Karen Kay Buckley

We just returned from a fantastic visit to East Aurora and Kenmore, New York where I spent time with three wonderful guilds.

Here are the ladies from the Morning Star Quilt Guild in East Aurora at my morning lecture.

The Southtowns Piecemakers Quilt Guild hosted the Saturday hand applique workshop.

And, here are some of the ladies from the Kenmore Quilters Guild during their machine applique class.

Pat was so excited she went home, finished her project and brought it in the next day. I love it when students share, but I think this was the quickest ever!!

Great job, Pat!!!

East Aurora is such a quaint town. It is the home of Fisher-Price Toys.

It is also the birthplace of the Arts and Crafts movement and the Roycroft Campus based on the ideals of John Ruskin and William Morris which was brought to life by the Sage of East Aurora,  Elbert Hubbard.

East Aurora has such a vibrant Main Street with great shops.

A small yet grand quilt shop where Susie, Linda and Samantha (call me Sammi) are eager to help guide you.

A classic movie theater

and the best 5 and dime ever : Vidlers.

Kenmore is a few minutes south of Niagara Falls. I could visit the Falls every week and would never tire of seeing their brute power. Horseshoe Falls

and the American Falls and Rainbow Bridge. Wonder how it got its name??

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STUDENT’S WORK

Karla Vernon had a lot of fun making and changing my Circles Squared pattern.  I love to see people think outside the box…..

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I am home for the next two months and I plan on sewing almost every day. This is what I am thankful for.

Our dear friend Frank, who will turn 99 in January, could not make it out for Thanksgiving, so we took dinner to his home. For Frank still being with us, we are so very thankful. We love you, Frank!

While spending October 29th through November 5th at the Houston Quilt Festival, we got to witness some fabulous quilts and a town celebrating in the streets following the Astros win in the World Series.

Houston was proud, happy and jubilant and its fans deserved some joy after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

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The quilts at the IQA Show were amazing. Here are a few of the winners and a few of my favorites:

Keiko Morichero of Sanda City, Japan hand appliqued 4,500 identical circles into a double wedding ring pattern . She added applique and exquisite hand quilting to create “For the Wedding of My Beloved Daughter.” She was awarded the Robert S. Cohan Master Award for Traditional Artistry.

A close up:

“Captivated by Nature” is a work in only black and white using  three different sizes of circles each machine fused applique. It garnered Olga Gonzales – Angulo of Saint Feliu De Guixols, Spain the Koala Studios Master Award for Innovative Artistry. Wow!!

“Kirara’s Garden Party” by Ayako Kawahami of Funabashi-shi, Japan won the World of Beauty Award. Amazing.

The Founders’ Award was presented to Junko Fujiwara of Narashino, Japan for her  incredible Baltimore Album quilt entitled “Fantastic.”

I loved Karen K. Stone’s new quilt, Lotus.  Karen is from Southlake, Texas.  She described her technique as “glue applique, machine quilting”.  It combines both cotton and silk fabrics.

One of my favorite quilts was “Do Dragon’s Like Cookies?” Tanya Brown of Sunnyvale, California created this quilt using digital printing, fabric painting and 3-D/CGI rendering. Magical!

The dimensional applique used in “Receiving Grace” was inspiring. Elizabeth McDowell Heagy of St. Clements, Ontario received a well deserved Honorable Mention for her extraordinary work.

First Place in the Innovative Pieced category was awarded to Frieda Anderson of Elgin. Illinois. Freida used her own hand dyed silk and cotton to create “Unfurling.”

“Turkish Treasures” was inspired by a trip Pat Holly of Ann Arbor, Michigan took to Turkey. This quilt is amazing. Pat used silk fabric and machine appliqued and machine quilted this masterpiece. Look at the border! She even handmade the Oya needle lace and topped each point with a bead!! Pat was awarded the blue ribbon in the Innovative Applique category.

More quilts and exhibits from Quilt Festival next week.

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Sad day at the Buckley Home.

Our sweet Tillie had been ill for awhile and she passed away this week. We were blessed to have had her for 17 years.

Rest in Peace you sweet girl.

September 28, 2000 – November 9, 2017