Karen Kay Buckley

This past week I taught at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey. PA.  https://server7.pacecomputing.com/quiltodysseycom/www/

Several students brought projects to share and you will see those below.

Here are just a couple of quilts from the show.

“Modern Love” was made by Megan Farkas.  She won 1st place in the miniature category.

“A Labor of Art” won 2nd place in the miniature category.  It was made by Sharon Schlotzhauer from Colorado.

http://www.sharonlschlotzhauer.com/

Barbara Korengold from Maryland made “Ben’s Midnight Garden”.  She won 2nd place in the applique category.

Claudia Pfeil from Germany won Best of Show with her quilt “Paradox”

Terry Kramer from Pennsylvania won 2nd place in Mixed Techniques for her quilt called “Sweetwater Gap Bloodroot”.

______________________________________

STUDENTS WORKS.

This is Shirley Griesinger.  She brought her finished Fiesta Mexico Block Nine to show me.  Great job Shirley.

Anne Flynn brought her finished Majestic Mosaic quilt which she started in my class two years ago at Quilt Odyssey.  Very nice.

And I hate it when this happens but I took this photo of Fiesta Mexico Block Three which a student shared with me and I forgot to get the student’s name.  If you know who this block belongs to please email me so I can add her name.

_________________________

I just finished listening to “Radiant Angel” by Nelson DeMille.  I love his books based on his character John Corey.  The character has a very dry, witty sense of humor which makes me laugh out loud sometimes. Joe laughs so hard sometimes that Joe’s laughing makes me laugh.  It is one of those things where you really need to be paying attention or you could miss the wit of it.  Most of the story is serious. John is trying to find out about a group of Russians in New York…why they are in New York, what they are planning….He is a rule breaker which makes him a far more interesting character.  He is the all American hero.  The kind of guy who risks his life to protect his country and the people in it.  Love this character and Nelson DeMille.

Margaret Coleen Senft       November 25, 1923 – July 21, 2015

Today we said goodbye to one of my favorite people ever, our dear friend, Margaret.  Margaret was 91 and she lived a very good life.  Margaret was diagnosed with cancer about 3 months ago.  She died in her favorite chair where she was comfortable sleeping these past few weeks.  She did not linger long and was not in any pain. For this, I am thankful.

For those of you who took classes with me, I often talked about Margaret and her husband, Frank, who is now 96 years old.  Margaret and Frank have been packing all of my class packets for the past twenty some years.  It was a job Margaret loved doing as she told me it gave her a sense of purpose.  It was a very, very big help to me.

Margaret was able to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary in June.  They were known to have a single drink at 3pm every afternoon.  I have a great Uncle and his wife, who passed away this past year at age 100….and they too, had a drink in the afternoon.  I keep telling Joe maybe we should start having a drink in the afternoon…..they all made it to 90 plus years.  Maybe there is something to this afternoon drink thing!!

We’ve celebrated Christmas with Frank and Margaret for the past…I don’t know 20 some years.  They have no children, except of course, for us!!  Margaret loved cats and so she modeled this cat bath robe we got for her, along with her drink of the day, while celebrating with us one Christmas.

Did I mention Margaret loved cats?  She loved cats.  After she lost her last cat of old age, about 9 years ago, she said she did not want to have another cat because she would out live the cat.  About 4 days later this little kitten stumbled onto our property.  Of course Margaret took him into her home but only if we would sign a legal document stating that we would take care of the cat after she and Frank passed.  Of course we signed the paper because we really wanted Margaret to have another kitty.  Below is Margaret the first day she held Lucky, as she named him.  She introduced Lucky to my girls, Sasha and Tillie.

It was rare to see Margaret without a smile on her face.  RIP Margaret.  I’m gonna miss you and your smile.

As many of you know I had open heart surgery in April and now I have a cow valve.  Some of you will think I am weird and others of you already know I am weird!  But, I seem to have this odd connection that I want to pay homage to the cow.  I just purchased this amazing painting by Emily Garces.  I love it.  It is now hanging right inside the door so everyone who enters the back door will see it.  I loved the design and the colors.  It makes me happy.  It has to be the most adorable cow painting of all time.  It was great working with Emily.  She was very prompt with her emails and shipping.  I had the cow hanging within in about five days of when I first emailed her!  To see more of Emily’s work visit her Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/emilygarcesart 

Thank you Emily for sharing your artistic talent and thank you to the cow who gave me your valve.

_____________________

I traveled to Delaware this week.  I was in Georgetown, a small, historic town located not too far from the beach.

We stayed at the Brick Hotel right on the square.  The rooms were very large and nice. The evening desserts were even better!

This is the square, or should I say circle, in downtown Georgetown.

Check out the old court house. It was constructed in 1791 and housed all the court and county workers.

And then of course the newer, but still historic court house located within a short distance of the old court house.

The gardens surrounding the Brick were wonderful.

Here are some of my happy students.

This is where I wished I was…on the beach in nearby Lewes.

______________________________________

Student’s Work

I received another great email from a student this week.  Von Yetzer took my Fiesta Mexico-Block Nine workshop when I taught in Longmont, CO.  This is her first hand applique project.  Can you believe this is her first project?  My first applique project did not look any where near this good.  You did a great job Von.  Thanks for sharing.

This week I am off to Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA….a nice short drive from home.  Hope to see you at the show.

The country side around the Shipshewana area is so peaceful and pristine.

More great cow faces……

Horses

A little outside of Shipshewana…….. Topeka, Indiana, was also holding a quilt show, its 43rd annual show.

The difference……these quilts were for sale.  That’s a lot of quilts.

This young girl was riding her pony to the show.

The next two photos show my students smiling and enjoying class.

Thanks for reading my blog.  I love being able to share some of my experiences.

Seize the day.  Until next week…….

Yoder’s in Shipshewana (La Grange County) Indiana is a very, very large department store: hardware, clothing, shoes, restaurant……..and most important in the back left corner, a large, nice quilt shop area.

Side view at Yoder’s Department Store.

As a result of my open heart surgery in April, I have a cow valve.  So, now I feel a closeness to the cows.  Look at that face.  Adorable.

One day we spotted this philly and her mom.

Think mom may have had some Italian blood.

Next to Yoder’s shopping area is another shopping area and the Visitor Center.

Psssst: Babe, I think you have a fly on your nose!

More photos from Shipshewana and the surrounding area in next week’s blog.  See you then……..