It comes with all the options in one box.  It has 21 large LED lights and a 5″ diameter magnifier.  I love this light.

Until next week….

On Friday my quilt buddy, Barb, and I decided to make a trek to the Valley Forge area for the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza show, http://www.quiltfest.com/  It’s about a 2 hour drive to get there.  I took some quilt books to look at during the drive and never looked at one because we talked the whole way there and back.   We saw some great quilts while we were at the show.

Sandi McMillan from Albion, Nebraska made “Sandihill Stars”.  It is machine pieced and machine quilted.  The workmanship was impressive.  Sandi said the quilt was influenced by an 1800’s quilt.

Ann Hutcheon of Pompton Plains, New Jersey made “Summer Bounty”.  Great workmanship and a great layout.

“Alberta Rockies #2” was made by Patti Morris from Canada.  I felt like I was amongst the birch trees.

“To Everything There Is a Season” was made by Pat Delaney of Ablington, MA.  The color combination is very soothing.  I loved the way the colors from the center were carried through to the borders.  You can find out more about Pat at www.crabtreelane.com

I loved this quilt.  This was my favorite quilt in the show.  It is called “Travels” and was made by Marlene King from Australia.  What a creative way to present a pictorial quilt.

Here is a close-up.

This next quilt just put a smile on my face.  It is called “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”.  The maker of this quilt is Jennifer June from Whispering Pines, NC.

“Grief” was made by Sandy Curran from Newport News, VA.  Great monochromatic quilt.

Sandi Lush from the United Kingdom made “Whig Rose”.  I love to see traditional quilts with a twist.  The layout of this quilt was very appealing.

And the hand quilting was impressive.

Coreeen Zerr and Phyllis Grove from Canada made “Home is Manitoba Farm”.  What a fabulous landscape quilt.

I found this next quilt to be very intriguing.  It was made by Sally Scott from South Africa. It is called “Towards Infinity”.

The use of hand dyed string and cotton cloth was most interesting.  As was the use of the beads.

‘Beauty of Life 2″ was made by Julie Haddnck or Australia. What a beautiful quilt.

Sarah Smith is the maker of this sweet  little quilt.  It was part of an exhibit called “Then and Now”.  The name of the quilt is “Fields of Gold”.  Sarah is from Hope, Maine.  Very appealing layout.  You can find out more about Sarah at http://www.sarahannsmith.com/

This is why I don’t think I will ever tire of going to quilt shows.  The diversity of quilts is so very interesting.

Until next week…..

I was not in the mood to blog last week.  My dad was back in the hospital.  I cannot imagine being in the hospital and not having visitors.  So I made it my mission to see him each day while he was in the hospital.  Fortunately for me the hospital my dad often goes to is only about 25 minutes from my house.  The good news is that is he home and doing better.  That is a relief.

The other thing that kind slowed me down from blogging was all the rain we had last week.  It reeked havoc on our state.   Our house is far removed from the devastation of the rising water but I could not keep from checking the news for the water levels to be reported.  When I was in high school I remember how high the Susquehanna river rose into the little town where we lived.  It is something that will stay with me forever.  All of the houses on front street had water in their first floors.  I hoped this storm would not reach that height.  It did not.  But it sure got close.  In our area we’ve been trying to figure out how we could bottle up all this rain water and ship it to Texas where they really need it.  Bummer that we cannot do that.  Joe said to me that when they fish in the Susquehanna it is around 3 feet deep.  He said, think about it, the river is now 25 feet deep.  Amazing.

As I was driving  to New Jersey Saturday to work with the Courthouse Quilters of Hunterdon Co, I saw this amazing sight.

The thing that amazed me was on this 2 1/2 hour drive I saw two double rainbows.  I wonder what are the odds of that happening?  It was not safe to pull over to get photographs of them or I would have shared them with you.  On Sunday morning I met my guild contract, Helle-May, to get organized for the workshop.  The Courthouse Quilters Guild of Hunterdon Co. had a full workshop.  Hellel-May did a great job organizing everything.  And all 25 ladies were ready to learn some new things.  We had a great workshop.  If you live any where around the area and are looking for a great group of ladies to learn and quilt with check them out at http://www.courthousequilters.com  Even if you aren’t in the area check out their great website.

Later in the day I presented my workshop called, From the Beginning Album of a Quilter.  One lady in attendance came to talk to me after the lecture.  She said, “I noticed your thread stand in one of your slides of your new studio.”  I said yes, my girlfriend Barb gave me that after she saw me eying it up at the Lancaster quilt show several years ago.  The lady from the guild said, “My husband made that.”  Since it sits out in my new studio you know it is one of my favorite things because  I downsized when I made the move to the new studio space. So the fact that it is sitting on the corner of my table speaks volumes.  This sewing spool caddy was made by Richard T. Hyers.  He is a custom woodworker.  You can find out more about him and his impressive products at www.HyersWood.com  Many of you know that I like to make circles to sew on my quilts.  Well, every time I have to baste the fabric for my circle making process I pull my thread from the spools on this caddy.  If I could add to the song Julie Andrews sang in the Sound of Music about her favorite things I would have to add this to my list.  It’s functional and beautifully crafted.

Here are some shots from our garden.

This little guy was so happy to be out eating after all the rain.

Joe watches for the hummingbirds outside his office window and has often gotten pictures of the female because she sits on the feeder and drinks the syrup.  Joe actually got a picture of her with her tong out.  I’m thinking she was sending Joe a message…

Joe was so excited the other day when he as finally able to get a photo of the male.  The male never sits to drink.  He just hovers.

Talk to you next week.