Karen Kay Buckley

I have some more photos from the International Quilt Festival that I took in October but never got around to posting.  Here are some of those quilts.

Marina Landi and Maria Lucia Azara won one of the top prizes for their quilt “Summer Wind”.  They are from Brazil.  They won the Baby Lock Master Award for Machine Artistry.

“Revolution #9” was made by Robin Gausebeck from Illinois.  She won 1st place in the Mixed Techniques category.

“Imagine” was made by Yumiko Takami from Japan.  She won first place in the Handmade category.

Mona, from the quilt guild in Charlottesville, sent me this photo.  The guild used my pattern called “Midnight Floral Fantasy” to create a raffle quilt.  They named their quilt “Posies and Pineapples”.  It looks great…doesn’t it?  I hope they raise a lot of money. Go to the guild’s website at www.quilts.avenue.org to find out more about them and their raffle!

BOOK REVIEW

Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father who works at the Museum of Natural History.  He is known as the keeper of the keys.  And, there are many, many locks at the museum. Marie-Laure, at the age of 6, goes blind. Her father builds her a miniature replica of the area where they live.  He works with her to learn the streets, distances, etc.  When the Germans enter Paris, Marie-Laure and her father flee to her uncle’s in Brittany, along the coast.

The second main character is Werner, an orphan.  Werner finds an old radio and fixes it.  He has a talent for fixing radios and he’s intelligent. This is what leads him to the Hitler Youth schools.

This book kept my interest, going back and forth between the two main characters.  Good read.

This past week I taught for AQS Quiltweek in Albuquerque.  You would think I would show you things from the show…but, no. I was beyond excited about the exterior of the convention center.  The mosaic project was funded by the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps and the City of Albuquerque. This Public Art program was lead by artists Cassandra Reid and Margarita Paz-Pedro. While working together with dozens of young apprentice artists, these tile artists spent years creating a master piece. You can learn more about the artists and their projects by visiting their website at www.lotustileworks.com.

Each section tells a story. Simply Amazing!!!

BOOK REVIEW

This book takes us back to the law firm of Rosato and Associates, located in Philadelphia.  Judy Carrier works at the firm and is at a cross road of sorts. Her best friend, Mary DiNunzio, just became a partner at the firm and Mary is getting married.  It leaves Judy unsure about her love life and work life.  Then Judy finds out her favorite Aunt, Barb, has been diagnosed with cancer. When Judy goes to see her Aunt, she finds out her Aunt’s friend who had been helping her through her chemo has been killed.  Judy begins to investigate the questionable death and finds more than she bargained for.

Just returned from a wonderful  trip to Texas. I love Texas! Everything is so big and beautiful and the people are all so friendly. First stop was the State Capital of Austin. Their Capitol Building, made of the pink granite from Marble Falls, is larger than the Capitol building in Washington D.C.

I taught workshops and gave lectures to the Austin Area Quilt Guild. This is a great group with nearly 500 members. Last year they completed my Fiesta Mexico quilt and raised $19,000.00!!!! To learn more about this guild visit their site at www.aaqg.org. Here are some of their smiling faces tackling a new project.

While driving between my hotel and the meeting rooms, I noticed a massive wall decorated in tiles. I stopped and spent over an hour reading the history of the Crestview-Brentwood neighborhood as depicted in the mural. The neighborhood was started in 1952 and building lots cost a whopping $595.00. The hundreds of blocks told the story of the neighbors and businesses.

It was nice to witness a neighborhood with so much pride. Did I say everything is big in Texas. Here is one of my favorite tile blocks.

Next stop was the Junk Cathedral in a residential area in south Austin. Again everything is bigger, even backyard junk piles. The owner of the property and creator of the cathedral, Vince, reported that he was not a favorite of his neighbors and that two wives had divorced him. I am shocked!

But his dog, Smokey, loved it!!

My next stop was Marble Falls in the hill country. Mary, my hostess, was the BEST!! She shared her home, her quilts, her shop and her friends with Joe and I. The work space was fabulous! The quilt retreat was held in Mary’s guest house located in the middle of Cimarron Ranch, a glorious property cared for and loved by Mary and her family.

Here are a few pictures taken while driving through the ranch.

We took a short trip through the Hill Country and here are more things we saw.

Historic Fort Martin Scott

Enchanted Rock

Texas is also known for its food. Slow cooked beef, brisket, pulled pork, pork steak, ribs, sausage – in short the world’s best BBQ. Joe tested the following places: Franklin’s in Austin, Opie’s in Spicewood  and Pete’s Mesquite in Marble Falls. Although he liked them all, Franklin’s was worth the hour wait for his four meat plate.

If visiting Marble Falls, a stop at the Blue Bonnet Cafe is a must. Where else can you find “Pie Happy Hour”?!

Even the pies are bigger in Texas! Yummie.

STUDENTS’ WORK

Meg Latimer sent me this photo.  She made 4 of the Majestic Mosaic blocks for a great looking wall quilt.  Thanks for sharing Meg.

Peggy Jo Smith sent me this photo.  She used my Kansas Rose block as her center square. It was a block of the month project, from 2011, called “Aunt Grace Circle of Friends”.  Great way to use the Kansas Rose block.

And Kathleen Clendennen shared her photo of Kansas Rose.  She has the overlay piece pinned and ready to sew.  Looks great Kathleen.

Connie Sutterfield send me a photo of her finished Fiesta Mexico quilt top.  It is off to the quilter now.  Amazing.  I know how much work this was.  Thank you so much for sharing Connie.  Your quilt looks fabulous!

I am off to Albuquerque.  Talk to you soon…….

Our next stop in Mexico was Guaymas.  As we docked, there were lots of people from the town taking pictures of the ship and the local middle school band was playing.  Adorable kids.  You could tell the town was filled with excitement.

We got off of the ship early and decided to walk downtown.  It was about a 2 mile walk.  The weather was perfect and the people were warm and friendly.  We found out this was only the second ship to stop here, ever.  No wonder they were so excited.  Tourism is big money for these small communities.  Here are some photos we took as we walked to and from town.

_________________________________

BOOK REVIEW

My friends, Frank and Margaret, gave me this book for Christmas.  Good pick.

The title alone, “Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe”, still makes me laugh.  If you love dogs like I do then you must read this book.  I am still smiling as I think of some of the funny stories, as told by the dogs.  With each turn of the page, there is a great color photo of a dog and on the corresponding page is a note/letter written by that dog.  I know the dogs wrote these.  I am sure of it.  It sounds like something my dogs would write…if they could hold the pen….or use the keyboard!