Meet Micki Butler

Has anyone besides me read any of the Nora Roberts books that focus on romance in Ireland? When I met Micki Butler, I couldn't help but think that she is a real life character from one of Nora Roberts' books. But then Nora Roberts doesn't have any character, that I recall, that likes to quilt, machine embroider, or sew. Hymm, maybe we need to send a note to Nora Roberts to encourage her to expand her collection of characters to include those that love to quilt, machine embroidery and sew!

While I didn't travel a great distance, I've had the pleasure of traveling via the internet and meeting someone special. This journey has given me the opportunity to meet wonderful person, whom I want to share insights with you. And yes, she does have a romantic story to tell, plus the love of quilting, machine embroidery, as well as many other interests and stories to tell. It was thru this blog that I had the pleasure of meeting Micki Butler, and whereby, I want to introduce to you. Micki shares similar interests with many of us, as she is also interested in quilting and machine embroidery. What is also so interesting, is that she has lived in Southern California (El Cajon), but now lives in Ireland. Yes, she met and married an Irish Lad and is now happily living in a lovely Irish village.

Micki is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University as an English teacher. She later obtained two Master's Degrees, and taught English from 1972 until she married Joe in 1997. It was when she married Joe that she ended up moving to Ireland.

When Micki shared photos of where she lives in Ireland, this is what made me think of the various books where Nora Roberts set the stage for many of her romance novels. Hymm.....did Micki and Joe give Nora Roberts the inspiration to write those Irish romance novels?

Micki shared insight that the village she lives in, a lovely place called Dunfanaghy, is a "drop dead gorgeous" village near Killahoey Beach. This beach is in Dunfanaghy, County Donegal, which is a lovely seacoast village in NW Donegal. Nearby is headland called Horn Head, which you can drive around, or enjoy a lovely 12 mile walk around. {The entire area is a perfect setting for a Nora Roberts' romance novel}.



















Micki has been sewing since she was a little girl. Her mother was a seamstress and both of her parents owned a fabric shop. But she didn't start quilting until about 10 years ago, and she started doing machine embroidery about 5 years ago. For quilting, she enjoys traditional and art quilting. And for machine embroidery, she enjoys applying it for her quilting projects, clothing and home decor. She particularly enjoys lace, cutwork, redwork and working with various quilting and floral designs.

For learning how to quilt, Micki credits Eleanor Burn's "Quilt In A Day" books, as well as books by Alex Anderson. And, with her background in sewing, she views it helped her "self taught" approach to learning to quilt.

For learning machine embroidery, Micki feels that many books by Sulky have been very helpful to her learning the art of machine embroidery. She is also pursuing learning to create her own designs using Embird Studio software.

Here are some photos that Micki has shared of her beautiful projects.





















This lovely blue lacy doily {above} Micki created in several sections, using Vilene and then she combined the sections by machine.





















This beautiful yellow doily {above} was created similar to the blue doily. To me, this doily just radiates sunshine & cheerfulness!





















This is one of the bags that Micki monogrammed {above}.





















This beautiful quilt is called Carnivale {above} and it is all paper pieced. It is a pattern made by Deb Karasik.





















This is a geisha quilt {above} that Micki made that is all machine embroidered. Micki always uses Madeira Premium Stabilizers and Madeira thread.





















This one is a quilt that I did called the Sylvia Bridal Sampler {above}, and it took me four months to do it. I worked on it every day, and it was quite an accomplishment finishing it.






















This is a paper pieced wall hanging called Harvest Moon {above}.





















This is a fairy wallhanging {above} that Micki did by hand applique. It is from a pattern by Reva Roark Stewart.


While I know I've met a talented and thoughtful woman when I met Micki Butler, I still like to think of Micki and Joe living that romantic life in Ireland. So, I send my request to Joe....go snuggle with Micki in one of Micki's beautiful quilts and whisper words of love and appreciation to Micki, as I think your two hearts are tied together in such romantic love and friendship that it will become an Irish legend (or be written in a romantic book, possibly by Nora Roberts).